Since it may be difficult to get this much folic acid from foods alone, a supplement is recommended. Foods that have folic acid also known as folate include beans, leafy green vegetables, asparagus, and broccoli. Many fortified foods including cereal, bread, and pasta have folate too. This mineral is necessary to create new red blood cells in the body. Because a woman increases her blood volume during pregnancy, iron is a must-have.
According to the Mayo Clinic , pregnant women need 27 mg of iron a day. Always talk with your doctor before starting to take prenatal vitamins. While you can buy prenatal vitamins over the counter, doctors can prescribe them too.
Women who are carrying multiples, pregnant teenagers, and pregnant women with a history of substance abuse have a higher risk of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Prenatal vitamins are particularly important for these women. Doctors often recommend that women who are breastfeeding also continue taking prenatal vitamins after delivery. Prenatal vitamins can serve as a further supplement to lactating women who need plenty of nutrients to make breast milk.
Because the brain and spinal cord are already forming at the early stages of pregnancy, folic acid is vital. Women of childbearing age could also eat more folate-rich foods as an alternative to taking a supplement.
Prenatal vitamins are specific to the needs of pregnant and breastfeeding women. Taking too much folic acid each day can have the adverse side effect of masking a vitamin B deficiency. Excess iron can be a problem, too. Getting too much iron is associated with health problems like constipation , nausea , and diarrhea.
For these reasons, most women should skip prenatal vitamins unless their doctors tell them otherwise. Many women claim that prenatal vitamins affect hair and nail growth. Some claim that taking prenatal vitamins makes hair grow thicker or faster, and that nails could grow faster or stronger too. They could also have adverse side effects.
For this reason, Seeking Health does not include iron in either multivitamin formulation. Prenatal vitamins also typically have less of other ingredients, especially vitamin A. Too little vitamin A is problematic for pregnancy, but too much preformed vitamin A can lead to pregnancy complications, especially in the first trimester.
Excessive amounts of vitamin A are typically only possible in well-developed countries where dietary intake is adequate and supplementation is added to it. The other micrograms are from beta carotene, which must be converted first. If your body does not need to use all of the beta carotene that you take in, it continues to circulate in your body where it also functions as an antioxidant.
Other types of prenatal vitamins might include nutrients not typically found in a multivitamin at all, such as omega-3 fatty acids, probiotics, and more. Seeking Health does not include these in a single supplement because it becomes increasingly complex to combine this many nutrients without needing to use fillers, flavorings, or preservatives.
Taking omega-3 fatty acids and probiotics separately during pregnancy is recommended. A prenatal vitamin provides significant nutritional support so that the enzymes that your genes make can function well. Enzymes perform the work in your body. Think of enzymes as the worker bees.
When there is work to do, your genes produce a lot of enzymes. Many of these enzymes require vitamins and minerals to work. Without vitamins and minerals, your enzymes cannot work well and, as a result, you experience symptoms. In the same way that your car cannot work without gas and your stove cannot work without gas or electricity, your enzymes cannot work without vitamins and minerals. This is why a prenatal vitamin can be so useful.
It provides the needed tools for your enzymes. If so, a prenatal vitamin may be appropriate for you. Personally, as a man, I alternate between Optimal Multivitamin Plus, a very comprehensive multivitamin, and Optimal Prenatal with Plant-Based Protein, a prenatal vitamin in a protein powder base. However, when I am on vacation I rarely take a multivitamin at all—perhaps only a few days a week. Because my enzymes are not experiencing a ton of work at the moment.
I am relaxed, not working hard, not teaching, not researching, sleeping well, and enjoying my time in the sun playing with my family. Show references Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Department of Health and Human Services and U.
Department of Agriculture. Accessed March 20, Dietary supplement fact sheet: Folate. Office of Dietary Supplements. Dietary supplement fact sheet: Iron. Dietary supplement fact sheet: Calcium. Questions to ask before taking vitamin and mineral supplements. Nutrition during pregnancy. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Accessed June 12, Preconception care. Rochester, Minn. Wick M expert opinion. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Preventive Services Task Force.
Folic acid supplementation for the prevention neural tube defects. Journal of the American Medical Association. Prenatal care, routine. Bloomington, Minn. Accessed June 21, Can zinc supplements help treat hidradenitis suppurativa?
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