Is Your Vitamin D Supplement Sustainable? A PhD Nutrition Scientist Explains

Have you ever wondered about the source of the vitamin D in your favorite supplement?

While sustainable nutrition often begins with reevaluating your diet, it's equally important to pay close attention to the ingredients in the supplements you consume.

Ultimately, the nutrients and bioactives in your go-to products originate from somewhere—and many mainstream supplements on the market fail to prioritize sustainability, if they consider it at all.

A common ingredient (aka raw material) in a number of health and beauty products, lanolin is a yellow fat that comes from sheep's wool1 that is UV irradiated to create a concentrated cholecalciferol source.

Though lanolin is a perfectly acceptable and quality source of vitamin D3 found in supplements and doesn't pose any significant safety concerns, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), it does come from an animal product (i.e., shearing of wool).

So, if that's something you're trying to cut down on as a part of your plant-based diet or personal approach to sustainability, you might be interested in a plant source of vitamin D when supplementing.

Traditionally, though, plant-based vitamin D supplements were only made from either irradiated yeast or mushrooms and only offered vitamin D2, which is a less than ideal supplement solution. Why? 

Ashley Jordan Ferira, Ph.D., RDN, mbg's former VP of scientific affairs, explains: "The totality of clinical science clearly demonstrates that vitamin D2, ergocalciferol, is two to three times less effective than D3, cholecalciferol, at raising and maintaining vitamin D levels in the body.

"The science is lucid and compelling.*"

Luckily, there are plant sources of D3 out there. The ideal option, according to Ferira, is algae. "Organic algal-sourced vitamin D3 is the cream of the crop for vitamin D," says Ferira.

Though harder to find, algal-sourced vitamin D3 can make for a supplement that's both sourced from plants and more sustainable.

VegD3®, for example, is a non-GMO, USDA organic, plant-origin, environmentally sustainable algal vitamin D3 option that's chemically identical to the D3 you'd get from the usual animal-based lanolin.

The process of creating this algae-based vitamin D3 is also free of pesticides (something that can't always be guaranteed for sheep-based options), according to the brand.

Since plant-based supplemental sources of vitamin D have traditionally offered vitamin D2, VegD3® offers a unique source that's both sustainable and the form of D the body prefers and needs daily (aka, this is an essential-fat-soluble micronutrient you must consume because your body can't synthesize it).

In fact, VegD3® is a premium algal D3 ingredient that is produced "at a U.K.-based research center using advanced technology that has zero negative impact on the local environment," Ferira says.

This is a big deal, considering that the other plant-derived option for vitamin D3 comes from lichen, which takes many years (to decades) to grow and then has to be removed from its natural ecosystem for the vitamin D to be extracted, adds Ferira. "Plus there are animals that were relying on this lichen for their nourishment. It's now gone," Ferira says.

Not to mention, the lichen that D is pulled from may be contaminated—and the concentration of D3 you can ultimately end up with can vary significantly based on the type of lichen harvested and the season it's harvested in, she says.

To get a sense of how sustainable your vitamin D supplement is, you'll have to turn the bottle around and take a close look at the label. "Look at the Supplement Facts panel box and the product page for details on your vitamin D3 ingredient source. Lanolin is a quality animal-derived source, but if you're seeking a plant-derived, sustainable option, organic algae is where it's at," Ferira concludes.

On the back of a bottle of mbg's vitamin D3 potency+, for example, you'll see vitamin D clearly listed as "vitamin D (as VegD3® organic vegan algal cholecalciferol)," which lets you know that you can feel good about the source and environmental impact (or lack thereof!) of your supplement routine.