Dietary Disorder

I recently read an article written by a vegan (no animal products whatsoever) dietician who mentioned vitamin D supplementation. Unfortunately for herself and her readers, the information she gave them was inaccurate, even potentially harmful. She stated that vegans should not use vitamin D3/cholecalciferol since it came from animal sources. Instead, they should use vitamin D2/ergocalciferol which is from plant sources.

The idea that ergocalciferol (D2) is equivalent to cholecalciferol (D3) has been shown to be based on archaic, erroneous data as shown by the quote below.

“The case that vitamin D2 should no longer be considered equivalent to vitamin D3 is based on differences in their efficacy at raising serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, diminished binding of vitamin D2 metabolites to vitamin D binding protein in plasma, and a nonphysiologic metabolism and shorter shelf life of vitamin D2. Vitamin D2, or ergocalciferol, should not be regarded as a nutrient suitable for supplementation or fortification.”

Check out this link for the full article as published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/84/4/694

It is impossible to get enough vitamin D from one’s diet to achieve the optimal level of 50 – 60 ng/mL of 25 OHD even if one were to properly eat foods with D3 such as sardines. Therefore, if one is going to avoid UVB exposure, then one must take vitamin D3 supplements with 1000 IU/day as a minimum dosage. More is probably necessary to optimize 25 OHD.

The article allowed for comments, so I commented on it as above. My comment was up for about two hours and then disappeared. The vegan dietician has both MPH (Masters of Public Health) and RD (Registered Dietician) degrees, so one would assume that she was trained in critical thinking and the scientific method. However, removing my comment does not support that supposition.

By removing my comment, she is denying her readers the opportunity to judge the validity of her own comments. She evidently also denies the validity of research published in one of the major journals in her own field.

Vitamin D3/cholecalciferol is absolutely necessary for optimal health. Using the plant-based form will not cut it. Hiding that information from one's readers does not alter the facts, but it does alter one's perceptions of the one doing the hiding.