Bread Made With Vitamin D2-Rich Yeast Ups Bone Health

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.Eating bread made with vitamin D2-rich yeast may provide the same bone health benefits as vitamin D3 for vitamin-D deficient individuals, according to a new animal study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Researchers assessed the bioavailability and efficacy of vitamin D in an 8 week dose-response study of bread made with vitamin D2-rich yeast compared to vitamin D3 in growing, vitamin D-deficient rats. Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) levels increased in a curvilinear, dose-dependent manner with both forms of vitamin D, but rats fed vitamin D2-rich yeast achieved lower levels than rats fed vitamin D3. Rats fed the highest doses of vitamin D had significantly greater (p < 0.05) trabecular BMC, BMD, bone volume, and connectivity density, and greater midshaft total cross-sectional area, compared to rats on the vitamin D-deficient diets, with no significant difference due to vitamin D source.

They showed bread made with vitamin D2-rich yeast, fed to the laboratory rats, had effects that seemed just as beneficial as vitamin D3. "Our results suggest that bread made with high vitamin D yeast could be a valuable new source of vitamin D in the diet," they said.