When trying to conceive it is not a well known fact that Vitamin D is one of the most important minerals we need. Our bodies must have Vitamin D for many really important functions, including fertility and getting pregnant. How much do we need and where do we get it from?
The recommended dose given by many governments around the world is 400 iu's (international units) a day. After several studies indicating that this was nowhere near enough the Canadian government said it should be 2000 iu's a day. To get this much from drinking milk you would need around 9 litres a day!
Vitamin D helps regulate how the Estrogen in the eggs in the ovaries make the follicles mature and grow and in the uterus is positive in the development of the lining. In men it helps make testosterone, the hormone that is responsible for making sperm.
A Yale study showed that 90% of a test group of women who were having problems conceiving were Vitamin D deficient including some that had PCOS. When women with PCOS lost their menstrual cycle, in many cases it was resumed by increasing Vitamin D.
Vitamin D is intrinsically linked with blood levels of calcium. When the calcium levels go down it is much harder to get pregnant it seems. The Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium from the food and drink we consume, and when the blood calcium levels for up stress levels go down, making it much easier for us to conceive.
Where do we get Vitamin D from? Most of our Vitamin D comes from UVB light from the sun. We need about 10 minutes to half an hour of unprotected sun exposure a day on arms and face to get enough vitamin D made depending on if we live nearer the equator or further north. In the northern hemisphere in the winter in places like the UK or Canada the sun is too low in the sky to get the right amount of UVB radiation from the sun, so supplements need to be taken by people living in these regions. In fact if you draw a line from roughly near the top of California to Boston Massachusetts, anyone living above this will need to get their Vitamin D from diet or from supplements from November through to February.
Doctors are not exactly sure why, but vitamin D seems to help us fight of infection and keep our immune system in top form, so our bodies and concentrate on things like getting pregnant and not using all its energy fighting of infections.
Increasing Vitamin D is a potentially great way to get pregnant naturally using diet and exposure to enough sunlight. Naturally getting pregnant is best for mother and baby.
Using Vitamin D and natural ways to get pregnant http://www.greatpregnancyhelp.com/ will hopefully help thousands of couples in the future.