Thank you for this! What plant foods have the most Vitamin D? 

Oh, thanks for this! I had no idea about D-2 vs D-3. I've been taking a supplement and just now realize it's not vegan. Cheers! And I'm happy to see the sun finally coming out after what looked like a blizzard in Toronto this morning: think I'll go "catch some rays". ;)

Found out a few weeks ago that i have a vit. D deficiency. I am now on 50,000iu/week in a single pill for 12 weeks. Amazingly after the first pill i could feel a huge difference in my mood and muscles. I live in Houston and drive a convertable. In the summer i am a fish. I would never have guessed that my exhaustion and aches and pains were related to my Vit. D levels. I am still looking into adding more sources to my diet naturally though. Anyone have any thoughts?

I take D3 which is derived from mushrooms ... it is vegan.  D3 is better absorbed than D2 I have read ... and the kind from mushrooms is vegan.  I found it newly available at my local healthfood store.

I just had a blood test taken by my doctor at UCLA, and was told that I need to take a Vitamin D supplement.  I was told that 30 minutes a day in the sun would give me the approproate amount, but that it would be more harmful to my skin than beneficial to obtaining the vitamins.  I guess non-vegans can get this through vitamin D fortified milk, while vegans can drink soymilk or another kind of milk or food fortified with vitamin D.  I'm just taking a supplement now.  Thanks for writing about this, it's an issue everyone- not just vegans- should take into consideration for their health!  (Although I do think it's great that being vegan causes some people, including me, to take a deeper look into their overall health)

I'm on a supplement, too.  2,000 a day.  I don't think it's doing enough, my follow up bloodwork wasn't GREATLY improved  (though it was somewhat). Tracey - what pill are you taking??

Wow, thanks for posting! We don't see the sun much here in Pittsburgh during the winter. I try to take walks outside a few times per week, but my skin is pretty much completely covered from the cold. Now I'm a bit concerned that I'm not getting enough Vitamin D. I know it's added to some soy milks, along with other vitamins like B12, so I think I'll try to drink more soy milk.

I have been *mostly* vegan for a year now, about 8 mos into the vegan diet my Dr. took some blood tests and I was fabulous on everything except vitamin D, which was way way WAY low. She prescribed a supplement which was not vegan and I had to do some hunting to find one that was.

 If you haven't had your blood checked recently, or at all since going vegan, I definitely recomment just to get a handle on your bodies specific needs! A balanced plant based diet provides all the nutritional resources you need, but it takes a while to get a handle on the balanced part!

Patrick, I don't have them with me, but on the web it's looks like the generic ERGOCALCIFEROL. I will verify that though. I take 1 pill/week for 12 weeks...then will get rechecked...but had amazing results almost immediately. Two biggest for me was my muscles and joints stopped hurting, almost like someone took a can of WD40 to them! and i am no longer falling asleep at work, even after 8 hours of sleep and massive amounts of coffee, chia and Maca!

Vitamin D is really important for immunity. I was continually getting sick with sinus infections and ear issues and my doctor decided to check my vit. d--it was 15 ng/ml. After 8 weeks on a prescribed 50,000iu (1 pill weekly), I went up to 22 ng/ml, which is still deficient. So I am trying to boost it some more.

This is the first time I have heard anyone say that D2 is superior to D3. My reading has always said that d3 is naturally occuring and more bioavailable whereas D2 is synthetic and potentially toxic.

I think acquiring the vegan d3 is way worth it :-)

FYI
http://www.vitashine-d3.com/shop/row.html  

I, unfortunately, consistently have low vitamin D levels.  So, my doctor has been giving me prescription strength vit D to get my levels up.  But, ironically, today I got some Deva vegan multivitamins that have vitamin D in them and am going to start taking those.  It can be VERY serious to have a vitamin D deficiency.  I ended up in the hospital with addisons disease and a very severe vitamin D deficiency a few years ago.  Luckily, my doc sent me to the Cleveland Clinic (after months of my docs here not even checking my levels) and they found it.  In combination with the addison's disease I literally could hardly get off the sofa... even to shower!  But, now that we know I'm prone to it, my new doc keeps a close eye on it and I'm hoping the vegan vitamins help!

There is a new Vitamin D3 that is vegan! It is called Vitashine. Vegan Essentials carries it!

One error in the article - MOST vitamin D3 is non-vegan, but there are some vegan options out there (there are ways to derive D3 in vegan source from some types of mushrooms as well as lichen plant).  I get mine from VeganEssentials.com, they sell the few vegan D3 products that exist as well as a lot of vegan D2 supplements as well.  There's one by Garden of Life that CLAIMS to be vegan, but it isn't as it uses non-vegan D3 to "convert" to supposedly vegan D3, and should be avoided at all costs because of the unethical practices of the manufacturer's claims that are false.

Personally, I recommend the D3 due to the science supporting that it has a much better absorption rate than D2.  I used to think I was getting enough from the 400mg of D2 in my multi-vitamin, but came down with a nasty deficiency last year and felt like I was losing my mind and my health.  Took a prescription formula for 6 months (not vegan unfortunately, but one tiny tablet per week isn't undoing everything else I do for the sake of the animals), felt better, and now I take the D3 and my levels keep testing at normal now when I get blood work done.  D3 seems like something most don't worry about, but it can be REALLY bad if you get a deficiency, I have never felt so miserable in all my life!!!

Interesting timing...I just saw a webinar presentation on vitamin D yesterday. On thing to be aware of is that if you have your vitamin D levels checked, make sure any follow up testing is done in the same lab. There is a lot of variation in vitamin D levels between labs depending on the method used for testing. Many underestimate the level of vitamin D. There is also a lot of debate about what the normal reference range should be. The discussion will remain a hot topic I'm sure...

Lisa Menninger, M.D.

Clinical Pathologist