Vitamin D3 2000 IU Tablets

Details

A plain daily cholecalciferol tablet at a 2,000 IU claim, in the strength Indian adults are most often put on when a blood test comes back low. The D3 is grown from lichen rather than extracted from sheep wool lanolin, so it suits vegetarians and vegans, and it is D3 rather than D2. There are three cheats in this category and all three are legal. The first is that a label claim is not a measurement. Vitamin D3 degrades in a tablet, so a brand can print 2,000 IU on day one, add nothing, and be well under it by month eighteen with no test ever run. We assay every lot by HPLC after the tablet is pressed and print the tested figure beside the claim, plus the release specification the lot has to clear to leave the plant. The second is D2 sold as vitamin D. Ergocalciferol is cheaper and it is not the same molecule as cholecalciferol; the two are not interchangeable at equal IU. If a pack says only vitamin D, look for which one. This says cholecalciferol on the front. The third is vegetarian marketing on a lanolin extract. Lanolin D3 comes from sheep wool grease. It is a perfectly good raw material and it is not vegetarian, so the identity of the source is stated instead of implied.

• Claim 2,000 IU. Assayed 2,050 IU per tablet by HPLC, lot 26-D3-114, certificate on this page
• Release specification 1,900 to 2,300 IU, which is 95 to 115 percent of claim, tested on the finished tablet and not on the raw material
• End of shelf life floor 1,900 IU, held by a 5 percent manufacturing overage rather than by hoping
• Cholecalciferol, D3, from Cladonia lichen biomass. Not ergocalciferol and not lanolin
• Three excipients in total, all named below in descending order. No titanium dioxide, because the tablet is uncoated
• No sugar, no artificial colour, no artificial flavour, no gelatin
• Vitamin D deficiency is widespread in India, and a supplement is for a shortfall your doctor has found or has reason to expect. It is not a medicine, it does not treat anything, and it is not a substitute for food or for daylight
• The tablet is small, off-white and slightly speckled. Lichen extract is not perfectly uniform in colour and nothing is added to make it look so