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The Foundations of Fertility: Sun

Woman shaking her hair out in the early morning sun to soak up Vitamin D to support her fertility.

I’ve been sharing the basics of fertility… the most important building blocks that must be solid and stable so that fertility can be possible. I call these the Foundations of Fertility.


They may seem obvious, but for so many women, really focusing on them is where some significant change takes place.


These are:

  1. Sleep

  2. Sun

  3. Body Movement

  4. Food

Last month, I discussed Sleep. This month, we’ll discuss Sun. 


Research has shown that adequate vitamin D levels are highly related to both male and female fertility, and can improve your ability to get pregnant. 



Vitamin D has been shown to boost progesterone, which is essential for both getting and staying pregnant. 


Vitamin D also regulates blood sugar, which is important in overall hormone balance as well as supporting your body’s capacity to ovulate on time.


Vitamin D also supports your microbiome, both in the gut and vagina. This improves your fertility level of your cervical mucus. 


A happily pregnant woman increasing her progesterone naturally by receiving Vitamin D from the sun.

While supplementation is an option, absorbing some sun directly into your eyes and via your skin is actually being shown to be quite important for how we utilize energy from melanin, and convert melatonin to serotonin, for overall feelings of happiness and well being. 


I am totally guilty of being a sun-phone. My Eastern European skin does not do well in sun, so I typically vigilantly guard against the sun. While my skin thanks me, my vitamin D levels paid the price. 

A woman taking a 30 minute walk to receive unfiltered sunlight to increase vitamin D production.

I started to take early morning walks, or even just sitting outside (before 10 am) to allow some indirect sunlight into my eyes for 30 minutes each day. 


The sun should not be filtered through a window, so driving in your car doesn’t count and wearing sunglasses obviously blocks the beneficial rays. 


Since sunscreen cancels out vitamin D production, and because there tend to be tons of chemicals in most sunscreens, and baking those chemicals into the skin feels like a terrible idea, I still avoid the sun other than my morning walk, wearing a hat, sleeves and staying in the shade. 


If fertility has been proving difficult, I recommend up to 10,000 of vitamin D3 a day to give your fertility a boost. Yes, I know that’s a lot… but it’s not too much!




Written by Ariele Myers, Licensed Acupuncturist and Integrative Fertility Specialist with 20+ years supporting women’s reproductive health.