What vitamins are important?

[BarefootScientist]

I'm wondering what everyone else is taking as far as vitamins. I'm not really a vitamin kind of girl, so I don't usually take them. But I did take a multi with my last pregnancy. All I've been taking so far is the same folic acid pill (400 mcg) that I've been taking...um, forever.

I'd like to find a prenatal and some calcium, maybe some DHA...what else? What do you all try to take and how much? Can anyone recommend brands that aren't too incredibly expensive?

Here's the other complication to throw in the mix: I can't take iron.

[WifeofAnt]

If you can't take iron (hemochromatosis?) you might be better off getting individual vitamins instead of a multi. I take a multi because its easier but I add in DHA (FISH OIL DHA ONLY!) and vitamin D.

It really depends on what you think your needs are. Some people add in vitamin C for membrane strength, extra folic acid if there's a family history of birth defects (the recommended amount during pregnancy is actually 800 mcg), ect.

Looking now, GNC makes a prenatal without iron. (One A Day does too but it contains a DHA that may be algae/hexane derived. Why anyone would make a health supplement with poison is beyond me.)

[Arianwen]

Folic/iron/B vitamins? Magnanese I think, too. Plus Vit. C.

As for the previous question about non-fish DHA, I'm currently consuming organic whole milk with vegetarian DHA in it. I'm a vegetarian so I don't do fish/fish oil etc. I'm on the lookout for a DHA supplement that's vegetarian but so far I haven't had much luck.

[WifeofAnt]

Originally Posted by Arianwen

As for the previous question about non-fish DHA, I'm currently consuming organic whole milk with vegetarian DHA in it. I'm a vegetarian so I don't do fish/fish oil etc. I'm on the lookout for a DHA supplement that's vegetarian but so far I haven't had much luck.

http://www.spectrumorganics.com/?id=283 Looks expensive but its both fish and hexane-free.

[Arianwen]

Originally Posted by WifeofAnt

http://www.spectrumorganics.com/?id=283 Looks expensive but its both fish and hexane-free.

Looks good up until the "gelatin" part. If it doesn't specify vegetarian gelatin, then it's the deceased animal variety. *sigh*

At least we have organic milk with vegetarian-friendly DHA in it here.

[WifeofAnt]

well the flax oil doesn't seem to have gelatin although its not in pill form. I just don't know how to use flax oil, lol.

[jcregan]

For the OP - I take a gummy one I found at target. It does not have iron or calcium but it does have DHA, folic acid, and a few other things, and it is not a one of those multis with crazy amounts of a ton of things. It is pretty basic I think. I am adding some additional Vit. D now it is fall and close to winter and I drink a ton of milk so decided not to add a calcium.

With this one 1 daily dose is actually 2 gummy things so you could also just chew one. I frankly think that we probably don't always need 100% of everything in a daily vitamin if you are eating at least fairly decently.

[Arianwen]

That's what I was wondering - lol! A vegan friend told me to use ground flax seed on stuff I eat (it's apparently pretty taste-free) but I haven't bothered yet, too lazy/broke/something. lol

Luckily, I'm not vegan so I can get some nutrition from dairy.

[Arianwen]

Originally Posted by jcregan

For the OP - I take a gummy one I found at target. It does not have iron or calcium but it does have DHA, folic acid, and a few other things, and it is not a one of those multis with crazy amounts of a ton of things. It is pretty basic I think. I am adding some additional Vit. D now it is fall and close to winter and I drink a ton of milk so decided not to add a calcium.

With this one 1 daily dose is actually 2 gummy things so you could also just chew one. I frankly think that we probably don't always need 100% of everything in a daily vitamin if you are eating at least fairly decently.

My midwife told me a prenatal is not meant to fix a bad diet, merely to supplement a decently good diet, plus I could swear people absorb only 10% of vitamins in pill format?

[jcregan]

Flax seed really is pretty good - sprinkle on PB toast or mix in with soup or yogurt etc. The flax oil you can do the same actually... mixes in pretty well with things.

I used to do this a couple years ago - not sure why I stopped? I should go get some more!

[Arianwen]

Hmmm...it's an intriguing thought.

[greenmulberry]

You can put flax oil on anything that you will not be cooking further, like when you are ready to eat but not during cooking. If I make a salad, I drizzle flax oil on for the oil part of the dressing.

[jcregan]

Originally Posted by Arianwen

My midwife told me a prenatal is not meant to fix a bad diet, merely to supplement a decently good diet, plus I could swear people absorb only 10% of vitamins in pill format?

I have no idea about the 10%, but I do think that I have seen information that most supplements are not totally absorbed... depends on the specifics forms/types I think. Stuff from food you eat is definitely incorporated easier into the body.

Also, I totally agree about what your midwife said - it is a great point.

Try the flax - but get a small amount at first if possible cause it does expire.

[lillymonster]

I take a cal/mag/vit D liquid from blue bonnet
I am going to start the DHA in a few weeks - I still have upset tummy and it made me sick when I tried it earlier

I take a separate iron with 18mg and then take 1/2 of a kirkman lab hypoallergenic prenatal I took while nursing DD. 1/2 only has like 13mg iron.

[Lady Lilya]

Originally Posted by WifeofAnt

...
It really depends on what you think your needs are. Some people add in vitamin C for membrane strength, extra folic acid if there's a family history of birth defects (the recommended amount during pregnancy is actually 800 mcg), ect.
...

NOT FOLIC ACID!

If you have a history of birth defects, then you are probably in the third of the population with a variation in the MTHFR gene. If that is the case, you can't properly convert the synthetic folic acid into folate. Folate is what you need.

There didn't used to be a supplement of folate, but now there is. Thorne Labs makes one called 5-MTHF.

Medical science is behind the times with this one. The gene was only discovered in 1998, and most doctors still haven't heard of it. The folic acid recommendations work great for 2/3 of the population, but for the other third of us it will interfere with our absorption of the usable folate from food, and we'll be stuck with folic acid we can't use instead.

Nobody needs folic acid. Everyone needs folate. You have nothing to lose by taking folate instead of folic acid.

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So, to answer the OP, I take...
*Thorne's folate (250% the RDA, with each meal)
*vitamin D3 (1000IUs per 25 lbs of body weight, daily).
*an Omega-3 supplement called Orthomega Select DHA (2 with each meal)
*milk thistle (once per day. because I think it helps with nausea. it is a liver-supporting antioxidant)
*pancreatrophin (specifically recommended for me by my naturopath to help with my hypoglycemia issues)

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And BTW, Spectrum makes a totally vegan DHA supplement, I believe.

[BarefootScientist]

This link is interesting: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/259059-overview It seems to say only folic acid and iron need to be supplemented.

WifeofAnt, I don't have hemochromatosis, but my mom does and I have one of the genes for it. That's why I don't take iron - I don't ever get low in it, and my last pregnancy I got too high in it when I started taking iron.

So this is what I think I'm going to do...I got some chewy ones at Target, probably the ones the PP was talking about, with DHA. I think I'm going to take one of those prenatals, two chewy calciums with Vit. D, and then an extra folic acid and Vit. D (northern climate), and an extra fishy pill. Does that sound about right?

[WifeofAnt]

My dad has hemochromatosis (just one gene but its still pretty bad) and I've never had any genetic tests run to see if I have it. I've only had my irons checked the one time at 10 weeks but was 'normal'. I guess my insurance will only cover it to confirm a diagnosis and as long as they're not high they won't pay for the test.

[Aliy]

i take an iron a b 12 a folic acid and codliver oil with DHA. ( recomended for pregnancy)

I was trying to take a multi and it made me sick so i split it up.. I also take vitamin c every now and then

and paypya enzyme

[elonwy]

Flax is really good just mixed into oatmeal. I find it has kind of a bitter taste so I need to hide it in things like that. I would start out easy though, cause it's insanely full of fiber and gets everything... moving.

[Lady Lilya]

Elonwy, I don't think flax is supposed to taste bitter. I'm worried that might mean yours has gone rancid. It is VERY fragile and goes rancid super easy.

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Barefoot, that link you posted, they use "folic acid" and "folate" interchangeably.

See at the end they say a standard prenatal supplement has folate? That's not true. As far as I know, the only one with actual folate is the one made by Thorne.

Also it says in the folic acid section that the recommendation is that if you have a previous child with a neural tube defect you should take extra folic acid? That USED to be the recommendation, before they learned that for a third of us it does no good, and can actually do harm. The more useless synthetic folic acid you take in, the less usable folate you can absorb from food. Unfortunately, most medical professionals are still behind the times with this one.