What is AMH?
Anti-Müllerian hormone(AMH) is a hormone produced by granulosa cells of maturing follicles in the ovary. This hormone reflects the ovarian reserve in a woman, in other words, the quantity of follicles in ovaries.
What is the optimal range of AMH and what do they mean?
Abnormally high AMH(over 3.0ng/ml) often indicate a condition known as PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome. This cause another problem known as Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS) if you are going for IVF treatment.
AMH levels between 3 and 0,7 ng/ml indicates that your ovarian reserve is normal and there might be other reasons affecting your fertility. Exercise, diet and lifestyle might be more important in this case.
AMH levels below 0.6 ng/ml indicates low ovarian reserve, and one might be more difficult to conceive. However, diet and lifestyle changes can help to improve AMH results so there is still hope for those with low AMH levels.
What can you do about low AMH levels?
1) Vitamin D Supplementation
A clinical study found out that women receiving Vitamin D3 supplements had an increase in AMH over 7 days[1]. This demonstrates that Vitamin D3 might have an positive effect on woman fertility that involves the regulation of ovarian AMH levels.
Another study also found that higher levels of 25(OH) D(a type of Vitamin D) are accompanied with higher levels of AMH[2].
Also, if you are trying for IVF, a higher level of vitamin D in blood and also in follicular fluid has been shown to be accompanied with higher pregnancy rate after IVF-embryo transfer [6,15].
Vegan Vitamin D Supplements
Most Vitamin D3 supplements are made of Lanolin, which is extracted from sheep wool. This D-3 supplement is 100% plant based and are made from wild-harvested lichen. Non GMO. Gluten Free. Does NOT contain Soy, Dairy, Corn, Nuts, Additives, Preservatives, or Coloring. Vegan and Vegetarian. One serving contains 62.5 mcg (2500 IU) of Vitamin D, which is 313% of recommended daily dosage.
Our of 68 reviews, 93% gave 4 or 5 star ratings.
Positive review:
I love these supplements. Vitamin D3 interferes with the production of melatonin (the sleepiness hormone) so make sure to take these in the morning! I love that these are plant-based and they certainly improved my focus and energy! This is exactly what I was missing! ~ Haley February 24, 2019
2) DHEA
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) supplementation was first introduced into clinical trials since 2000 and several reports have found that it can help women to improve their ovarian reserve where gonadotrophin stimulation has failed[3] [4].
A possible suggested mechanism is that DHEA can help aging ovaries by increasing the pool of follicles up to the pre-antral stage or reducing apoptosis of the originally recruited follicles.[4]
However, some side effects have been reported, including acne, hair loss, hirsutism and deepening of voice. Therefore I recommend you have to get your DHEA and testosterone checked first before starting on DHEA. If it is indeed low, then I recommend a dosage of 50mg, instead of higher dosages as recommended by other doctors. This should only be a supplementation, not THE only solution to increasing AMH.
DHEA 50 mg Supplement - Hormonal Balance Formula For Women & Men
Ingredients
DHEA (Dehydroeplandrosterone) 50 mg, Rice Flour, and Vegetable Cellulose
With a vegetarian capsule suitables for vegans, one capsule contains 50mg of DHEA.
Out of 1228 reviews, 83% gave 4 or 5 star ratings.
Apparantly, a lot of users take it for menopause, which also indicates decreasing ovarian reserve.
Positive review:
OK, so I started using this about a month ago. At first I felt there was no change in my function. About a week ago, I started to notice that my outlook on life was more robust. I thought it was the new coffee I was drinking but that was absurd. I began to feel like a glass half full person rather than a glass half empty person. I also noticed that I was physically more active without being agitated or jittery. I was requiring less sleep, but when I did sleep, it was very high quality. I figure that there was a greater percentage of REM sleep than I usually have, because I did not feel the need to go back to sleep after 5 or 6 hours. I am 64 and I feel like a kid again.
At this point, I have to conclude that the Zhou DHEA is the primary contributing factor to my positive change in mood, outlook, sleep and personal interaction with others. Frankly, I was beginning to think that my purpose in life was fading away. I now have a renewed joy of life. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it is true. I was becoming a recluse before DHEA, but now I enjoy being around people again.
Thank you Zhou Nutrition. Where have you people been all my life????
Kenneth Begun. O.D.
Cons: 8% gave 1 star ratings. Some side effects reported
Gave me really bad stomach pains. Had to lay down for a few hours until they went away.
BONUS:
3) Acupuncture
[1] Dennis, N., Houghton, L., Pankhurst, M., Harper, M., & McLennan, I. (2017). Acute Supplementation with High Dose Vitamin D3 Increases Serum Anti-Müllerian Hormone in Young Women. Nutrients, 9(7), 719.doi:10.3390/nu9070719Â
[2] Zahra Naderi, Maryam Kashanian, Leily Chenari & Narges Sheikhansari (2018) Evaluating the effects of administration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D supplement on serum antimullerian hormone (AMH) levels in infertile women, Gynecological Endocrinology, 34:5, 409-412, DOI: 10.1080/09513590.2017.1410785
[3] Mamas L, Mamas E. Dehydroepiandrosterone supplementation in assisted reproduction: rationale and results, Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol , 2009, vol. 21 (pg. 306-308)
[4] Gleicher N, Barad D. Misplaced obsession with prospectively randomized studies, Reprod Biomed Online , 2010, vol. 21 (pg. 440-443)
[5] Sadock BJ, Sadock VA. Anabolic—androjenic steroid abuse, Kaplan & Sadock's Concise Textbook of Clinical Psychiatry , 2008Philadelphia, USALippincott Williams & Wilkinspg. 151 3rd edn.