You might see some changes to our Multivitamin for Vegans and its packaging as you receive your next orders from us. Over the last few months, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to improve our Multivitamin formula based on your ever-important feedback.
We haven’t just reduced the carbon footprint of our supply chain by streamlining all production and delivery from the same supplier in Germany – we’ve also upgraded our ingredients to give you the best possible vegan nutrition boost the market has to offer. The new formula will contain vegan vitamin D3 instead of D2 and methylcobalamin instead of cyanocobalamin as B12.
Why have we only just moved to Vitamin D3?
When our pharmacist founders, John and Abdul first formulated our vegan vitamins, a vegan vitamin D3 supplement wasn’t readily available so a synthetic version (D2) had to be produced in a chemical laboratory. This is because D3 is usually extracted from lanolin (the oil that coats sheep’s wool) for use in supplements or fortification. Since our launch, a method of extracting vitamin D3 from lichen (a sort of hybrid between a fungus and algae or bacteria) has been made available. It’s taken us a while to get our hands on it but we’ve finally found the right balance with the rest of the formula to make it work!
Vitamin D3 vs D2
Vitamin D2 and D3 are not equal when it comes to raising your vitamin D level.
Both are effectively absorbed into the bloodstream. However, the liver metabolises them differently.
Vitamins D2 and D3 are both metabolised into the hydroxyl form of vitamin D, which is known as calcifediol. Calcifediol is the main form of vitamin D, which is stored in your body ready for when it’s needed.
The difference between vitamin D2 and D3 is that D2 yields less calcifediol than an equal amount of vitamin D3. Most studies show that vitamin D3 is more effective than vitamin D2 at raising levels of calcifediol and reducing your chances of a vitamin D deficiency, meaning your body can get more actual vitamin D from taking vegan D3 over D2.
Methylcobalamin vs Cyanocobalamin
We used to use cyanocobalamin in our Multivitamin gummies. Like D2, this was a synthetic vitamin. There are advantages and disadvantages to all 4 different forms of B12, but we decided that the fact that cyanocobalamin was cheaper owing to its greater stability wasn’t good enough.
Methylcobalamin has become a viable alternative for us since new production methods have made it more stable. So why is this better for you, too?
Well, methylcobalamin is the sort most commonly found in food, so it’s completely natural. This also means that this is the form the body is ready to deal with, whereas a reaction has to happen to convert cyanocobalamin into the bioavailable methylcobalamin or adenosylcobalamin. This reaction takes time and energy, meaning that the cyanocobalamin can be flushed out before the body has had time to get its fill.
Studies have found after supplementing that a higher percentage of methylcobalamin is uptaken, and that more cyanocobalamin is excreted in urine suggesting the methyl form is retained better. The longer it’s in there for, the more opportunity it has to do us good.
The Takeaway
Anything is better than nothing, so don’t fret – cyanocobalamin and D2 are still effective at treating a deficiency as long as the dose is right! These changes are just giving your body an even better chance to be its best by covering the bases of liver function and stomach acid metabolism.
Any questions regarding our new Multivitamin? Leave them in the comments below and we’ll get back to you!