There are two types of vitamin D: vegetable Ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) and animal Cholecalciferol, or vitamin D3. I am only going to address vitamin D3 here.
Your body makes Vitamin D from sunlight. After only 10-20 minutes in the sun, your body has already manufactured tens of thousands of I.U. of Cholecalciferol, by irradiation of the cholesterol in your skin with ultraviolet light. Sunscreen blocks this from happening.
From there, it travels to the liver where it is coverted to Calcidiol, or 25-hydroxycholecalciferol. This is not yet "active" vitamin D.
From there, a limited amount is converted in the kidneys into active Calcitriol, or 1,25-hydroxycholecalciferol.
Vitamin D has been found to have a profound impact on bone health, which is largely because of it's role in calcium metabolism, which also impacts its role in hormone production. Subsequently, doctors have begun recommending large doses of vitamin D for both. However, there is a great mystery in this.
Many people with osteoporosis and hormonal issues may have high levels of Calcidiol (inactive), but low levels of Calcitriol (active). The discrepancy between Calcidiol and Calcitriol (active) levels has been a source of great contention in the medical community for some time now. The essence of the question at the moment for medical researchers has been;
"What is the rate limiter for creation of active vitamin D?"
Well, seek and ye shall find.
Another element that has been found to greatly influence bone mineralization and hormone production has been Boron.
Boron has also been found to have one other profound effect:
Boron has been found to increase the conversion of Calcidiol (inactive) to Calcitriol (active).
Coincidence? I think not.
Could boron be the missing key in a large number of calcium metabolism-related disorders?
Well, we already know that vitamin D is intimately involved with certain autoimmune disorders...
One of the richest sources of boron is raisins.
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