What Is Vitamin D?
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is found in certain foods and supplements, but it can also be made by the body when your skin is exposed to the ultraviolet rays of sunlight. It is actually the only vitamin of the 13 essential vitamins that your body can manufacture on its own. However, many people become deficient in vitamin D because they don’t get enough sunlight.
One of the main roles of vitamin D is promoting calcium absorption, which allows for proper bone mineralization and growth. Check your vitamin D levels at home with the Everlywell Vitamin D Test.
What’S The Difference Between Vitamin D And Vitamin D3?
There are two possible forms of vitamin D in the human body: vitamin D2 and vitamin D3.
Both D2 and D3 are simply called “vitamin D,” so there’s no meaningful difference between vitamin D3 and just vitamin D.
That being said, it can be worth understanding how vitamin D2 and D3 specifically are different from each other—so here’s a quick rundown:
Vitamin D3 is the form of vitamin D the human body makes when sunlight strikes the skin. Vitamin D3 is found in animal sources of foods, like fatty fish and fish oil, liver, organ meats, and egg yolks. Vitamin D2 primarily comes from plant sources (like wild mushrooms), and forms when certain kinds of plants are exposed to ultraviolet light from the sun.
Vitamin D2 is also less expensive to produce, so it is the form most commonly used to fortify foods, like milk, cereal products, and orange juice. Recent studies involving daily doses of vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 show that they are equally effective in boosting your vitamin D levels. Vitamin D. Nih, Office of Dietary Supplements.
Accessed February 15, 2021. Vitamin D2 vs. D3: Which Should I Take for Bone Health?. Accessed February 15, 2021.
Safety of 50,000-100,000 Units of Vitamin D3/Week in Vitamin D-Deficient, Hypercholesterolemic Patients with Reversible Statin Intolerance.
What Are The Main Differences Between Vitamin D And D3?
Rather, your choices will be vitamin D2 (What is vitamin D2?). Or vitamin D3 (What is vitamin D3?).
Generally, when one mentions vitamin D, the implied selection is vitamin D2. For the purpose of this article, when vitamin D is mentioned, it will refer to vitamin D2. Vitamin D is less expensive to produce and therefore is the form most commonly found in fortified food products.
All forms of vitamin D3 are available over-the-counter.
Main Differences Between Vitamin D And D3 Vitamin D2 Vitamin D3 Drug Class Vitamin D Analog Vitamin D Analog Brand/Generic Status Brand And Generic Available Brand And Generic Available What Is The Generic Name?
1,000 Iu To 2,000 Iu Daily For Vitamin D Supplementation 1,000 Iu To 2,000 Iu Daily For Vitamin D Supplementation How Long Is The Typical Treatment?
Infants, children, adolescents, and adults Infants, children, adolescents, and adults.
Supplements 101: Vitamin D
While both types help you meet your vitamin D requirements, they differ in a few important ways. Research even suggests that vitamin D2 is less effective than vitamin D3 at raising blood levels of vitamin D. This article sums up the main differences between vitamin D2 and D3.