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PaulHouleyesterday at 8:09 PM1 replyview on HN

It's arguable whether Vitamin D is really a vitamin or a hormone, see

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33549285/

Look at the molecular structure

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D

that's a freakin' steroid with one of the bonds in the rings deleted

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secosteroid


Replies

brandonbyesterday at 8:13 PM

It's pretty well-established science now that vitamin D is a hormone, not a true vitamin. Vitamin D binds a nuclear receptor that regulates roughly 1,000 to 2,000 genes (5-10% of the human genome).

The "Vitamin D" moniker has just stuck around since it was named in 1922.

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