What's in your D?

Vitamin D is vitamin D--and all forms of the sunshine vitamin are created equal, right? Not so fast.

In reality, D supplements can be as different as night and day--and if you're taking the wrong stuff, your body could be missing out big.

A new study shines a light on the difference between Ds, but before I get into the details I want you to go get your own supplement.

It's time for a label check.

Somewhere on the bottle--often right on the front--it'll tell you if your vitamin contains D2 (ergocalciferol) or D3 (cholecalciferol).

The one you want is D3.

If it says D2, don't worry and don't panic--it's not dangerous and it won't hurt you.

But it might not help you, either, because the study confirms that D2 just isn't absorbed by the body very well--and that means you'll want to replace it with a quality D3 supplement as soon as you can.

Researchers randomly assigned 33 adults with an average age of 49 to receive 50,000 IU a week of either D2 or D3 for 12 weeks, then tested their levels of 25- hydroxyvitamin D, also known as 25(OH)D.

Don't worry, this isn't a chemistry test--all you need to know here is that even the mainstream considers 25(OH)D to be the most reliable indicator of overall D levels, since it's the form that stays in you the longest.

In fact, it has a half-life inside your body of up to 15 days.

And as the researchers wrote in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, D3 is up to 87 percent more potent at raising serum levels of 25(OH)D, and three times more effective at raising fat calciferol levels, than D2.

The researchers say they'd like to see a longer-term study of the differences between D2 and D3--but you don't need to wait for the outcome of that, since other studies have also found that D3 is far more effective than D2.

Even the National Institutes of Health has acknowledged that D2 is less potent at higher levels--in other words, the levels you'll get from a supplement.

And since vitamin D has quietly turned into one of our most glaring nutritional deficiencies, you almost certainly need that supplement.

Make sure you get it--studies have shown that D can help lower the risk of dementia, heart disease, cancer, and may even lead to longer lives.

And since the sunshine vitamin can also combat depression, you might want to take a little extra if you have a lousy job.

Keep reading to find out why...
A Lousy job can be worse than no job, Bad job got you down?

At least you can take some comfort in the fact that you're working--nearly 10 percent of Americans are unemployed right now.

But while a steady job can help keep your bank account healthy, a lousy one can actually destroy your mental health--and a new study shows how it could even be worse for you than not working at all.

If you'd like to take a moment to update your resume, feel free--I'll be here when you're done.

Researchers examined data on more than 7,000 people who were followed for seven years starting in 2001.

The volunteers rated their jobs based on four factors: stress and overall job demands, control over their own work, job security, and whether or not they thought the pay was fair.

Then, they filled out questionnaires that measured levels of depression and anxiety along with overall happiness.

Put it all together, and most of the people who had jobs had better mental health than the ones who didn't--and the ones with the best jobs enjoyed improvements in mental health, moving up an average of three points over the years. No surprise there.

But the researchers also found that people who worked lousy jobs suffered a long-term decline in mental health... eventually putting them on the same level as the unemployed.

And those who started out with a great job but ended up with a crummy one saw their mental health scores plummet by 5.6 points--enough to cause the kinds of noticeable changes that would have friends worrying about you.

Even worse, their scores were actually lower than those of people who were unemployed for the entire study period.

Other studies have also shown how some job situations can be more stressful than no job at all. One study published last year even found that people suffer more stress when they think they're going to lose their job than they do when they actually lose it.

Maybe it's the weight coming off the shoulders... or maybe it's just the idea of starting fresh.

Whatever the reason, if you're in a dead-end high-stress job or if you're constantly worried about being next on the chopping block, it's pretty clear what you need to do next.

Even in this economy, there are other options out there--and you should make finding them your full-time priority.

On a mission for your health,
Ed Martin
Editor, House Calls