Could Vitamin D lead to Miscarriage?

Could vitamin D levels be linked to miscarriages?

Despite living in the sunshine state of Florida I have found myself lacking vitamin D myself. The amount of vitamin D your body needs is essential for calcium and phosphorus absorption and retention. 

You might not even notice any signs or symptoms with vitamin D deficiency.  Many times the symptoms are subtle or you do not notice immediately. Symptoms can include: muscle pain, bone pain, pins-and-needles feel in hands or feet, muscle weakness, fatigue, wound healing, hair loss, depression, and/or anxiety just to name a few.  Low vitamin D has been linked to low sperm count, low sperm quality, and low testosterone level when it comes to fertility for men. 

If you are currently taking vitamin D and seem to see that your levels are not increasing with supplements, insulin resistance could be the culprit. I have noticed that someone who is insulin resistant might not be absorbing the vitamin D as they should. In this case working on baseline health would be ideal instead of increasing vitamin D. 

According to a study from 1980 published in the Journal of Nutrition, overall fertility can be reduced by 75% when vitamin D deficient. (While this study is done on rats, it still holds valuable information. We are still mammals at our core and when studies have been done on animals it is because we have certain similar characteristics. Other things to note about this is that is it unethical to use pregnant women as test subjects, which is why there are many things medically that are not recommended for pregnant women, but also aren't tested which is why there is no proof it can help or not). The study also noted that neonatal growth from days 6 thru day 15 were impaired by 30%. 

There was definitely a time when I felt I could get all my nutrients from the foods I eat or from the sun. While I still find so much benefits from sunlight, going for walking in the morning during the sunrise, going for night walks with the sunset, and trying to catch some sun during the day, lets face it, it still is not enough vitamin D to be acceptable levels.

The body always supports healing over conception.

***As always this is not medical advice. Please reach out if you have any specific questions based on your case.***

<3 Dr. Ashley