Choosing the Right Vitamin D Supplement

You. Vitamin D is the next vitamin I'd like to discuss in our series. Most people are familiar with vitamin D2 or ergocalciferol. This is the plant based vitamin D. This is the one if you see your doctor, they write a prescription for that you take. And it usually comes in prescription pills of 50,000 units and a capsule. They're the green capsules you'll see. Sometimes, however, this is poorly absorbed. Your body also has to convert vitamin D2 to vitamin D3 in this conversion process for some people genetically is a very slow process. It's also plant based form, so you have to actually take higher doses to get it absorbed. The vitamin D3, which is what's in our systems naturally, it's an animal based form, is much more bioavailable and easier to absorb and use. So vitamin D3 or chelycalciferol is the most bioavailable form. What's found in most over the counter forms are actually this vitamin D3 form. It's easily absorbed. However, most of these forms actually come in a soy oil. So people that are soy sensitive should avoid most of the over the counter products as they come in soy. There's also a lot of issues with genetic modification in soy glyphosate. In soy, pretty much all soy is contaminated with glyphosate. So for those reasons, I personally tend to avoid soy based vitamin D3. Higher grade forms of vitamin D3 either come in an MCT oil, which is a coconut oil extract, or a sunflower oil. These are better tolerated and have much less side effects. You also get the best physiologic effects if you combine vitamin D2 with D3. I'm sorry, with K2. Vitamin K2 MK7 is what helps improve calcium absorption getting into your bones. Vitamin K2 also has data with removing calcium from arteries and vascular calcifications. So many times I'll recommend vitamin D3 with K2. You want to shoot for the serum levels between 60 and 80. This is the optimal level of vitamin D2. An example of a good product for this is a vitamin D K2 liquid by Orthomolecular. Every drop is a thousand units. So if you're taking 5,000 units a day, for example, it would be five drops.