Vitamin D Supplements

What Is on This Vitamin D Shelf Right Now

This collection holds 50 vitamin D listings; 27 are shown on this page, from 13 brands. The split is lopsided: Nature Made alone accounts for 12 of the 27 listings here, Horbäach, NatureBell and Nature’s Bounty bring two each, and nine further brands — Caltrate, Thorne, Nordic Naturals and Swisse among them — contribute one apiece. Prices run $9.15 to $69.90 with a median of $25.99, and the cheapest bottle here is Nature Made Zero Sugar Vitamin D3 Gummies 110 Ct at $9.15. Twenty-six of the 27 carry the Health & Vitamins tag, so almost all of it reappears in Health & Vitamins.

Dose First: 1,000 IU to 10,000 IU Where the Label States It

Among the items whose labels state an IU figure, strength varies tenfold. The lowest of those is Nature Made Vitamin D3 1000 IU Softgels 180 Ct at $10.87; the highest is 10,000 IU, sold as Nature Made Vitamin D3 10000 IU Softgels 60 Count at $17.84 and as Horbäach Vitamin D3 10000 IU 500 Softgels at $32.25. Compare the first two: both are Nature Made vitamin D3 softgels, yet the dearer one is labeled ten times the IU and holds a third as many softgels. Read the IU figure and the count on the Supplement Facts panel together, not the price. Our guide Vitamin D3 Labels Explained: IU vs mcg covers the conversion. Vitamin D3 is commonly taken daily; talk to your healthcare provider about the right amount for you.

Format: Softgels Are the Default, Not Gummies

Across the 27 listings: 9 softgels, 8 tablets, 5 gummies, 3 capsules and 2 other. Softgels outnumber gummies and capsules combined. The gummies still span a wide range — Nature Made Zero Sugar Vitamin D3 Gummies 110 Ct at $9.15 and Nordic Naturals Vitamin D3 K2 Gummies 60 Ct at $48.02 are more than five times apart in price, at 110 versus 60 pieces. One of the 2 other-format items is Caltrate Calcium + Vitamin D3 Chewables Strawberry 100 Ct at $29.24. Chewy versus swallowed? Read Do Gummies Work as Well as Capsules?

Plain D3, or Paired With Calcium and K2

Much of this shelf is a combination product: Bone & Joint ties for the third most common tag here, on 15 of the 27 listings, and those 15 also sit in Bone & Joint. Two ends of that range: Nature Made Calcium 600 mg with Vitamin D3 120 Tablets at $13.99 leads with calcium and carries D3 as the partner; NatureBell Vitamin D3 10000 IU K2 240 Ct Softgels at $69.90, the priciest item in the collection, pairs high-IU D3 with K2. A combination bottle can double up minerals you already count elsewhere, so check the added minerals on each Supplement Facts panel. Only 7 of the 27 carry an Immune Support tag; if that is why you are browsing, Immune Support is the narrower shelf.

Bottle Size Against Price Band

Cost per bottle clusters low. Of the 27 listings:

• 6 under $15
• 11 between $15 and $30
• 7 between $30 and $50
• 3 above $50

Counts stretch further than price does. The most common single size is 60, yet the shelf also holds the 500 softgels of Horbäach Vitamin D3 10000 IU 500 Softgels at $32.25 — less than the 60-count Thorne Vitamin D3 5000 IU Capsules at $48.00. Bigger is not automatically cheaper per serving: that Horbäach bottle and the $25.99 400-tablet Nature Made 2000 IU bottle differ in strength, format and price at once. Compare cost per serving at your intended IU.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.