Vitamin D is a fat-soluble nutrient that helps your body absorb calcium, build strong bones, and supports your immune system.
Vitamin D is technically not a vitamin but a family of nutrients with similar chemical structures, and the most common sub-types are vitamin D2 and D3.
Although vitamin D can be found in various foods, most of its natural sources are animal products, which begs the question – is vitamin D3 vegan?
Vitamin D is often called ‘the sunshine vitamin’ because your skin produces it when exposed to sunshine, and it plays a crucial role in heart health, your immune system and physical development, to name a few. However, deficiencies are common worldwide, and an estimated 40% of Americans are vitamin D deficient, though many cases go undiagnosed as the symptoms are often very mild.
Furthermore, people on vegetarian or vegan diets are more likely to be vitamin D deficient, as many natural sources of vitamin D – such as dairy, fish and meat – are animal-based. Vitamin D3, in particular, can only be found in animal-based foods, though it is often extracted and added to foods to ‘fortify’ them, but is vitamin D3 vegan in this form?