Vitamins That Can Help Female Lubrication

Vaginal dryness is a common complaint in many women, more commonly during menopause. About 17% of women between the ages of 18-50 experience problems of vaginal dryness during sex before menopause.¹

Vaginal dryness is more commonly seen with advancing menopausal stage, surgical menopause, anxiety, and being married were positively associated with developing vaginal dryness, regardless of partnered sexual activity.²

Issues with female lubrication cause irritation, burning sensation, painful intercourse, low libido and decreased sexual satisfaction. While medications are often useful, some vitamins that can help female lubrication may also be helpful.

Vaginal dryness is usually linked with reduced vaginal flow, mucosal thinning, changes in the microbiome, and inflammation. Female lubrication is mainly affected by hormone levels and during menopause estrogen levels decline, which causes vaginal dryness. Some medicines that dry away the mucus membrane may cause vaginal dryness. Other factors like hygiene products, swimming pools, and hot tub chemicals may also affect female lubrication.

Ideally, a healthy, balanced, nutritious diet should provide the necessary nutrients to maintain female lubrication. However, considering the external factors that can cause dryness, supplements and vitamins that can help improve female lubrication can be an additional benefit. Estrogen is often used to manage postmenopausal symptoms and it can also help female lubrication and reduce vaginal dryness and are best taken with medical advice.

Here are some of the common vitamins that can help female lubrication and can be useful for managing vaginal dryness.

Vitamin D – Vitamin D is popular for its role in bone health and immune function. But it also has an involvement in maintaining hormone balance. As menopause is the onset of climacteric symptoms due to low estrogen levels. Vitamin D can help regulate the proper growth of cells affected due to hormone changes. This can help improve vaginal health and is considered one of the important vitamins that can help female lubrication.

Important functions of vitamins for female lubrication also include their role in the proliferation and repair of epithelial tissue. An 8 weeks study was conducted in 2015 to evaluate the effect of vitamin D suppositories on maturation index, pH, and dryness in postmenopausal women. It concluded that vitamin D was effective in improving maturation index, decreased pH value, and dryness of vaginal atrophy during menopause.³

A 2019 study reported that vitamin D administration improved the growth and differentiation of vaginal epithelial cells, improved vaginal pH, and decreased vaginal dryness in menopausal women.⁴

Vitamin E – Vitamin E is known as an antioxidant and could be one of the vitamins that can help female lubrication.

In a 2019 study 52 postmenopausal women, between the ages of 40 to 65 were randomly divided into two groups of vitamin E vaginal suppository and conjugated estrogen vaginal cream. At the end of 12 weeks, it was noted that the treatment was successful in both groups. The study concluded that vitamin E vaginal suppository can be considered as an alternative to vaginal estrogen, as it can help in relieving the symptoms of vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women.⁵

Omega-3-fatty acids – These are essential fatty acids that play an important role in several body functions. These are believed to have beneficial effects on skin hydration and thus can reduce dryness and help in relieving menopausal symptoms. Fish oil supplements or omega-3-fatty acid supplements can help female lubrication and can be useful for menopausal women.

In a 2012 study, it was shown that omega-3-fatty acids had a positive effect on the vaginal mucosa, thus reducing vaginal dryness in postmenopausal breast cancer survivors.⁶

A study was conducted in 2019 to assess the association between the quality of dietary fat and menopausal symptoms. The study concluded that a higher intake of n-3-PUFA with a diet low in MUFA intake can help in improving menopausal symptoms.⁷

Hyaluronic acid – This is an important molecule usually popular for healthy skin and hair. But this possibly also has a role to play in female lubrication.

In a 2011 study, the effectiveness of hyaluronic acid vaginal tablets was compared with estradiol vaginal tablets in the treatment of atrophic vaginitis in 42 post-menopausal women for 8 weeks. The study concluded that Hyaluronic acid showed relief of vaginal symptoms and vaginal atrophy, decreased vaginal pH, and increased maturation of the vaginal epithelium.8 Thus the study concluded that Hyaluronic acid vaginal tablets can be used in patients with vaginal atrophy, as it can help female lubrication.

Another study conducted in 2019 showed that oral supplements containing hyaluronic acid, collagen, glucosamine sulfate, chondroitin sulfate, alpha-lipoic acid, methylsulfonyl-methane and vitamins (vitamin A, C, and E) could improve symptoms of vaginal dryness, post-coital cystitis, and dyspareunia in young women.⁹

DHEA – This is a hormone that plays an important role in estrogen production, which is possibly why it can help female lubrication. The levels of DHEA usually decline with advancing age, hence balancing them with hormone supplementation can help relieve the symptoms of menopause. Studies have shown that local androgen and estrogen formation, can help rapidly reverse all the symptoms and signs of vaginal atrophy.¹⁰

Another study has shown the effects of DHEA on moderate to severe dyspareunia and vaginal dryness due to menopause.¹¹

Thus, this can be one of the possible supplements that can help female lubrication and reduce vaginal dryness.

While there are many options, some supplements and vitamins that can help female lubrication may also have some side effects. The need to take these and how they are administered, the duration, and the dosage is important. Vaginal dryness and the need to manage female lubrication may occur in young as well as postmenopausal women. The associated symptoms and underlying causes often vary, hence it is best to follow medical advice.

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