How Vitamin D Plays a Role in Your Fertility
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Getting pregnant should be easy. Bing-Bang-Boom, right? Not the case! Turns out that some of us (including me) can have nutritional deficiencies, like vitamin D, that can make it challenging to become pregnant and stay pregnant. When I first started my fertility journey, my vitamin D was 20 ng/mL. I started to take 5000 IU of vitamin D daily and slowly it crept up to 62 ng/mL.
Thankfully, I have you covered. Keep reading to get a full dose of information.
Vitamin D deficiency is very common and it can be easy to fix. Let me throw some knowledge at my fellow sisters and brothers (sperm needs optimal vitamin D too) to boost those vitamin D levels.
Get your levels tested. Just because your favorite Instagram influencer is taking vitamin D supplements, doesn’t mean you need to pop some pills. Test, don’t guess. The gold standard test measures 25-OH vitamin D. Your individual labs will dictate if, or how much, vitamin D supplementation you might need.
Why is vitamin D SO important when trying to conceive? Well, 20-52% of women of reproductive age are deficient in vitamin D. Having optimal levels of vitamin D is crucial for:
Becoming pregnant and staying pregnant (YES!)
The process of embryo implantation
Fetal growth development
IVF/IUI- a higher chance of achieving a live birth
3. Ranges of Vitamin D:
Normal ranges are 30-100 ng/mL
Optimal levels are 50-80 ng/mL
4. How to increase your vitamin D levels:
Food sources of vitamin D: eggs, fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines), cod liver oil, dairy products, beef liver (who wants to eat liver??)
Sunshine: Take 10 minutes in the morning outside without sunscreen to allow the sun to give you a kiss of vitamin D. Did I mention it’s FREE????
Supplements: Depending on how much you need, you will want to take the active form, vitamin D3. The range can be from 500IU to 5000IU. I recommend liquid vitamin D3 supplements for the best bioavailability (it gets where it needs to go faster).
Wow! That was a ton of info!
The take-home message is: Test before you take any action. Always consult with your doctor before changing your diet or adding supplements.
My favorite supplements:
Thorne Vitamin D/K2 Liquid 1 oz (KD500)
Vitamin D-3 5000 IU 240 softgels (0373)
If you want to buy one of these supplements and receive 10% off click below.
look for the hearts ❤️, these are supplements that I love and trust.
Please, Please, Please…Do not buy any supplements from Amazon.
Sending fertility love 💗 and baby dust!
Love, your fertility sister...Kira
References:
Vitamin D - Why You Are Probably NOT Getting Enough. Dr. Mark Hyman. https://drhyman.com/blog/2010/08/24/vitamin-d-why-you-are-probably-not-getting-enough/. Published November 20, 2020. Accessed March 8, 2021.
Chu J, Gallos I, Tobias A, Tan B, Eapen A, Coomarasamy A. Vitamin D and assisted reproductive treatment outcome: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Human Reproduction. 2018;33(1):65-80. doi:10.1093/humrep/dex326