2024-03-22 16:56:57
Vitamin D is a collective term, which is why there is always confusion about how it works. What is the difference between vitamin D and vitamin D3?
Vitamin D is vital for the body, but it can be produced using the sun’s rays. Depending on the dosage, it can take a few weeks to months for a deficiency to be corrected. Dietary supplements sometimes say “Vitamin D” and sometimes “Vitamin D3”. What is the difference?
What is Vitamin D?
The term “vitamin D” summarizes a group of fat-soluble vitamins. These compounds are scientifically known as calciferols and belong to the secosteroids. Strictly speaking, vitamin D is not a vitamin at all, but rather the precursor to a hormone. It is also the only “vitamin” that the body can produce itself.
Vitamin D and D3: what is the difference?
Vitamin D has various compounds. There are D1, D2, D3, D4 and D5. According to the Robert Koch Institute, vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) are among the most important forms of the group. As the Alta Clinic reports, all but D3 are man-made forms. An overview:
- Vitamin D1 is no longer used today and referred to a mixture of D2 and Lumisterol.
- Vitamin D2: Like Dr. As Alexander Vögtli explains in the Pharmawiki, vitamin D2 is chemically referred to as ergocalciferol. It is less potent than vitamin D3 and must be taken in higher doses. Vitamin D3 is therefore recommended for therapy. D2 is mainly found in mushrooms.
- Vitamin D3 is chemically known as cholecalciferol and is the precursor of the active vitamin D. It is formed in the skin with the help of UVB rays and then has to be converted in the liver to the effective steroid hormone 25-OH-VD.
- Vitamin D4 becomes chemical as 22, 23-Dihydroergocalciferol.
- Vitamin D5 becomes chemically referred to as sitocalciferol.
What is Vitamin D3?
When “vitamin D” is mentioned in specialist books etc., what is usually meant is “vitamin D3”. Even more specific: the specific form cholecalciferol. D3 has three different main forms, writes the practicing doctor and metabolism expert Helena Orfanos-Boeckel in her book “Nutrient Therapy”. These are:
- The pre-vitamin D: Cholecalciferol
- The modulating vitamin D hormone: Calcidiol (25-OH-VD)
- The active vitamin D hormone: Calcitriol (1,25-OH-VD)
The pre-vitamin D cholecalciferol is initially stored in the skin before it is converted into calcidiol and later into calitriol in the liver. Those who substitute vitamin D usually take the pre-vitamin D cholecalciferol.
There are also crucial differences between calcidiol and calcitriol. According to Helena Orfanos-Boeckel, calcidiol is not essential for life, but it is still good when it is there. It is slowly converted into calcitriol in the kidneys.
Calcitriol is essential for life. It is an important functional value that, according to Helena Orfanos-Bockel, “must lie within a small, optimal therapeutic range.” Too little has serious consequences, but too much can also harm the body. The doctor therefore always recommends measuring both values in the blood.
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