Benefits of Vitamin D for PCOS

A few years ago I started taking Vitamin D and it really made a difference. It might be because… drum roll please! Vitamin D isn’t just a vitamin but also a hormone. The fact is that most people in the United States are deficient in Vitamin D.

Most people today stay inside or go outside with sunscreen. However, people need sunlight so that their skin can make vitamin D. If you don't want to get skin cancer or simply can't get enough sun where you live, what else can you do? Well, according to Gerda Endemann, who has a BS in nutrition from UC Berkeley, getting Vitamin D from food alone would require drinking six cups of milk every day and a three-ounce serving of fatty fish. That sounds… less than appealing than a pill to me. Especially when Vitamin D comes in small soft gels that are easy to take, and drops can be used for infants.

Our bodies need Vitamin D and as it is studied more, we are finding it is extra crucial for women with PCOS.

1) Improves Fertility - Vitamin D status has been shown to improve fertility and pregnancy rates during assisted reproduction therapy

2) Improves Metabolic Markers - supplementing with vitamin D can significantly reduced testosterone and blood pressure in women with PCOS.

3) Better Mood - Often with PCOS, suffering from depression is more common.  However it’s been found that vitamin D deficiency was a significant independent predictor of depression in both women with and without PCOS.

Additionally, vitamin D is needed to build and maintain healthy bones all year long, because without it, we don’t absorb the calcium we eat. So if you have PCOS or not… adding vitamin D to your morning routine is important.