Active vs. Inactive Vitamin D

There are two kinds of vitamin D out there, and you might be surprised at which one is easier to get.

Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, as I mentioned yesterday. You also produce vitamin D when your skin is exposed to adequate sunlight. However, most of us in the northern half of the United States have deficient levels of vitamin D for at least 6 months out of the year because we don't get enough sunlight and we don't eat many fatty foods that are high in vitamin D.

Doctors are now catching on to this issue and it is becoming fashionable to test peoples vitamin D levels, and rightly so. Of course it's very exciting for everyone when they come back low, because, for the average person, so few lab tests actually ever come back abnormal.

Improving your vitamin D level is always a good thing if it's low, although it's unlikely to dramatically change how you feel the next day. Vitamin D is usually something that takes time to have it's effect.

Doctors often get very excited about the prospect of having something to prescribe for you, and so you may get a prescription for vitamin D. The problem with this is that the prescription is for vitamin D2, and vitamin D2 is the inactive form of vitamin D that must be converted by your body into vitamin D3. This is a very inefficient process, and thus you will likely be prescribed 50,000 IUs of vitamin D2. Vitamin D2 often doesn't work very well, and you'd be better off just throwing out the prescription. However, that doesn't that you shouldn't take vitamin D.

What you should do is get vitamin D3. You don't need a prescription for it, and you certainly don't need 50,000 IUs of it. You can find it at most any health food store, and quality aside (read yesterday's blog entry), it's a much better option than taking vitamin D2. And you'll only need 1,000 - 5,000 IUs per day, depending on your levels. Definitely don't take 50,000 IUs.

Or you can stand outside naked in the sun. This will be good for giving you rosy cheeks, but in the winter it still won't improve your vitamin D status. And if you live in the Pacific Northwest like I do, it isn't even an option.

It's also a good idea to retest your vitamin D status after a couple of months of treatment. It's unlikely that you'll overdose on it, but it is possible. Thus ends our lesson for today on vitamin D.