"Is Vitamin 3 Better Than D2?"
Years ago it was shown that vitamin D isn't just the sunshine vitamin for us,
but for mushrooms as well.
You take some shiitakes, for example,
put them under a sun lamp for an hour,
and they make vitamin D just like we do lounging at the pool.
Now most mushrooms you buy at the store don’t have any vitamin D
because they’re grown in the dark,
but there are now sun-bathed varieties on the market that boost significant levels,
even now available in sprinkle form.
Some mushrooms grown outside in the wild may have some as well,
but only about 12% of one’s recommended daily allowance per cup.
Is the vitamin D in mushrooms bioavailable though?
Well, in 2008, there was a case report
of a dark-skinned individual living in England in the winter,
who, like the other 9 out of 10 South Asians living in the UK,
was vitamin D deficient.
His physician prescribed a vitamin D supplement;
however, after doing his own research, the patient decided to self treat.
He bought a UV bulb from a local hardware store and proceeded to shine this directly
onto two cups of regular mushrooms a day before stir frying and consuming them.
He repeated this on a daily basis for three months,
and indeed his vitamin D levels shot up and he was cured.
So it’s reasonable to assume that such mushrooms may be able
to provide a source of vitamin D for those at risk for deficiency.
This was only one person though, so further studies are necessary,
and finally those studies have been done.
"Bioavailability of vitamin D from ultra- violet light irradiated button mushrooms
in healthy adults deficient in vitamin D:
a randomized controlled trial."
They compared the mushrooms to vitamin D supplements, the placebo,
and both the mushrooms and the supplements were equally effective
in raising D levels compared to the placebo.
The type of vitamin D made by mushrooms though is vitamin D2,
which is typically derived from yeast,
and is the form traditionally prescribed by doctors to cure vitamin D deficiency.
Most supplements though are D3, which is the type found in plants and animals,
and typically derived from sheep’s wool.
Back in 2008, it was established that vitamin D2 was as effective as D3
in maintaining one’s vitamin D levels at standard daily doses.
Whether folks were given D2, D3, or a combination of half D2, half D3,
eh, it didn’t seem to matter much
in terms of improving vitamin D levels in their blood streams.
But that was five years ago.
What’s the update?
Is vitamin D2 better than vitamin D3?
It apparently depends on how much you take and what your starting levels are.
Taken daily in doses up to 4,000 units a day,
there appears to be no significant difference
in the ability of D2 or D3 to raise vitamin D levels.
But if you take mega doses on a weekly or monthly basis
in doses up to 50,000 units at a time,
D3 works better than D2.
And if you're not vitamin D deficient,
if your vitamin D levels are normal –-
for example, you live in California and get enough sun-–
then D2 from mushrooms or supplements
doesn’t appear to raise your levels further,
but if your levels are fine,
why take supplements in the first place?
The only reason we care about the levels in our blood
is because of the benefits we expect to get from those levels,
such as a longer life span.
The latest Cochrane review on vitamin D and mortality found
that while D3 supplementation may be able to reduce mortality,
other forms of D, including D2, did not.
This may be because most of the D2 trials used mega dosing regiments,
up to 300,000 units injected into people,
but, you know, until we have good data
suggesting D2 supplementation can actually extend one’s life,
D3, the type of vitamin D found in animals and plants,
may be preferable to vitamin D2, the vitamin derived from fungi.
The best animal to get D3 from is yourself!
But if you live at a latitude where you're not able to make enough,
then there are both animal and non-animal sources of vitamin D3 supplements.