Should I take vitamin D for PCOS?
If you have PCOS then you may be overwhelmed with the choice of supplements out there which claim to help manage your symptoms.
PCOS is a common endocrine disorder with reproductive and metabolic consequences which impacts 1 in 10 people with ovaries in the UK (1).
Symptoms of PCOS include acne, oily skin, hair loss, excessive hair growth, irregular periods, infertility and weight gain (2).
Vitamin D and PCOS
People with PCOS have an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency and this may be linked to some of the metabolic effects of PCOS. Vitamin D deficiency has been proposed in the literature to be the missing link between insulin resistance and PCOS.
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that can be synthesised in the body via sunlight or can be obtained through the diet in foods like oily fish, red meat, liver, egg yolks and some fortified foods (3). Vitamin D helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body and plays a role in reproduction including ovarian follicular development (4).
In a recent meta-analysis, vitamin D supplementation has been seen to reduce insulin resistance and hyperandrogenism as well as reduce lipid metabolism in people with PCOS (5). In the UK, the NHS recommends taking 10 micrograms of vitamin D daily in the winter months (3) but people with PCOS may want to supplement all year round. Remember to speak with your GP or a nutrition professional before taking supplements.
Vitamin D supplements are just one of the supplements that you may want to include in your diet. You can read more about some of the other common supplements in PCOS on the blog.
References:
BDA, 2019. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and diet: Food Fact Sheet. Available from: https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/polycystic-ovary-syndrome-pcos-diet.html.
NHS, 2019. Symptoms Polycystic ovary syndrome[online]. Available from: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/polycystic-ovary-syndrome-pcos/symptoms/
NHS, 2019. Vitamin D: Vitamins and Minerals [online]. Available from: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-d/
Krul-Poel, Y., Koenders, P., Steegers-Theunissen, R., ten Boekel, E., Wee, M., Louwers, Y., Lips, P., Laven, J. and Simsek, S., 2018. Vitamin D and metabolic disturbances in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): A cross-sectional study. PLOS ONE, 13(12), p.e0204748.
Miao, C., Fang, X., Chen, Y. and Zhang, Q., 2020. Effect of vitamin D supplementation on polycystic ovary syndrome: A meta‑analysis. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine,.
