| Vitamin D By The Numbers |
| 09-May-2012 |
| Most people don't think too much about it when shopping for fortified foods or multivitamins, but there are actually two forms Vitamin D. Cholecalciferol, more commonly known as D3, and ergocalciferol which goes by the designation D2 are both transformed in the liver and kidneys. The end result is a non-active storage form of vitamin D and an active form that's tightly controlled by your body.
Because so many adults are vitamin D deficient, there's been a lot of debate about which form is better, and a recent meta-analysis of studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition supports the hypothesis that D3 is more effective than D2 for raising blood concentrations of the storage form of vitamin D.
True Strength Moment: Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin because your body can synthesize it from exposure to sunlight. During the winter months, some areas get so little sunlight that your body isn't able to produce any vitamin D. That's where fortified foods and multivitamins can help. In case you're wondering, the vitamin D form used in ON's Opti-Men, Opti-Women and new Opti-Performance Pack is D3.
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