This means the body converts it into an active hormone. Technically, vitamin D isn’t a vitamin at all, but a pro-hormone. It is calcitriol that is responsible for the biological actions of vitamin D, including helping bones to form, metabolising calcium and supporting how our immune system works. Calcidiol is then further altered in the kidneys to form calcitriol, the active form of the hormone. This is the form in which vitamin D is stored in the body. First, the liver changes their chemical structure to form a molecule known as calcidiol. Eggeegg/Shutterstockīoth vitamins D2 and D3 are essentially inactive until they go through two processes in the body. Most of our vitamin D comes from exposing our skin to sunlight. Both forms of vitamin D are also available in dietary supplements. While both of these types of vitamin D contribute to our health, they differ in how we get them.ĭietary vitamin D2 generally comes from plants, particularly mushrooms and yeast, whereas we get vitamin D3 from animal sources, such as oily fish, liver and eggs. These molecules are also known as ergocalciferol and cholecalciferol, respectively. ![]() The vitamin D family actually includes five molecules, with the two most important being vitamin D2 and D3. ![]() This discovery led to Adolf Windaus winning the Nobel prize for chemistry in 1928. ![]() So what are the different types of vitamin D, and is one really more beneficial than the other?Īlthough medical conditions later associated with vitamin D deficiency, such as the bone disease rickets, have been known about since the 17th century, vitamin D itself wasn’t identified until the early 20th century. ![]() But there is more than one form of vitamin D, and recent research suggests that these forms may have different effects. Vitamin D is important for maintaining health, as it has many roles in the human body.
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