3 Diet Tips To Increase AMH - Melanie McGrice

It is possible to increase AMH levels with the right diet. In today’s blog, I’m going to give you 3 nutrition tips to increase AMH levels!

What is AMH?

AMH, or anti-mullerian hormone is a hormone made by the small follicles in your ovary which have not yet begun to develop into mature eggs. Consequently, a low AMH reading indicates that you probably have a reduced egg count. Less eggs may mean that it’s harder to conceive, although, it’s important to remember that you only need one healthy egg to get pregnant!

It’s also important to note that if you have PCOS, also known as poly cystic ovarian syndrome, you may, but not always, have higher than normal egg count and AMH levels.  However, the following strategies still seem to be beneficial for most women with PCOS.

3 diet tips to increase AMH

1. Vitamin D

This strategy has the most evidence behind it to date and it is to make sure that you’re getting enough vitamin D. Studies pretty consistently seem to show that women with low vitamin D levels tend to have lower AMH levels than women with healthy vitamin D levels. It seems that vitamin D plays a key role in egg survival and growth.  Some foods, like salmon and eggs, contain a small amount of vitamin D, but most of our vitamin D comes from the sun. On average we need 10 minutes of direct sunlight or 30 minutes outdoors on a cloudy day to meet our vitamin D requirements, so find a way to get outdoors each day, and if you haven’t done so in a few years, it might be a good idea to get your vitamin D levels checked by your doctor.  

2. Losing weight can help

If you are overweight, losing weight can help. Now I know that this is easier said than done, but do the best you can…. particularly if you’re about to undergo an expensive IVF cycle. However, it’s also important to note that it’s important to lose weight in a healthy way. Studies seem to indicate that even when women have significant weight loss, if they don’t have a nutritious diet, it doesn’t necessarily increase their egg count or AMH levels, in comparison to when they lose weight and still meet all of their nutrition requirements.

3. Regular exercise 

Make sure you are doing regular exercise. Although this strategy only seems to be helpful for women who are overweight or who have PCOS. So, the next question is how much exercise do you actually need to do to see a result? Well, there’s not enough research to answer that question definitively, but I will tell you this: one study got women to do a 45 minute walk three times per week for 12 weeks, and saw some great results!  So, maybe start there? And, maybe think about doing your exercise outside so you can get some vitamin D at the same time (although this study was done indoors).

If you need help kick starting your fertility diet, I have a free fertility meal plan for you to download! All you need to do is go to www.melaniemcgrice.com/fertility.

And, if you’d like more tips about how to increase your egg count, make sure you check out my YouTube channel, Nourish with Melanie, and click subscribe as I have some more tips coming up on this topic soon.