Vitamin D isn’t actually a vitamin; it’s a prohormone that goes through a two-step conversion process called hydroxylation before your body can actually use it and feel its benefits. All these studies on the benefits aren’t about cholecalciferol; they’re about calcitriol.
Standard vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), whether your skin makes it or you swallow it, isn't active yet. Your liver first converts it to calcifediol, also called calcidiol or 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3]. Your kidneys and other tissues then convert calcifediol into calcitriol, the active hormone with all the benefits the body needs.
VitamoreD Plus delivers Calcifediol in one easy-to-swallow capsule blended with K2 as MK4 and MK7, which rises with your vitamin D dosage. VitamoreD Plus delivers the rapid absorption and sustainable benefits of Calcifediol that are measurable with K2 in two forms.
The three-step process for vitamin D to convert and work
- Cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3): The form made by the skin when exposed to UVB sunlight rays, or the form taken as a traditional D3 supplement. This is the form of vitamin D also stored in body fat. Vitamin D as cholecalciferol is inactive and needs to be converted twice to become the form of Vitamin D (Calcitriol) that delivers the health benefits vitamin D research suggests.
- Calcifediol 25-(OH)D3: The circulating form of vitamin D3, the form screened and measured in your blood test by your GP and practitioner to show if you have too much or too little vitamin D. This is the form of D3 that practitioners refer to as your “vitamin D level” and is the form delivered by VitamoreD in an easy-to-swallow supplement. To become this form, cholecalciferol must first be converted by the CYP2R1 gene in the liver.
- Calcitriol 1,25(OH)2D3: The active hormonal form of vitamin D that is created when Calcifediol is converted in the kidneys. Calcifediol is the form of vitamin D that provides the benefits of vitamin D, i.e., mood, energy, bone and joint health, and immunity.
Calcifediol is measurable, targeted and increases vitamin D levels faster. The problem with traditional Cholecalciferol supplements is that they require fat, or adequate amounts of cholesterol, if you are trying to synthesise vitamin D from the sun. But it still needs to be converted by the CYP2R1 gene in the liver. This gene conversion in the liver can be reduced and even suppressed, especially in people who have chronically deficient vitamin D levels, are obese, are fasting and/or have type 1 or type 2 diabetes. This is why Calcifediol exists: it bypasses this step, doesn’t require liver conversion, is fat-soluble, and doesn't care about your weight or any condition you are suffering from.
Where Vitamin K2 Fits within VitamoreD Plus and why take 2 forms (MK4 + MK7)
Vitamin D increases the body's production of certain proteins, including osteocalcin in bone and matrix Gla protein (MGP). Those proteins only work once vitamin K has modified them, a process called carboxylation. Vitamin D helps make the proteins; vitamin K switches them on.
We added Vitamin K2 in two forms, MK4 and MK7, because they behave differently in the body. MK7, which is well researched and has a longer half-life (3 days), builds steady levels when taken daily and breaks down slowly in the blood. Whereas MK4 is the form of Vitamin K we get from food such as leafy greens, and it is the main form of vitamin K found in our tissues, brain and pancreas. Vitamin K2, as MK-4, is cleared from circulation within a few hours. Because it is rapidly metabolised by the liver, higher clinical doses are utilised in studies to help target peripheral tissue health and bone density.
Using both K2 forms gives a broader profile than picking the one that's easier to formulate around. It's the same thinking behind our 5-in-1 magnesium: different forms of magnesium, different benefits to the body and every magnesium amount on the label.
