Vitamin D
Vitamin D3 is found almost exclusively in animal products, namely fish, dairy products, eggs and meat. Lichens also contain vitamin D, as do various fungi. The latter, however, only contain the less effective vitamin D2.
Vitamin D is a very peculiar vitamin. In the classical sense it is not a vitamin but rather a pro-hormone. Vitamin D is scarcely found in food; instead, the body produces it in the skin given sufficient exposure to sunlight. It then gets converted in the body to an important hormone which regulates cell functioning and bodily processes. Dependant on a sufficient supply of vitamin D, almost all cells of the body have special receptors for this vitamin D–derived hormone.
Vitamin D is still being intensively researched. New mechanisms of action of this fascinating vitamin are discovered almost every year. So far, the following statements on vitamin D have been released by the EU (EFSA):
Vitamin D contributes to:
- Normal absorption and utilisation of calcium and phosphorus
- Normal calcium levels in the blood
- The maintenance of bones
- The maintenance of normal muscle function
- The maintenance of healthy teeth
- Normal immune system functioning
- Cell division
