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kalikshama -> RE: Best supplement form of Vitamin D (3/4/2012 4:33:14 AM)
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If You Take Oral Vitamin D You MUST Avoid Making This Serious Mistake
Did you know there are two types of vitamin D, and they are NOT interchangeable?
In fact, taking the wrong one could do you more harm than good...
Drisdol is a synthetic form of vitamin D2—made by irradiating fungus and plant matter—and is the form of vitamin D typically prescribed by doctors.
This is not the type produced by your body in response to sun or safe tanning bed exposure, which is vitamin D3.
A recent meta-analysis by the Cochrane Database looked at mortality rates for people who supplemented their diets with D2 versus those who did so with D3, the form naturally produced by your body, highlighting the significant differences between the two.
The analysis of 50 randomized controlled trials, which included a total of 94,000 participants, showed:
* A six percent relative risk reduction among those who used vitamin D3, but
* A two percent relative risk increase among those who used D2
...Supplemental vitamin D comes in two forms:
1. Ergocalciferol (vitamin D2)
2. Cholecalciferol (vitamin D3)
... * According to the latest research, D3 is approximately 87 percent more potentiii in raising and maintaining vitamin D concentrations and produces 2- to 3-fold greater storage of vitamin D than does D2.
* Regardless of which form you use, your body must convert it into a more active form, and vitamin D3 is converted 500 percent faster than vitamin D2.
* Vitamin D2 also has a shorter shelf life, and its metabolites bind poorly with proteins, further hampering its effectiveness.
What about Dietary Sources? Animal-Based versus Plant-Based Vitamin D
Aside from taking an oral vitamin D supplement, you can also obtain small amounts of vitamin D from your diet. Here too, it's important to realize that not all food sources provide the same kind of vitamin D. Plant sources provide you with D2. The more beneficial D3 can only be had through animal-based sources such as:
* Fish, such as salmon, mackerel, tuna and sardines
* Egg yolk
* Raw milk
Dairy processors producing pasteurized milk have also been fortifying milk with vitamin D since 1933. Today, about 98 percent of the milk supply in the U.S. is fortified with approximately 400 International Units (IU) of vitamin D per quart. While dairies used to fortify their milk with vitamin D2, most have now switched over to D3. But, if you still drink pasteurized milk (which I don't recommend), check the label to see which form of vitamin D has been added. (If you drink raw milk, then you're getting the naturally-occurring vitamin D in the milk fat.)
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