Good Vitamin D 50 mcg D3 + Bromelain – Bone & Immune Support | 60 Capsules
Good Vitamin D is a once-a-day capsule with 50 mcg (2,000 IU) of vitamin D3 as cholecalciferol, 250% of the Daily Value, plus 200 mg of bromelain, a protein-digesting enzyme from pineapple. Each bottle holds 60 gelatin capsules, a 60-day supply at one capsule a day. Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium and supports healthy bones, muscle function and normal immune function.†
Your skin makes vitamin D from sunlight, which works fine until you spend most daylight hours indoors or live somewhere with a long gray winter (hello, Oregon). Very few foods naturally contain much of it, either. Good Vitamin D is for adults who want a steady daily amount of D3 without measuring drops.
If you're in your 30s or 40s, this is a smart time to start. The routines you build now carry you into your 70s and 80s, and bones are a long game. Aging isn't optional. Getting old is.
Why people take Good Vitamin D
- Bones. Vitamin D helps your gut absorb calcium, one of the main building blocks of bone, and supports healthy bones.†
- Immune function. Your immune cells carry vitamin D receptors, and vitamin D supports normal immune function.†
- Muscles and nerves. Your muscles need vitamin D to move, and your nerves need it to carry messages between your brain and your body.†
- Healthy vitamin D levels. D3 is the form your skin makes, and in a daily-dose trial it raised blood vitamin D more than the same amount of D2.†
- Bromelain on board. Each capsule adds 200 mg of bromelain, an enzyme from the pineapple plant that breaks proteins into smaller pieces.†
What's in each serving
| Ingredient | Amount per serving | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|
| Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) | 50 mcg | 250% |
| Bromelain 1200 GDU/g | 200 mg | *Daily Value not established |
Serving size is 1 capsule, and each bottle holds 60 capsules, so a bottle lasts 60 days at the label's serving. Other ingredients, as printed: Gelatin (100% natural, preservative-free, from capsule shell), cellulose, magnesium trisilicate, magnesium stearate, and silica. The label also states: "NO corn, soy, salt, gluten, milk & egg products, sugar, starch, or preservatives." The capsule shell is gelatin, so this is not a vegetarian product.
How Good Vitamin D works
Vitamin D3: the form your skin makes
Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is the form your skin produces when UVB light hits it, and on its own it isn't active yet. Your liver converts it to 25-hydroxyvitamin D, the form a blood test measures, and your kidneys turn that into calcitriol, the active form that helps your gut absorb calcium (from the NIH fact sheet on how vitamin D is activated and how much adults need). Vitamin D works outside of bone too: the NIH consumer fact sheet notes that muscles need it to move and nerves need it to carry messages.†
Why D3 and not D2? In a 12-week randomized, placebo-controlled trial, 335 healthy women aged 20 to 64 took a placebo or 15 mcg a day of D2 or D3, in juice or a biscuit, through a UK winter. Blood vitamin D in the D3 groups rose about 15 to 17 nmol/L more than in the D2 groups (a daily-dose trial comparing D2 and D3). It's one trial, in women, using fortified food at a lower dose than ours, so read it as direction, not a number.
How much does a daily dose move blood levels? In a winter study of 67 healthy men in Omaha given 0, 25, 125 or 250 mcg of D3 a day for about 20 weeks, blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D settled in direct proportion to the dose, about 0.7 nmol/L higher for every extra microgram a day (a dose-response study of daily vitamin D3). The response to vitamin D also varies widely from person to person (the dietary fat study below opens with that point), so the only way to know your own level is a 25-hydroxyvitamin D blood test.
Vitamin D and calcium
In a Creighton University study, people absorbed 65% more calcium from a 500 mg dose when their blood vitamin D averaged about 86 nmol/L than when it averaged about 50 nmol/L, and both numbers sit inside the normal reference range (a study of calcium absorption at two vitamin D levels). It measured absorption for 10 to 12 hours after one calcium dose, not bone outcomes over years, so it shows the mechanism rather than what a capsule does to your bones.†
Vitamin D and the immune system
B cells, T cells and antigen-presenting cells all carry vitamin D receptors and can make the active form of vitamin D themselves, which lets vitamin D help regulate both your first-response (innate) and learned (adaptive) immune responses (a review of how vitamin D works in the immune system).† That's how the system works. It doesn't mean taking more than you need gives you extra immunity, and we don't claim it does.
Bromelain: a pineapple enzyme
Bromelain is a group of protein-splitting enzymes (proteases) from the pineapple plant. The "1200 GDU/g" on the label is a strength rating: GDU means gelatin digesting units, a measure of protein-digesting activity. At 200 mg per capsule, that works out to about 240 GDU.
In a study of 19 healthy men taking 3 grams of bromelain a day (15 times the amount here), small amounts of intact bromelain showed up in the blood and kept part of its enzyme activity (a study of bromelain absorption in healthy men). So some bromelain makes it through digestion in one piece. What we haven't found is a study testing whether bromelain changes how much vitamin D you absorb, so we don't claim it does.
Why a meal with some fat helps
Vitamin D is fat-soluble. In a randomized study of 50 healthy older adults who took a single 50,000 IU dose of D3 with breakfast, peak blood vitamin D3 was 32% higher when the breakfast contained fat than when it was fat-free, and the mix of fats in the meal didn't change the result (a study of dietary fat and vitamin D3 absorption). That was one large dose, not a daily 2,000 IU, but the takeaway is simple: take your capsule with a meal.
How to take Good Vitamin D
The label directions: "One capsule daily, as a dietary supplement."
- Take it with a meal that has some fat in it. Eggs, avocado toast, a handful of nuts: anything beats a fat-free breakfast. Same meal every day makes it automatic.
- Add up your vitamin D. If you also take a multivitamin or another vitamin D product, count the vitamin D on every label. For adults, the Tolerable Upper Intake Level is 100 mcg (4,000 IU) a day from all sources combined.
Ask your healthcare practitioner before use if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition. Vitamin D can interact with some medications, so bring the whole label, bromelain included, to that conversation. Bromelain comes from pineapple, so if pineapple doesn't agree with you, check with your practitioner first.
Don't take our word for it
- Verified by independent labs. ISO 17025-accredited labs check our test results.
- Every ingredient lot tested before use. Federal rules only require an identity test on incoming dietary ingredients. We test every incoming lot, the vitamin D3 and the bromelain included, for identity, potency, heavy metals and microbes.
- If it misses spec, it doesn't go in a bottle. More than 99% of our tests pass, and the lots that don't are turned away.
- A certificate of analysis for every lot. Every lot of Good Vitamin D gets its own.
Made in the USA. Made and tested in Mt. Angel, Oregon. It's a farm town of about 3,500 people in the Willamette Valley, and our formulators, makers and testers all work under one roof in a UL-certified cGMP facility. The owners work in the building too, and we've been owner-run since 2017. We've been making supplements in Oregon since 1974. That's 52 years, and we're not getting old either.
Frequently asked questions
How much vitamin D is in each capsule?
Each capsule has 50 mcg (2,000 IU) of vitamin D3, which is 250% of the 20 mcg (800 IU) Daily Value. For comparison, the RDA is 15 mcg (600 IU) a day for adults 19 to 70 and 20 mcg (800 IU) for adults over 70.
Is 2,000 IU of vitamin D a day too much?
For healthy adults, 2,000 IU (50 mcg) is half of the 4,000 IU (100 mcg) Tolerable Upper Intake Level, the most per day unlikely to cause problems. That limit covers all supplements and food combined, so count everything you take.
Should I take Good Vitamin D with food?
Yes, with a meal that has some fat in it. In the breakfast study above, D3 taken with fat reached a 32% higher peak blood level than D3 taken fat-free.
How long before I notice a difference?
Honestly, most people don't feel vitamin D the way they feel a cup of coffee. Blood levels build gradually with daily use (the Omaha study ran about 20 weeks). A 25-hydroxyvitamin D blood test before you start and a few months in is the way to see the change.
Can I take it with other vitamin D products?
Yes, if you keep track of the total. Nice Bones, Bones + K2 and many multivitamins contain vitamin D, so add up every label. Everyday Liquid Sunshine, our liquid vitamin D3, is usually an either-or choice with this capsule, not an add-on.
Is Good Vitamin D vegetarian?
No. The capsule shell is gelatin, so it isn't a vegetarian capsule. The label's "NO corn, soy..." list is quoted in full above.
Is it safe to take with my medication?
Ask your healthcare practitioner first. Vitamin D can interact with some medications, so show them the label, bromelain included.
Keep learning
- Calcium Citrate 250 mg capsules, a calcium to pair with your daily vitamin D
- Everyday Liquid Sunshine 2, vitamin D3 with K2 in liquid form, if you'd rather get both in one product instead of this capsule
References
- Tripkovic L et al. Daily supplementation with 15 μg vitamin D2 compared with vitamin D3 to increase wintertime 25-hydroxyvitamin D status in healthy South Asian and white European women: a 12-wk randomized, placebo-controlled food-fortification trial. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2017. PubMed
- Heaney RP et al. Human serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol response to extended oral dosing with cholecalciferol. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2003. PubMed
- Dawson-Hughes B et al. Dietary fat increases vitamin D-3 absorption. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 2015. PubMed
- Heaney RP et al. Calcium absorption varies within the reference range for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D. Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 2003. PubMed
- Aranow C. Vitamin D and the immune system. Journal of Investigative Medicine. 2011. PubMed
- Castell JV et al. Intestinal absorption of undegraded proteins in men: presence of bromelain in plasma after oral intake. The American Journal of Physiology. 1997. PubMed
†These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
