Do you see a problem with this as my prenatal?

[annie2186]

Vitamin A (100% as beta carotene) 2500 (amt per serv) 50% (daily value)
Vitamin C (as ascorbic acid) 300mg 500%
Vitamin D3 (as cholecalciferol) 1000 IU 250%
Vitamin E (as d-alpha tocopheryl acetate) 60 IU 200%
Thiamin (as thiamine hydrochloride 1.5mg 100%
Riboflavin (as riboflavin U.S.P.) 1.7 mg 100%
Niacin (as niacinarnide 20mg 100%
Vitamin B6 (as pyridoxine hydrochloride) 5mg 250%
Folate (as folic acid) 800mcg 200%
Biotin (as d-Biotin) 300mcg 100%
Vitamin B12 (as cyanocobalamin) 15mcg 250%
Pantothenic Acid (as calcium d-pantothenate) 10mg 100%
Selenium (as selenium amino acid chelate) 140mg 200%


This is a liquid vitamin and it is very good (98% soluble) and I have a huge stash of it, so I would hate to go out and BUY a prenatal PILL (I hate pills - especially while wanting to barf!)

What do you think? Good enough? Supplement it with something else? Too much vitamin A?

[Lady Lilya]

I couldn't take it, because of the folic acid. My body can't use folic acid. I need to take folate itself. If I take folic acid, it interferes with the uptake of folate.

But every prenatal is going to have lots of folic acid. So I can't take a prenatal. I take each component individually. (A lot of pills.)

No, I think that vitamin A is fine, because of the form it is in. The risky one is retinol. Carotenes are safe.

[EdnaMarie]

Lady Lilya, sorry to butt in, but that's fascinating. Can you lead me to a post of yours where you explain how you found that out and so on? I'm trying to get my vitamin stores back in balance.

OP- I don't think that's too much vit. A at all. The tests with birth defects were with hundreds of times the RDA. They just err on the side of caution.

[Lady Lilya]

There are a few threads in Health and Healing about MTHFR gene variations. Apparently, 1/3 of the population have some degree of variation in the MTHFR gene. This is the gene that makes enzymes involved in the use of folate.

Folate is the natural form found in food. Folic acid is entirely synthetic. With some gene variations, we can't turn folic acid into folate. However, our body will still uptake it, and then think it has enough. But it can't use what it has.

Shortage of folate is known to cause midline birth defects. I started researching because my DS had a mild one (tongue tie). Low folate can also cause high homocysteine, and that can lead to clots, which can cause repeated miscarriages.

Until recently, there was no supplement for folate itself. Now Thorne makes one called 5-MTHF. But most supplements still use folic acid.

Naturally, we would get our folate from things like green leafy veggies and lentils. But since we generally supplement with folic acid during pregnancy, we are preventing ourselves from uptaking folate.

Anyway, I asked my gyno for a test for my MTFHR gene status. I chose to ask her because I knew she was openminded. This research is only a decade old, and most doctors have never heard of it. She wrote me the script for it, and I went to the lab. The lab had never heard of it, but let me look through the forms they could use to send away to other labs for genetic tests, and I found it. My result was that I have 2 copies of the variation called C776T, which is considered the worst. But I have been drinking green smoothies and taking Thorne's folate, and my numbers look good.

[HRJ]

Originally Posted by Lady Lilya

There are a few threads in Health and Healing about MTHFR gene variations. Apparently, 1/3 of the population have some degree of variation in the MTHFR gene. This is the gene that makes enzymes involved in the use of folate.

Folate is the natural form found in food. Folic acid is entirely synthetic. With some gene variations, we can't turn folic acid into folate. However, our body will still uptake it, and then think it has enough. But it can't use what it has.

Shortage of folate is known to cause midline birth defects. I started researching because my DS had a mild one (tongue tie). Low folate can also cause high homocysteine, and that can lead to clots, which can cause repeated miscarriages.

Until recently, there was no supplement for folate itself. Now Thorne makes one called 5-MTHF. But most supplements still use folic acid.

Naturally, we would get our folate from things like green leafy veggies and lentils. But since we generally supplement with folic acid during pregnancy, we are preventing ourselves from uptaking folate.

Anyway, I asked my gyno for a test for my MTFHR gene status. I chose to ask her because I knew she was openminded. This research is only a decade old, and most doctors have never heard of it. She wrote me the script for it, and I went to the lab. The lab had never heard of it, but let me look through the forms they could use to send away to other labs for genetic tests, and I found it. My result was that I have 2 copies of the variation called C776T, which is considered the worst. But I have been drinking green smoothies and taking Thorne's folate, and my numbers look good.

Can you buy a folate vitamin or is folic acid the only supplement?

[EdnaMarie]

Wow, okay I will look over there. Thanks. I usually don't because when I read about mild and generic-symptom illnesses I start getting hypochondriac, LOL! I'm all... gee... that sounds like me on a bad day... maybe...

[tanyalynn]

Thorne brand vits have real folate, not folic acid. They're sold lots of places online and in some health food stores, I've been told (not mine)... they have B complexes, multivits, prenatals, and overall they generally have good forms of vitamins and minerals. My kids and I have used multiple Thorne products for several years now.

There are a couple other brands that have real folate, Folapro is one, I think there are others.

OP--that's pretty low on minerals and I'd be more concerned about that than the vitamins, though folate is really important. Zinc, magnesium, a nice broad spectrum mineral supp, that would be my concern. And personally I'd want more vitamin A than that vitamin has, unless you're consuming a lot of preformed vitamin A (the kind from animals, not the kind in orange/yellow/red veggies). Plus enough vitamin D to get your blood levels to a good part of the reference range (not that I thought of that before I was pregnant with either of my kids ).