Vitamin D2 Vs Vitamin D3: Understand The Difference And How They Work

We all know that Vitamin D is essential for our overall health. But, among the various types of Vitamin D’s, how can we determine which one’s we need more?

Vitamin D is one of the most essential nutrients that is required for ensuring optimal function of the body. Its health benefits range from bettering bone health to muscular function and mas and immune health. Moreover, Vitamin D is crucial for preventing or curing mental health problems like depression. In winters, lack of sunlight can cause a deficiency in this vitamin thereby leading to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). However, regular intake of vitamin D rich foods and supplements can easily help avert this problem.

There are various types of vitamins which are responsible for specific function in the body. According to common knowledge, vitamin D2 and D3 are the two types that mostly fulfil the daily dosage of vitamin D. In technical terms, both vitamins play similar roles in the body but, they have different molecular structures. Vitamin D2 is extracted from plants whereas vitamin D3 is extracted from animals and people. Even then, how can we determine which one’s we need more? This article will explain all the benefits and difference of these two vitamin D’s.

What Is The Difference Between Vitamin D2 And Vitamin D3?

According to some studies, vitamin D2 and D3 have mostly similar roles and functions to play in the body. However, some experts claim that, vitamin D3 is more effective than vitamin D2. D3 can help raise the levels of vitamin D as a whole faster than D2. One of the reason behind this being, D3 originates in animals and people while D2 is found in plants. People who eat more of animal based food products will have high amounts of vitamin D in their body than compares to vegetarians. However, vegetarian foods are also rich in vitamin D and can also help raise levels. The only difference is that the levels may not be as high as animal based foods. Here is a list of foods that are rich in vitamin D2’s and D3’s.

Foods High In Vitamin D2

Some foods rich in Vitamin D2:

1. Dairy products
2. Oats
3. Almonds
4. Soy milk
5. Plant milks
6. Orange juice
7. Cereals
8. Mushrooms
9. Yeast products

Foods Rich In Vitamin D3

Take these foods for Vitamin D3:

1. Trout
2. Cod liver oil
3. Tuna
4. Sardines
5. Eggs
6. Cheese
7. Salmon
8. Beef liver