MAYO CLINIC – Vitamin D is a nutrient the body needs, along with calcium, to build bones and keep them healthy. The body can absorb calcium only if it has enough vitamin D. Calcium is a major part of bones.
Vitamin D also has many other uses in the body. It supports immune health and helps keep muscles and brain cells working. Source.
PREVENTION – There are four different ways to get vitamin D, according to the Mayo Clinic.
- The first is that the body can make vitamin D from direct sunlight on the skin.
- The second is to get it from foods in which it naturally occurs.
- The third is to consume it via foods that have been fortified with vitamin D.
- The fourth, then, is to take a vitamin D supplement, which contains two subtypes: D2 and D3.
Vitamin D2 versus vitamin D3
“Vitamins D2 and D3 are used similarly in the body,” says Han. Both need to be converted in the body to calcitriol, which is the active form of vitamin D, or the form that your cells can actually use.
Calcitriol is available as a prescription medication, per the National Library of Medicine; it’s used to treat low calcium and bone disease in patients with kidney or parathyroid dysfunction. But if you are looking to supplement with vitamin D, you’ll be choosing between one of these two inactive forms.
That said, there are a few key differences between D2 and D3, namely where they come from and how effective they are at improving vitamin D levels in the body (D3 seems to be slightly better in this department—more on that below).
The bottom line
While vitamin D3 has been shown to be more effective at raising vitamin D levels when they are low, both D3 and D2 are easily converted in the body into the active, usable form we need to support key processes and optimize health.
Still, the best thing to do before deciding which one to take is to talk to your doctor …
