Re: Vitamin D - Cholecalciferol vs. Ergocalciferol

[Guest guest]

It was after watching one of Dr. Vieth's on-line presentations last

year that I decided to add Vitamin D as a supplement. I take a 400 IU

pill which gives me a total of about 1000 IU per day counting other

sources.

One question that has bothered me is that there are two types of

supplements: Ergocalciferol (Vitamin D2) and Cholecalciferol (Vitamin

D3) both sold as " Vitamin D " . Ergocalciferol is cheaper than

Cholecalciferol. Thus far, I have been selecting the Cholecalciferol

(D3) because I read somewhere some time ago that it was better.

Does anybody know if one of these two forms is really better than the

other?

Tony

http://www.pdrhealth.com/drug_info/nmdrugprofiles/nutsupdrugs/vit_0265.shtml

> >

> > a=z,

> >

> > Although we do need vitamin D which

>

> Here is a very informative presentation by Professor Reinhold

> Vieth on the necessity of Vitamin D and its relationship

> to cancer, MS, and osteoporosis. He is on the committee

> which recently proposed an increase in the recommended

> dietary intakes.

>

> http://www.insinc.com/onlinetv/directms13oct2005/softvnetplayer.htm

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Tony:

Oregon State U seems to be trying to do a good job on nutritional

supplements. Here is the link to their section on vitamin D:

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/vitaminD/

Rodney.

> > >

> > > a=z,

> > >

> > > Although we do need vitamin D which

> >

> > Here is a very informative presentation by Professor Reinhold

> > Vieth on the necessity of Vitamin D and its relationship

> > to cancer, MS, and osteoporosis. He is on the committee

> > which recently proposed an increase in the recommended

> > dietary intakes.

> >

> >

http://www.insinc.com/onlinetv/directms13oct2005/softvnetplayer.htm

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Tony We also prefer D3 over D2 Here are a few studies on it. jeff J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004 Nov;89(11):5387-91. Vitamin D2 is much less effective than vitamin D3 in humans.Armas LA, Hollis BW, Heaney RP. Vitamins D(2) and D(3) are generally considered to be equivalent in humans. Nevertheless, physicians commonly report equivocal responses to seemingly large doses of the only high-dose calciferol (vitamin D(2)) available in the U.S. market.The relative potencies of vitamins D(2) and D(3) were evaluated by administering single doses of 50,000 IU of the respective calciferols to 20 healthy male volunteers, following the time course of serum vitamin D and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) over a period of 28 d and measuring the area under the curve of the rise in 25OHD above baseline.The two calciferols produced similar rises in serum

concentration of the administered vitamin, indicating equivalent absorption. Both produced similar initial rises in serum 25OHD over the first 3 d, but 25OHD continued to rise in the D(3)-treated subjects, peaking at 14 d, whereas serum 25OHD fell rapidly in the D(2)-treated subjects and was not different from baseline at 14 d. Area under the curve (AUC) to d 28 was 60.2 ng.d/ml (150.5 nmol.d/liter) for vitamin D(2) and 204.7 (511.8) for vitamin D(3) (P < 0.002). Calculated AUC(infinity) indicated an even greater differential, with the relative potencies for D(3)(2) being 9.5:1.Vitamin D(2) potency is less than one third that of vitamin D(3). Physicians resorting to use of vitamin D(2) should be aware of its markedly lower potency and shorter duration of action relative to vitamin D(3). PMID: 15531486 Calcif Tissue Int. 2004 Feb;74(2):150-6. Epub 2003 Dec 5. Effect of vitamins D2 and D3

supplement use on serum 25OHD concentration in elderly women in summer and winter.Rapuri PB, Gallagher JC, Haynatzki G. Vitamin D2 and D3 are generally considered equipotent in humans. A few studies have reported that serum 25OHD levels are higher in vitamin D3- compared with vitamin D2-supplemented subjects. As both vitamin D2 and D3 supplements are commonly used by elderly in United States, in the present study we determined the effect of self-reported vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 supplement use on serum total 25OHD levels according to season in elderly women aged 65-77 years. Serum total 25OHD levels were determined in winter and summer in unsupplemented women ( N = 307) and in women who reported taking vitamin D2 ( N = 56) and vitamin D3 ( N = 55) supplements by competitive protein binding assay. In vitamin D2-supplemented women, the contribution of vitamin D2 and D3 to the mean serum total 25OHD level was assessed by HPLC. In summer, there were no

significant differences in the mean total serum 25OHD levels (ng/ml) among the vitamin D2 (32 +/- 2.1), vitamin D3 (36.7 +/- 1.95), and unsupplemented (32.2 +/- 0.95) groups. In winter, the mean serum total 25OHD levels were higher in women on vitamin D2 (33.6 +/- 2.34, P < 0.05) and vitamin D3 (29.7 +/- 1.76, NS) supplements compared with unsupplemented women (27.3 +/- 0.72). In vitamin D2-supplemented women, about 25% of the mean serum total 25OHD was 25OHD2, in both summer and winter. Twelve percent of unsupplemented women and 3.6% of vitamin D-supplemented women had a mean serum total 25OHD level below 15 ng/ml in winter. In elderly subjects, both vitamin D2 and Vitamin D3 supplements may contribute equally to circulating 25OHD levels, with the role of vitamin D supplement use being more predominant during winter. PMID: 14648011 Am J Clin Nutr. 1998 Oct;68(4):854-8. Links Evidence that vitamin D3 increases

serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D more efficiently than does vitamin D2.Trang HM, Cole DE, Rubin LA, Pierratos A, Siu S, Vieth R. In all species tested, except humans, biological differences between vitamins D2 and D3 are accepted as fact. To test the presumption of equivalence in humans, we compared the ability of equal molar quantities of vitamin D2 or D3 to increase serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], the measure of vitamin D nutrition. Subjects took 260 nmol (approximately 4000 IU) vitamin D2 (n=17) or vitamin D3 (n=55) daily for 14 d. 25(OH)D was assayed with a method that detects both the vitamin D2 and D3 forms. With vitamin D3, mean (+/-SD) serum 25(OH)D increased from 41.3+/-17.7 nmol/L before to 64.6+/-17.2 nmol/L after treatment. With vitamin D2, the 25(OH)D concentration went from 43.7+/-17.7 nmol/L before to 57.4+/-13.0 nmol/L after. The increase in 25(OH)D with vitamin D3 was 23.3+/-15.7 nmol/L, or 1.7 times the increase obtained with vitamin D2

(13.7+/-11.4 nmol/L; P=0.03). There was an inverse relation between the increase in 25(OH)D and the initial 25(OH)D concentration. The lowest 2 tertiles for basal 25(OH)D showed larger increases in 25(OH)D: 30.6 and 25.5 nmol/L, respectively, for the first and second tertiles. In the highest tertile [25(OH)D >49 nmol/L] the mean increase in 25(OH)D was 13.3 nmol/L (P < 0.03 for comparison with each lower tertile). Although the 1.7-times greater efficacy for vitamin D3 shown here may seem small, it is more than what others have shown for 25(OH)D increases when comparing 2-fold differences in vitamin D3 dose. The assumption that vitamins D2 and D3 have equal nutritional value is probably wrong and should be reconsidered. PMID: 9771862

[Guest guest]

Hi Tony:

I was a little surprised to find this quote too:

" Aging significantly decreases the capacity of human skin to produce

vitamin D3 (MacLaughlin and Holick, 1985). In adults over age 65

years, there is a fourfold decrease in the capacity to produce

vitamin D3 when compared with younger adults aged 20 to 30 years

(Holick et al., 1989; Need et al., 1993). "

From: http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=5776 & page=250

Rodney.

> > >

> > > a=z,

> > >

> > > Although we do need vitamin D which

> >

> > Here is a very informative presentation by Professor Reinhold

> > Vieth on the necessity of Vitamin D and its relationship

> > to cancer, MS, and osteoporosis. He is on the committee

> > which recently proposed an increase in the recommended

> > dietary intakes.

> >

> >

http://www.insinc.com/onlinetv/directms13oct2005/softvnetplayer.htm

> >

>