Can you Take Vitamin D and D3 Together?

What is Vitamin D?

Vitamin D has become a hot topic in the last few years. People are recognizing the importance of supplementing vitamin D, especially in areas of the world with limited sun exposure for our skin to synthesize it from the UVB light (for example, areas in the Northern hemisphere during colder parts of the year). It should also be noted if you are wearing sunscreen, your body cannot make vitamin D. With all this recent buzz, what actually is vitamin D? Vitamin D was discovered as a vitamin in the early 20th century, but its actions prove otherwise. Vitamin D is the overarching term for two forms including vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) and D2 (ergocalciferol) [1]. One of vitamin D’s major biological functions in humans is to maintain serum calcium and phosphorus concentrations within normal range. Vitamin D does this by enhancing the efficiency of the small intestine to absorb these minerals from the diet. While this vitamin is most known for regulating the calcium and phosphorus concentrations to support bone health, it also acts as a precursor to hormones.

Related Reading: CAN YOU TAKE VITAMIN C AND VITAMIN D TOGETHER?

Here are more functions and benefits of vitamin D:

• Supports immune health
• Necessary for healthy teeth
• Vitamin D intake enhances calcium absorption.
• Adequate calcium and vitamin D in a healthy diet throughout life may reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
• Emerging research now suggests that vitamin D is important to the health of soft tissues
• Important to cellular health recently shown in emerging research

What are the Differences Between Vitamin D and D3?

As mentioned above, vitamin D is an all-encompassing term for both D2 and D3. There are differences between the two forms. D2 is typically found in plant sources, such as mushrooms and fortified foods like milks and cereals. Vitamin D3 is made by the body when the skin is exposed to specific UV rays (UVB) from the sun. These rays hit the skin and cause the synthesis of vitamin D3 from 7-dehydrocholesterol (a compound in the skin) [2]. It helps the body utilize calcium and phosphate to maintain healthy bones. D3 is also found in animal food sources such as fish oil, fatty fish, liver and egg yolks.

Can you Take Vitamin D and D3 Together?

Adequate vitamin D is essential throughout the lifecycle to build and maintain bone mineral density. Daily supplementation of vitamin D provides dietary support to help maintain healthy bones and normal blood calcium levels. Blood levels of vitamin D, known as calcifediol, are a combination of 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 and D3 which is the form that’s metabolized by the liver. Keeping healthy blood levels of vitamin D is important for the many metabolic processes and functions of the prohormone. Therefore, knowing which form to supplement with is paramount. Although both forms can be used to supplement and improve vitamin D status, vitamin D3 is more effective at raising blood levels of calcifediol than D2. Vitamin D3 is more effective because D2 is more sensitive to environmental factors and more likely to degrade over time [3]. Ultimately both vitamin D2 and D3 get converted through enzymatic reactions in the liver and kidneys to the active form of vitamin D and can be taken together [1].

So, in simple terms, the answer is YES! You can take vitamin D and D3 together.