Whether for ethical, health, or sustainability concerns, we respect your decision to follow this lifestyle and honestly just want to help you live your best life—which involves making sure you’re getting enough vitamin D. Given that 41% of American adults2 are insufficient in D (and 29% are straight-up deficient) per blood test results and the top sources of vitamin D are cod liver oil and beef liver (eeek), people who follow a vegan diet have to be extra intentional about their vitamin D intake. With the right knowledge and a high-quality supplement on hand, keeping your plant-powered body pumped full of enough vitamin D is totally doable. Here’s how to get enough vitamin D when you’re proudly plant-based—from both vegan foods with vitamin D2 and high-quality vegan vitamin D supplementation. Regular and meaningful vitamin D intake—from food, sunshine, and proper supplementation—can support the gut microbiome, encourage healthy muscle function, promote a healthy pregnancy3, and bolster deep, restful sleep.* Without enough vitamin D, you can experience suboptimal bone health, low mood, less immune resilience, brain fog, and higher oxidative stress.* With a hand in so many different functions in the body, you can see why vitamin D is a vital part of holistic health conversations at mbg. “While we are huge fans of obtaining vitamin D from food sources and the sun, studies show that many American adults have suboptimal vitamin D levels, so supplementation is a great way to ensure levels are sufficient—with sunlight and foods providing an extra bonus,”* the Married to Health team tells mbg. The experts all agree: The only way to achieve sufficient levels of vitamin D on a regular basis (daily, in fact, is the goal) is through supplementation.* When aiming to up your vitamin D levels, vitamin D3 is 87% more effective5 at raising and maintaining those levels than D2.* As mbg’s vice president of scientific affairs, Ashley Jordan Ferira, Ph.D., RDN, shares, the totality of science is clear: D2 just isn’t suitable for supplementation when compared to the superior stability, bioefficacy, and bioactivity of D3.* When looking for a vegan vitamin-D3-sourced supplement, be sure to check the source. Many supplements source their D3 from lanolin, which is a high-quality source but is derived from sheep’s wool (for you vegan-minded folks). However, vegan D supplements will source their vitamin D from mushrooms (remember, that’s the inferior D2 form). On the rare occasion, an innovative product will provide you with D3 from algae or lichen. From a purity and sustainability standpoint, we are definitely pro-algae (read more about Ferira’s take on lichen’s less-than-sustainable practices here). “The unicorn of vegan D sources comes from sustainable, organic algae,” concludes Ferira. Vitamin D serum levels, aka 25(OH)D, are measured in ng/mL when your health care provider measures them (i.e., blood test). In order to achieve the clinical definition (cutoff) of vitamin D sufficiency, which is 30 ng/mL, you need at least 3,000 IU of vitamin D3 per day, and this level of D isn’t even enough. As Ferira is quick to point out, “This vitamin D math presupposes certain baseline assumptions about body composition. According to clinical research, folks with overweight or obesity need two to three times more vitamin D input to impact serum D levels in the same manner.” Furthermore, Ferira and other nutrition experts believe this 30 ng/mL cutoff level is not something to strive for but rather should be avoided with intention. Guided by science and the professional expertise of health care practitioners, mbg believes that the true 25(OH)D serum level goal is 50 ng/mL. Targeting and supporting this optimal level daily has an enormous impact on all aspects of human health—including immune and bone health, says board-certified endocrinologist Brittany Henderson, M.D.* That said, 5,000 IU per day is an efficacious dose to achieve this and an appropriate amount for the average person to take in order to achieve sufficient vitamin D status.* And for those individuals who are mostly plant-based but don’t follow a strictly vegan diet, consider mbg’s vitamin D3 potency+ for your stand-alone go-to daily D supplement. This powerhouse, innovative formula utilizes D3 sourced from organic algal oil and pairs it with a blend of three organic, virgin oils (flaxseed, avocado, and extra-virgin olive) for built-in absorption technology.* The gelcap (high-quality bovine gelatin) is what makes this product technically not vegan. To read more on why we didn’t choose a vegan gelcap for this formula (hint: ingredient stability and porosity issues), check this out. And if you look at the scientific evidence and ask the experts, they all tend to agree—supplementation is the most effective way to get the necessary amount of vitamin D to achieve healthy vitamin D status for your bone, muscles, brain, gut, etc. (shall I go on?).* Proper intake of this MVP micronutrient vitamin D is critical to a thriving body and mind.* And what could be more important than taking care of your whole-body health so that you can get back to saving the animals, saving the planet, and veganizing every recipe that comes to mind? With our simple list of criteria, you’ll be able to find a premium, clean supplement that supports healthy D levels, aligns with your lifestyle, and pairs perfectly with your oat milk latte.*
