Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is only found in small amounts in certain foods. Vitamin D is essential, not only for healthy bones and teeth, but also for muscle growth and strength, a healthy heart, lungs and brain functions, healthy skin, and a healthy immune system.
Did you know that vitamin D also affects our mood and our skin in a remarkable way? Vitamin D deficiency can cause fatigue, low mood, aches, pain, immune system problems, and skin issues.
What Vitamin D Contributes To
normal function of the immune system.
maintaining normal bone structure.
maintaining normal muscle function.
maintaining normal teeth.
normal absorption/utilization of calcium and phosphorus.
Two Main Types of Vitamin D
Vitamin D3
Vitamin D3, cholecalciferol, is what is produced when our bare skin is exposed to direct sunlight. Cholecalciferol is ready for our body to absorb, metabolize and use. So it's immediate goodness.
Vitamin D2
Vitamin D2, ergocalciferol, is like the analog version of vitamin D. There is a complex process that must take place in the body for ergocalciferol to be ready for the body to use. This is why many researchers and medical experts agree that vitamin D2 is actually not as useful for our body.
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How We Get Vitamin D
There are two main ways to get vitamin D: through supplements and through exposure to direct sunlight.
Sunlight
Many people know that the sun's rays help us feel good in many different ways, one reason being that sunlight helps us produce vitamin D. In a smart process that distinguishes it from many other vitamins, your body actually produces its own vitamin D. This happens when your bare skin is exposed to the sun's UV-B rays. The problem is that in our climate we don't get enough concentrated UV-B rays year-round.
A general recommendation is to spend 10-15 minutes daily in direct sunlight, without sunscreen, if you have light to medium skin tone.
If you have dark skin, you likely need more time in the sun to produce sufficient vitamin D, about 40 minutes daily.
How Vitamin D is Made in the Body
The body converts sunlight into chemicals that are then used by the body. When UV-B solar rays hit the skin, a substance in the skin called 7-dehydrocholesterol is literally converted to vitamin D3 (the more active form).
7-dehydrocholesterol or the cholesterol in our skin converts "previtamin D" and makes it into usable D3.
Previtamin D first passes through the kidneys and liver in the bloodstream and is then converted to calcitriol.
Who Has More Difficulty Generating Vitamin D from the Sun?
People who work indoors.
People who have covered skin.
People who always use sunscreen.
People who live in areas with less sunlight.
People with darker skin tones (it takes longer).
Older people.
Pregnant women.
Supplements
Taking a vitamin D supplement can be helpful for many people, especially during the winter months and for those who cannot spend time outdoors most days.
Winter and early spring are the times of year when we have the lowest levels of vitamin D in our country, and then a good supplement can be essential.
Vitamin D3 for supplements is extracted either from sheep's wool or from a vegetable lichen. Both are effective and good sources of active vitamin D3. The one from lichen is a plant-based variant which suits both vegetarians and vegans or those who don't want vitamin from sheep's wool. Always choose supplements with the form D3 / cholecalciferol, we only sell that type.
Suggested Dosage of D3
Adults: 1000 – 2500 IU daily or 5000 IU every other day during spring, autumn and winter.
Children under 12 years: 500 – 1000 IU daily depending on age.
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Can You Take Too Much Vitamin D?
"Vitamin D toxicity" (when someone has taken too much vitamin D) is considered very rare, but it can occur when someone takes very high doses, for example more than 10,000 IU of vitamin D per day for several months.
When a person's blood level becomes abnormally high, side effects of vitamin D can include symptoms of hypercalcemia, digestive problems, diarrhea and fatigue.
Can You Get Vitamin D from Food?
Vitamin D is found to some extent in fatty fish, wild mushrooms that have been exposed to sunlight, and egg yolks. However, it is difficult to get sufficient amounts through diet, so we need sunlight.
Vitamin D with K2 Vitamin
Vitamin K2 is another fat-soluble vitamin that plays a crucial role in blood coagulation, regulation of calcium metabolism, and maintaining skeletal health.
Vitamin D combines well with vitamin K2 because vitamin D helps increase the body's ability to absorb calcium from the diet while K2 primarily works by using and moving the calcium to our skeleton and our teeth, where the calcium should be.
Vitamin K2 redirects calcium from soft tissue to the skeleton, which balances calcium levels in the blood and helps to significantly reduce the risk of calcium deposits in arteries and other soft tissues.If you take megadoses of vitamin D and simultaneously lack vitamin K2 in the body, calcium deposition in soft tissues can occur, which is not good. Vitamin D toxicity is rare, but when it happens, it may be due to a deficiency of vitamin K2.
It can therefore be beneficial to take a supplement with both D3 & K2 or use a multivitamin-mineral as a base regardless of what other supplements you take.
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