good prenatal he vitamin rec

[Ethelpea]

Hi all,

Any recs for a good prenatal?  I have taken whole foods energizer ALIVE for ages now, but it has an amino acid in it (phenylalanine) which I can't for the life of me figure out if I should be taking while pregnant.  My guess is it is ok given that it is in the "whole foods" formulation, but not sure.

Thanks!

Edited by Ethelpea - 8/16/12 at 10:45am

[pokeyAC]

I take the Rainbow Light Just Once Prenatal.  It's food-based.  They also have versions with smaller pills where you take several each day.

[WildDoula]

Rainbow Light is probably the most popular "good" prenatal. New Chapter has one that you take three times a day instead of one big dose, which I almost prefer. Tangy Tangerine is a good complete vitamin and mineral supplement, even though it's not prenatal specific.

[Ethelpea]

thanks so much ladies for the recommendations! Can anyone answer whether the phenylalanine in the Alive (and the Beyond Tangy Tangerine) is ok?  I'm asking b/c I read that that particular amino acid makes up over 50% of aspartame and is an excito toxin.  I'm not scientifically minded at all so it is very hard for me to glean any useful information off what little I can find on the net.

thanks

Emily

[WildDoula]

I do know that natural phenylalanine is naturally present in breastmilk. The issue is when it is from a non-food source, I believe, as it is with aspartame.

Since the supplements are whole foods based, I'm really leaning towards it being fine. But someone who knows more about it may be able to chime in with something I don't know.