Vitamin D and Female Infertility/Zinc and Sleep

Vitamin D performs countless functions, including supporting the thyroid, gut health,  immunity,  and reducing inflammation. All necessary for one to have a healthy reproductive system. And indeed, research shows that women with adequate vitamin D levels have better fertility health than those deficient in vitamin D.

The importance of vitamin D in female reproductive health has been intensively researched over the last few decades. Evidence shows that vitamin D has beneficial effects on PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), endometriosis, and improves IVF outcomes.

Given those links between vitamin D and these fertility related conditions, a review of human and animal data came to the conclusion that, “vitamin D is implicated in female reproduction and might represent a beneficial and inexpensive therapeutic approach, in combination with first-line medical treatments, to female infertility”.

(Source)

Because many women are vitamin D deficient, those seeking to improve fertility, should be sure to get their D levels tested regularly, and always be supplementing with a reasonable amount of vitamin D.

We know that certain supplements can be important to treat insomnia, including melatonin, magnesium, vitamin D, and serotonin precursors (5HTP, L-theanine, tryptophan, vitamin B3, etc). Now a nutrient never before associated with sleep disorders is coming to the fore.

Zinc is known to be required for many functions, including wound healing, immunity, infection fighting, prostate protection, and more, but new research indicates that it may also be important for regulating sleeping patterns.

“Recent research has concluded that zinc serum concentration varies with the amount of sleep, while orally administered zinc increases the amount and the quality of sleep in mice and humans.”   (Study)

In a study done on 890 healthy individuals, it was discovered that those having the optimum hours of sleep per night (7 to 9 hours) had the highest levels of zinc in their blood. A later study confirmed this after testing zinc and copper levels in 126 women (via blood and hair analysis), and discovering that having higher zinc and copper levels was involved in sleep duration.

(Study)

Of note here is that both zinc and copper were tested. This is important because copper is a cofactor for zinc absorption, and also commonly found to be deficient in many people. (One other thing to note is that an obvious sign of zinc deficiency is white spots on the fingernails.)

So, if you have tried everything else and still cannot sleep well, consider supplementing with zinc, along with some copper. Though, if you regularly take a multivitamin and mineral formula, the odds are you probably have enough of both. If not, consider our Mineral Mix product, which contains both zinc and copper, along with the other important minerals.   (Mineral Mix)

Anecdotal Sleep Story

I received some interesting feedback from a fellow who started taking our Liposomal Vitamin C. He began taking a teaspoon of the mixture just before bed, and noticed two things. For one, his general aches and pains started to resolve, but more interestingly, he found that his tendency to sleep poorly, ceased. Previously he was a light sleeper, waking frequently, never sleeping deeply  and getting into the delta-wave, non-dream state, where we repair and restore.

As soon as he started with the liposomal C before bed, he slept deeply, and through the night for a full seven to eight hours.

I am not sure why this might occur, though a friend of mine suggested that it could be because vitamin C is an electron donor. Since, in the case of liposomal forms, vitamin C can donate that electron within a cell, rather than outside the cell (as is the case with regular vitamin C), this may have a neurological benefit. Add to that the fact that (again, unlike regular vitamin C) studies have implied liposomals may cross the blood brain barrier, and we might have found a new approach to sleep disorders.

A search of PubMed found only one study related to the subject of vitamin C and sleep, and it had to do with sleep apnea.

“Evaluation of oxidative stress markers in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and additional antioxidant therapy: a review article.”

“This study aimed to determine the best markers of oxidative stress in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), and what better antioxidant agent to be used to treat the disease. As antioxidant therapy, vitamin C and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) presented interesting results as a reduction of oxidative stress, which may become an alternative to the complementary treatment of OSAS.”

(Study)

If anyone finds similar success with using liposomal vitamin C for sleep disorders, please let us know so that we can share this information.