Vitamin D3 1000 by Nordic Naturals

A 1000 IU soft gel is a maintenance dose. It suits adults whose Vitamin D (25-hydroxy) result is in range or only slightly low and who want to keep it there: people who get little midday sun, cover up or use sunscreen consistently, have darker skin at northern latitudes, or are heading into winter. If your level is clearly low, you will probably need a higher repletion dose first and can step down to this afterward.

Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is the form your skin makes from sunlight, and it raises blood levels more reliably than D2. The liver and kidneys convert it into the active hormone that lets the gut absorb calcium and keeps parathyroid hormone, the signal that pulls calcium out of bone, in check. Here the D3 is dissolved in organic extra virgin olive oil inside a small orange-flavored soft gel, with rosemary extract and RRR-alpha tocopherol to protect the oil.

Each mini soft gel provides 1000 IU (25 mcg) of vitamin D3. The label directs adults to take one soft gel daily, with food. A meal that contains some fat suits it best, since vitamin D is fat-soluble; the time of day does not matter. Count the vitamin D in any multivitamin or calcium product you also take. Recheck Vitamin D (25-hydroxy) after 8–12 weeks and adjust with your clinician if you are still under target.

Avoid unsupervised vitamin D if you have had high blood calcium, recurrent kidney stones, primary hyperparathyroidism, sarcoidosis or significant kidney disease. Thiazide diuretics raise the chance of high calcium when combined with vitamin D. Orlistat and bile acid sequestrants such as cholestyramine reduce its absorption, so take them at a different time of day. If you are pregnant, nursing or on prescription medicines, check with your clinician. The soft gel is gelatin, so it is not vegetarian.

Blood levels move slowly: expect a measurable rise over 2–3 months, and no change you can feel unless you started out low. Higher-strength soft gels suit repletion, and liquid drops suit people who want to adjust the dose finely or cannot swallow capsules. Whether extra vitamin D helps mood or immune function in people who are not low is uncertain; its role in calcium and bone is the well-established one.