AMH (anti-Müllerian hormone) reflects the size of your remaining egg supply, and while no intervention can reverse the natural decline that comes with age, several strategies can help optimize the AMH your ovaries are currently producing. Typical AMH levels range from about 3.0 ng/mL at age 25 down to 0.5 ng/mL by age 45, so context matters when interpreting your number. The approaches below target modifiable factors: nutrient deficiencies, body composition, toxic exposures, and dietary patterns that may be suppressing your levels below where they could be.
Why AMH Changes Slowly
Before diving into what works, it helps to understand the timeline you’re working with. A primordial follicle takes roughly 290 days to grow into a fully developed secondary follicle, followed by another 60 days to progress through the later stages before ovulation. Because AMH is produced by these growing follicles, any intervention you start today is influencing follicles that won’t be measurable for several months. Most studies that show real AMH changes track women for at least 8 to 16 weeks, and meaningful shifts often take three months or longer. If you retest too soon, you may not see the effect of changes you’ve already made.
Correct a Vitamin D Deficiency First
Vitamin D has the strongest direct evidence for raising AMH when levels are low. In one clinical trial, women who received weekly vitamin D3 supplementation saw a progressive rise in AMH over the following week, with an average increase of about 13%. A more dramatic result came from a study of infertile women over 35 with diminished ovarian reserve: after three months of supplementation, their AMH levels more than doubled, climbing from an average of 0.39 ng/mL to 0.92 ng/mL.
These results were in women who started with insufficient vitamin D. If your vitamin D is already in a healthy range, supplementation is unlikely to push AMH higher. The practical first step is getting your vitamin D level tested. Deficiency is extremely common, particularly in northern climates and among women who spend most of their time indoors, so there’s a reasonable chance this is a factor for you.
Manage Your Weight
BMI and AMH have a consistent negative relationship, especially in younger women. In a large retrospective study of infertile women, AMH levels were significantly lower in overweight and obese groups compared to normal-weight women, with the correlation holding after adjusting for age in the 20 to 35 range. Interestingly, this association weakened after age 35, suggesting that weight management has the most AMH-protective benefit when started earlier in reproductive life.
The mechanism likely involves both chronic inflammation and changes in how hormones are metabolized in fat tissue. Weight loss in young, obese women has been recommended specifically to improve reproductive outcomes. You don’t need to hit a perfect BMI, but moving from the obese range into the overweight or normal range can shift the hormonal environment enough to matter.
Eat More Vegetables, Less Red Meat
Dietary patterns correlate with AMH levels in ways that go beyond weight alone. Women with low adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet had significantly lower AMH. When researchers broke this down by food group, low vegetable consumption was associated with insufficient AMH levels. So was excessive red meat intake and high consumption of carbonated beverages. Low fruit consumption correlated with lower estradiol, another reproductive hormone.
The Mediterranean pattern emphasizes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, olive oil, and fish while limiting red meat and processed foods. You don’t need to follow a rigid plan. The clearest signals from the data are to increase your vegetable intake substantially and pull back on red meat and sugary drinks. These changes also support a healthier weight and reduce inflammation, so the benefits compound.
Stop Smoking
Heavy smoking is one of the most damaging modifiable factors for ovarian reserve. Women who smoked 20 or more cigarettes per day had AMH levels roughly 56% lower than nonsmokers. Heavy smokers also showed a steeper age-related decline in AMH compared to women who never smoked, meaning the damage accelerates over time.
The picture for past smokers is more encouraging. Former smokers showed only a modest, statistically insignificant reduction in AMH compared to never-smokers (about 14% lower, but with wide uncertainty). This suggests that quitting allows some degree of recovery, or at least stops the ongoing damage. If you currently smoke, quitting is likely the single most impactful change you can make for your ovarian reserve.
Reduce Exposure to Endocrine Disruptors
Phthalates, chemicals found in plastics, personal care products, and food packaging, are associated with lower AMH levels. Research tracking women over several years found that higher urinary concentrations of multiple phthalate metabolites predicted lower AMH both 6 and 9 years later. Each doubling of certain phthalate metabolites was linked to roughly a 7 to 9% decrease in AMH.
Practical steps to reduce your exposure include avoiding plastic food containers (especially when heating food), choosing fragrance-free personal care products, eating less processed and packaged food, and filtering your drinking water. You can’t eliminate phthalate exposure entirely since these chemicals are ubiquitous, but reducing your daily load over months may help protect your remaining follicles from unnecessary damage.
DHEA: Promising but Complicated
DHEA is a hormone precursor that your body converts into testosterone and estrogen, both of which play roles in follicle development. It’s widely discussed in fertility forums and sometimes prescribed by reproductive endocrinologists for women with diminished ovarian reserve. A meta-analysis found that DHEA supplementation significantly increased testosterone levels, particularly at doses above 50 mg per day over periods of 12 weeks or less.
However, the evidence specifically linking DHEA to AMH increases is less clear-cut than the enthusiasm around it suggests. DHEA can cause side effects like acne, hair growth, and mood changes because it raises androgen levels. If you’re considering DHEA, it’s worth discussing with a fertility specialist who can monitor your hormone levels and adjust the dose, rather than self-supplementing.
CoQ10: Good for Egg Quality, Not AMH
CoQ10 is a popular fertility supplement because of its role in mitochondrial energy production. Egg cells are among the most energy-demanding cells in the body, and CoQ10 levels decline with age. The logic behind supplementation is sound for egg quality. But when it comes to AMH specifically, the evidence is disappointing. A randomized, double-blind trial found no significant difference in AMH changes between women taking CoQ10 and those taking a placebo. CoQ10 may still be worth taking for its effects on egg quality and IVF outcomes, but don’t expect it to move your AMH number.
A Note for Women With PCOS
If you have polycystic ovary syndrome, your situation is the reverse of most readers here. PCOS typically causes abnormally high AMH because of an excess of small follicles, and lowering AMH toward a normal range is actually the goal. Myo-inositol, taken as 1 gram twice daily for 12 to 16 weeks, produced a statistically significant decrease in AMH in women with PCOS. It was actually more effective at reducing AMH and ovarian volume than combined oral contraceptives in a head-to-head trial. Myo-inositol also helps with insulin sensitivity and androgen levels, making it a useful tool for PCOS management overall.
Putting It All Together
The interventions with the strongest evidence for raising low AMH are correcting a vitamin D deficiency, reaching a healthier weight if you’re currently overweight, quitting smoking, and shifting toward a vegetable-rich, low-processed diet. None of these will turn back your biological clock, but they can remove the factors that may be dragging your AMH lower than it needs to be for your age. Give any changes at least three months before retesting, since that’s the minimum window your follicles need to reflect a new internal environment.