Hi,
I used to take 10,000 IU of Vitamin D3 supplement daily with breakfast and when I did a blood test the levels were 40. Then I increased to 20,000 IU daily with breakfast and lunch, but the next blood test showed the level was 39.
Any ideas on how I can optimize the absorption of the vitamin d3 supplement?
Thanks,
Dannilo.
Great question, Dannilo. Vitamin D is best absorbed with meals containing higher (healthy) fat content so depending on what you typically have a various meals of the day, it may be best to move that supplement to dinner, where most people consume higher fats due to cooking with oils more commonly at that meal.
Other factors, including sub-optimal liver, kidney, or gut health, and obesity can greatly limit absorption and markedly decrease benefit from supplementation. If you have conditions including intestinal permeability, Crohn’s disease, or celiac disease, or if your liver or kidneys are impaired, absorption may be limited, so this may mean getting more support for those conditions (if present) at a root level, and/or increasing supplementation of a bio-available form may be important.
Hope that helps!
-Zoe
Zoe,
I have read some vitamins do not really contain the levels of a product that they claim to have. Could this also be a reason for the Vit.D level not increasing?Interesting to see your note on how it may not be absorbed. I didn’t know it had to be taken with fats nor the kidney and other conditions that may affect the D absorbtion.I can now say I learned something new in my profile!
Good to hear!
You’re right about dishonesty in advertising. Third-party verifiers, such as Consumer Labs, do a good job of evaluating many supplements for their ‘actual’ content versus their ‘marketed’ content which sometimes differ. This can definitely be a factor as well.
Best!
Zoe
