Dr Covington is answering your questions!
This is a great question.
Vitamin D is made in the body, therefore, it is a NON-essential vitamin – meaning we don’t need to ingest it.
Vitamin D is activated in the skin by UV rays (or sunlight) and if we supplement or intake Vitamin D orally it comes from 2 main sources, 1 is from plant fatty acids (common in supplements) and the other is from animal fatty acids –>if you eat meat, oily fish, or eggs you are getting Vitamin D.
As mentioned above, Vitamin D is in a fat form; therefore, it is a “fat soluble” vitamin. This is likely the reason we don’t commonly see Vitamin D in a powder form – due to it’s (1) absorption, (2) bio-availability and (3) the source.
The 1 exception to this is Vitamin D found in protein powder.
If you are looking for a powder version of Vitamin D a protein shake or meal replacement shake is likely the best way to get it! For people who don’t like to swallow pills this is a great alternative.
For example all of our meal replacement shakes are powder and have approximately 90% of the daily recommended allowance for Vitamin D (check out our meal replacement products here ).
Other options for easier to ingest Vitamin D (not powder) are chews, gummies, and liquid vitamins (like Mary Ruth’s liquid vitamin that can be found here), For patients trying to lose weight watch the sugar content in non-pill versions of vitamins. If using a pill form of Vitamin D supplementation always be sure to consult a physician first to ensure the dosage is correct for you. Most general daily multivitamins contain 10-20 mcg of Vitamin D and are intended for daily ingestion.
A general maintenance dose of Vitamin D is 2000 mcg and can be taken daily as an individual of separate supplement if needed.
Hope this helps! Dr Covington