The Importance Of Vitamin D For Your Reproduction

This isn’t all entirely news, but what you may not know is that Vitamin D is extremely important when you are planning to have a child. The relevance of Vitamin D in reproduction isn’t necessarily the first factor you think about when you’re planning to have a child, but it should be. Vitamin D is important for bone health, but is also important for healthy reproduction.

I published an article about my research on the relevance of vitamin D in reproduction in 2012. I discovered that men are much more likely to have healthier sperm concentration, motility and morphology with healthy levels of Vitamin D compared to men with a deficiency of the nutrient. Vitamin D also showed to be linked to sperm maturation, overall testicular function.

Vitamin D is also extremely important for women and their pregnancy. Women who may be having issues with their fertility will find that having healthy levels of vitamin D will increase their ovarian follicular fluid levels. Why is this important? When follicular fluid levels are higher, there’s a higher success rate for pregnancy for women after receiving their embryo transfer. There’s also a direct association with women’s vitamin D levels and the outcome of their IVF cycles.

Women suffering from PCOS will find that the absorption of vitamin D has a therapeutic effect on their condition. While I am not able to tell you that vitamin D deficiencies are the absolute contributors to the pathogenesis of PCOS and excess body mass, it has been shown that women with PCOS who went under a dietary supplementation of vitamin D improved their insulin sensitivity. Insulin resistance, obesity, inflammation and dyslipidemia are all well associated in the setting of vitamin D insufficiency.

On the average, you consume between 800 and 1000mg of vitamin D every day will give you healthy levels in your system. There are a number of foods that are rich in vitamin D: a serving of Cod Liver Oil in the morning with boiled egg and avocado, Portobello mushrooms, a handful of almonds, or even caviar when you want to treat yourself are just a few ways.

For those of us that are fortunate enough to live in climates where we are regularly able to spend a little time in the sun (with a little sunscreen, of course) we likely get enough. However, more than 35% of Americans have been reported to suffer from a vitamin D deficiency, and sun exposure isn’t the only way our bodies receive it. Your diet plays a major part in how this important nutrient is absorbed in our system.

I, along with my team at Neway wants you to become the healthiest you can be and I encourage you to talk to your physician. If you have any further questions about how vitamin D plays a part in your every day health call us at (212) 750-3330 or you can tweet me directly: @drjanelleluk.