There's Mad Cow in Them Thar Vitamins

It turns out that vitamin D3, also known as cholecalciferol, is derived from animals. Usually it comes from sheep or fish, but it can also be derived from cattle brains.

Cattle brains. The source of mad cow prions. The thing that we have all been warned against eating in order to avoid contracting vCJD, the human equivalent of mad cow. There is no way to tell if the cholecalciferol in your food came from a sheep, a fish, or a bovine brain. Even if you eat meat, the fact that cattle-brain-derived products are still allowed to enter the US food supply should be a matter of concern.

The reason D3 in particular is added to may food products, including multivitamins, is because it is very easily absorbed by our systems. D3 is the kind of vitamin D we produce ourselves when we go out in the sunlight. The problem arises if/when cattle-brain-derived D3, cholecalciferol, is in our food. Cholecalciferol is even in products which are labeled vegetarian, such as some kinds of multivitamins and some soy milks.

Vitamin D2, ergocalciferol, is derived from yeast and is both vegetarian-safe and cattle-brain free.

From now on, I will be very carefully checking the labels of everything I buy to see what kind of vitamin D is in my groceries. I will also return to this post from time to time to add the names of products I find which contain cholecalciferol.