Is Vitamin D2 harmful?

[KB24]

I've read countless reviews about almond milk without caraggean, and how it was great and all and vit d and calcium and was soothing to the gut. But after a week or two drinking it, because of my confidence in all the hype i didn't read what was after the vitamin D , it was D2. I've heard that is synthetic and is not as helpful as D3 in terms of absorption and actually harmful and desensitises us from absorbing d3 as well in the future. Any truth to that? Any personal expierences of raising your Vitamin D level with almond milk showing that it is not harmful? Any studies?
Thanks, just curious, just have a ton of questions and don't have a GI/ Nutritionist appointment for weeks.

 

[Beach]

I have read quite a bit about vitamin D over the years. I've seen that mention also about vitamin D2 not being as helpful for animals. Vitamin D2 is the plant form of vitamin D, found naturally in small amounts in plants such as mushrooms. To be useful the body needs to convert D2 into the animal form of vitamin D which is D3. Some people have poor abilities at making the conversion from D2 to D3.

There is a study out there I remember showing that taking vitamin D2 led to shorter life when compared to vitamin D3. I do not remember the details of the study but imagine it to be a rodent animal study.

Personally I believe sensible sun exposure, where you avoid being burnt, is the best option for obtaining vitamin D. There are other substances that are created by the body when the rays of the sun strike our skin. For example there are other vitamin D compounds manufactured in our skin that we can not obtain from vitamin pills.

Additionally there are other substances created when exposed to the sun. Another item made by the sun is feel good endorphins. Many feel endorphins have health promoting abilities for those with IBD conditions such as Crohns and Colitis, along with autoimmune diseases such as MS, ALS, etc.

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[KB24]

I have read quite a bit about vitamin D over the years. I've seen that mention also about vitamin D2 not being as helpful for animals. Vitamin D2 is the plant form of vitamin D, found naturally in small amounts in plants such as mushrooms. To be useful the body needs to convert D2 into the animal form of vitamin D which is D3. Some people have poor abilities at making the conversion from D2 to D3.

There is a study out there I remember showing that taking vitamin D2 led to shorter life when compared to vitamin D3. I do not remember the details of the study but imagine it to be a rodent animal study.

Personally I believe sensible sun exposure, where you avoid being burnt, is the best option for obtaining vitamin D. There are other substances that are created by the body when the rays of the sun strike our skin. For example there are other vitamin D compounds manufactured in our skin that we can not obtain from vitamin pills.

Additionally there are other substances created when exposed to the sun. Another item made by the sun is feel good endorphins. Many feel endorphins have health promoting abilities for those with IBD conditions such as Crohns and Colitis, along with autoimmune diseases such as MS, ALS, etc.

This benefit from endorphins might be seen with the use of the prescription drug Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) One of the main theories on why LDN is helpful for a great many autoimmune diseases is that LDN raises endorphin levels significantly.

I was looking at an LDN testimonial sight recently and it is surprising at how many conditions LDN often appears to help improve. The sight can be seen here:

http://www.ldndatabase.com

Yeah kinda scary how many recommendations were made if D2 is not best for absorption. Just out of curiosity how do you feel about dairy milk specifically and do you think it contributes to inflammation? Is it worth trying to find alternatives. I don't find any pain just heard from some that alternatives are better.

 

[Beach]

yea agree, it would better if natural sun exposure vitamin D was promoted, or D3. If not familiar, there are two groups that promote vitamin D2. There is the vegetarian and vegan groups that naturally want to see the plant form of vitamin D used in products they buy.

The other group that promotes vitamin D2 is the medical community. Apparently what happened is a company was able to patent vitamin D2. With that protection vitamin D2 was taken through the FDA approval process so it could be prescribed as a drug. It is why when a doctor writes a prescription for vitamin D, the amount to be taken is in the 50,000IU range per day.

For vitamin D3 since it is utilized better typically 2000 to 5000ius a day is all that is needed to reach optimal testing levels with in a few months.

I'm personally not a fan of cows milk. I've avoided it for years. It's a known trigger food for me.

Of late I'm having good success with a dietary idea. I theorized possibly if a trigger food or chemical is fed to an animal, such is soy, alfalfa, synthetic vitamins,etc. the allergen will show up in the animal product - dairy, eggs, meat. So far my idea is working well for me. I'm on day 17 of being well to the stomach. Now all I need is improved energy. I lack to much in that area.

If I absolutely had to have a dairy product I would eat or drink a dairy item made by Kerry Gold. Kerry Gold is an Irish dairy company that mainly feeds their cattle green grass. Their cows reportedly receive small amounts of feed lot meals. I eat Kerry Gold cheese without apparent problems.

My favorite alternative milk is the original Rice Dream. The original formula does not have many added ingredients and hasn't caused me issues.

 

[KB24]

yea agree, it would better if natural sun exposure vitamin D was promoted, or D3. If not familiar, there are two groups that promote vitamin D2. There is the vegetarian and vegan groups that naturally want to see the plant form of vitamin D used in products they buy.

The other group that promotes vitamin D2 is the medical community. Apparently what happened is a company was able to patent vitamin D2. With that protection vitamin D2 was taken through the FDA approval process so it could be prescribed as a drug. It is why when a doctor writes a prescription for vitamin D, the amount to be taken is in the 50,000IU range per day.

For vitamin D3 since it is utilized better typically 2000 to 5000ius a day is all that is needed to reach optimal testing levels with in a few months.

I'm personally not a fan of cows milk. I've avoided it for years. It's a known trigger food for me.

Of late I'm having good success with a dietary idea. I theorized possibly if a trigger food or chemical is fed to an animal, such is soy, alfalfa, synthetic vitamins,etc. the allergen will show up in the animal product - dairy, eggs, meat. So far my idea is working well for me. I'm on day 17 of being well to the stomach. Now all I need is improved energy. I lack to much in that area.

If I absolutely had to have a dairy product I would eat or drink a dairy item made by Kerry Gold. Kerry Gold is an Irish dairy company that mainly feeds their cattle green grass. Their cows reportedly receive small amounts of feed lot meals. I eat Kerry Gold cheese without apparent problems.

My favorite alternative milk is the original Rice Dream. The original formula does not have many added ingredients and hasn't caused me issues.

Sorry I'm a little confused what you're trying to get it. Are you saying D2 overall just needs to be in balance with D3? Or is D2 really not worth it. Also I believe that Rice Dream has D2 as well as an ingredient.

 

[Beach]

How to explain.... lets see. Maybe this will help.

The goal in the medical community with vitamin D is to reach a testing level amount. In America the testing range considered normal if my memory is correct is between 20 to 80g/ml. Many will aim for a testing level in the middle of that of around 50ng/ml.

Both vitamins, D2 and D3 can help you achieve that testing goal of 50ng/ml. With vitamin D2 the amount needed to be taken to reach a testing of 50ng/nl is much higher. With vitamin D3, the amount of it that will be needed to be taken to reach a testing level of 50ng/ml is much lower.

I'm personally not a fan of vitamin D2.

I take 5000ius of vitamin D3 a day in the winter time. In warmer months I obtain my vitamin D from sensible sun exposure. Sun exposure created vitamin D is vitamin D3 plus other compounds. It is more biological in the body from what I've read (It lasts twice as long in the body and is believed to do more good basically).

I do not believe vitamin D2 to be as helpful for health. If I was a vegetarian, or vegan vitamin D2 is what I would want though. Physicians prescriribe vitamin D2 since that is all that has gone through the drug approval process. It would not be possible to approve vitamin D3 since it is not patentable.

Hope that makes sense. It can be a bit confusing. I can imagine Rice Dream is using vitamin D2 in its drink and mentioning that the drink is vegetarian/vegan safe? Vitamin D3 is manufactured from animal sources.

If you are concerned and am a vegan or vegetarian, the original Rice Dream drink does not have vitamins added to the formula. I see doing a google search it is mentioned as being vegan safe.