There are five different forms of vitamin D, two of which are important to humans. There are major differences in the two, vitamin D2 and vitamin D3, which you may or may not be aware of. Taking the wrong one can be more detrimental than beneficial to your health. If your milk, calcium supplement, or standard vitamin D supplement simply says “vitamin D”, then you may want to take a look at the label.
A staggering number of Americans are considered clinically vitamin D deficient while an astounding number are considered to be in the insufficient range. This includes children who are exposed to sunlight and drink milk and/or orange juice with added vitamin D almost every day. Even a lot of adults that regularly take a daily vitamin D supplement are deficient.
How can this be? Without a blood test from your doctor, you may be putting your health at a major risk, all while thinking that you are being diligent about your vitamin D intake. Supplemental vitamin D comes in two different forms; ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) and cholecalciferol (vitamin D3).
The synthetic form of vitamin D2, comes from passing plant matter and fungus through a radiation treatment. This is the vitamin D typically added to orange juice, milk, and vitamin D supplements. Vitamin D2 can be obtained from plant sources.
Vitamin D3 can be obtained (in small amounts) from animal sources, such as egg yolks and non-pasteurized full-fat milk. While both vitamin D2 and D3 must be converted by the body into active forms, vitamin D3 is converted 500% faster than D2 according to a report by the Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism. They also report that vitamin D3 is 87% more potent in raising and maintaining vitamin D concentrations and produces 2-3 fold greater storage of vitamin D.
Once your sources of vitamin D are converted into their active forms, sunlight is necessary to transform them into cholesterol sulfate. This means that, contrary to prior medical beliefs, supplementing with vitamin D does not completely replace the need for sun exposure. In fact, recent studies on the importance of cholesterol sulfate show that without sufficient UVB sun exposure, about 30 minutes per week, the body compensates by producing LDL, or “bad” cholesterol.
Doctors and researchers are now linking heart disease, high cholesterol, arterial plaque, cancer, autism, hypertension, obesity, arthritis, Crohn’s disease, dementia, seizures, asthma, migraines, depression, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, and both types of diabetes to a lack of vitamin D3 in the diet and inadequate UVB exposure.
This may sound overwhelming, but when you consider that the proposed 30 minutes of UVB sunlight exposure per week requirement must happen when the UV index is above 3, then you may start to realize why diseases such as these, increase in prevalence as you move away from the equator. Most of the United States only experiences this level of sunlight intensity for about 1-2 months of the year.
These diseases and more are being linked to inadequate vitamin D levels because vitamin D is responsible for an astounding number or processes in the body. It is a neuroregulatory steroidal hormone that influences almost 3,000 different genes and has receptors in nearly every cell of your body. It produces over 200 antimicrobial peptides, including broad-spectrum antibiotics, regulates the immune system and controls chronic inflammation.
Many doctors now recommend “safe” tanning bed use for obtaining adequate vitamin D3 levels. UVA rays are harmful, but beds that only produce UVB rays can be very effective forms of treatment.
About the Author: Phil Le Breton is owner at Wholesale Nutrition. He has a strong interest in helping people achieve greater brain and body health with vitamins and supplements, with an emphasis on vitamin C powder. Wholesale Nutrition has provided the world with the best vitamin C and wholesale vitamins since 1970. Visit http://www.nutri.com to buy high-quality discount vitamins today!
Sources:
http://www.jlr.org/content/44/7/1268.abstract
http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/96/3/E447.abstract
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/23/oral-vitamin-d-mistake.aspx
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161618.php
Reprinting:
This entire article may be reprinted free of charge provided that the “About the Author” section of the article, sources, and all links in the article are included. For shorter quotations, a clear link to the blog post or Wholesale Nutrition is sufficient.
