{"id":301806,"date":"2025-10-14T05:16:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T05:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/301806\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T05:16:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T05:16:11","slug":"popular-vitamin-d-supplement-may-have-an-unexpected-effect-experts-warn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/301806\/","title":{"rendered":"Popular vitamin D supplement may have an unexpected effect, experts warn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vitamin D is known to be essential to many aspects of\u00a0human health\u00a0<\/a>\u2014 but a new study suggests that taking a certain form of it can have a negative effect.<\/p>\n

The more potent and longer-lasting form, vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is produced naturally when the body is exposed to sunlight and is also found in\u00a0animal products,<\/a> while vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol)\u00a0<\/strong>comes from plant or fungal sources, per the National Institutes of Health.<\/p>\n

Researchers from the University of Surrey in the UK found that taking vitamin D2 can cause reduced levels of vitamin D3 in the body.<\/p>\n

They made this determination by analyzing 11 randomized\u00a0controlled trials<\/a>\u00a0including 655 adults, which showed that people taking vitamin D2 supplements had less vitamin D3 than those who did not take D2, according to a university press release.<\/p>\n

The findings of the study \u2014 conducted along with the John Innes Centre and the Quadram Institute Bioscience in Norwich, England \u2014 were published in the journal Nutrition Reviews.<\/p>\n

Taking vitamin D2 can cause reduced levels of vitamin D3 in the body, according to the UK study. SERSOLL \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

The study\u2019s trial included 655 adults. amenic181 \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have shown that vitamin D3, but not vitamin D2, appears to stimulate the type I interferon signaling system in the body \u2013 a key part of the immune system that provides a first line of defense against\u00a0bacteria and viruses<\/a>,\u201d stated Professor Colin Smith, who led the above study. \u201cThus, a healthy vitamin D3 status may help prevent viruses and bacteria from gaining a foothold in the body.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor Martin Warren, chief scientific officer at the Quadram Institute, confirmed in the release that vitamin D deficiency is a \u201csignificant\u00a0public health\u00a0concern<\/a>,\u201d particularly during the winter months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis collaborative research effort aligns well with the Quadram Institute\u2019s mission to deliver healthier lives through food innovation to enhance the nutrient density of the\u00a0food we eat,\u201d he said. \u201cTackling this with the most effective form of vitamin D supplementation or fortification is of the utmost importance to the health of the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

More research is needed to determine whether vitamins D2 and D3 affect the body differently Seventyfour \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

More research is needed to determine whether vitamins D2 and D3 affect the body differently \u2014 and whether that could change\u00a0doctors\u2019 medical advice<\/a>\u00a0on which type to take, the researchers concluded.<\/p>\n

There were several limitations to the analysis, the study findings noted.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

For example, there were only a small number of studies with many differences among them, such as their duration, the amount and timing of doses, and how results were measured. There was also the potential for biases due to incomplete reporting of details.<\/p>\n

The results could also be affected by factors such as the amount of\u00a0sunlight exposure<\/a>, as well as some people taking supplements and others eating vitamin-fortified foods, the researchers noted.<\/p>\n

Some foods containing vitamin D3 include fatty fish, egg yolks, cod liver oil and fortified dairy and animal foods, health sources confirm. Vitamin D2 can be found in mushrooms, fortified foods and some plant\/fungal-based supplements.<\/p>\n

The study was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vitamin D is known to be essential to many aspects of\u00a0human health\u00a0\u2014 but a new study suggests that…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":301807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[210,1165,1182,881,1183,2796,67,132,68,2797],"class_list":{"0":"post-301806","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-lifestyle","10":"tag-nutrition","11":"tag-public-health","12":"tag-research","13":"tag-supplements","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-vitamins"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115370825014437310","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}