There's no such thing as vitamin D
What if 'vitamin' D doesn't exist - and synthetic D3 is doing more harm than good? A look at the science your doctor probably hasn't read.
Emily Kate
What would you think if I told you vitamin D doesn't exist?
Because it doesn't.
By definition, a vitamin is something that your body cannot create.
You can and do create hormone D.
Before entering the body, this compound is known as a secosteroid hormone precursor.
Calcitriol, 1,25-(OH) D3, and calcidiol, 25-(OH) D3, are just two well-known forms of the twelve major human D3 forms - but all forms of D3 are precursors to hormones - never true vitamins.
Secosteroid D (whether D2 from plants or D3 from animals or skin) must undergo enzymatic conversion steps in the body - first in the liver to calcidiol (25-hydroxy D3) and then mainly in the kidneys to calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxy D3).
At no stage does D2 or D3 act like a vitamin - it does not serve as a coenzyme or simple nutrient. It functions as a prohormone immediately on entering the body.
The only reason it was historically called a vitamin is because early researchers didn't understand that it functions as a hormone. There is no valid scientific reason for labeling it a vitamin.
From the moment it is produced in the skin or ingested from food, it is part of a hormonal pathway - not a vitamin pathway.
If D3 is a hormone precursor rather than a vitamin, then supplementing it is not “topping up a nutrient” — it is interfering with a hormonal feedback system.
What you'll find in this article:
- Why D3 is a secosteroid hormone precursor, not a vitamin - and why the original labelling was a historical mistake nobody bothered to fix
- The 12 major forms of D3 in the human body and why your blood test only measures one or two of them
- What synthetic D3 supplementation actually does to calcium, magnesium and your hormonal feedback loops
- Why adding calcium or K2 to "fix" the problem can actually worsen it
- The peer-reviewed conditions linked to long-term D3 supplementation - from arterial calcification to neurodegeneration
- How to support real, usable hormone D year-round - even in the dark northern winter, without ever touching a synthetic capsule