Pre natal vitamins. What kind do you like? - Page 2 « Back to Group Discussions

[InLove2009]

Originally Posted by Monkey pants 

Thanks for all the replies. @ here we are it's really important to get plenty of fluids! Especially in the later months. Dehydration can cause painful Braxton hicks contractions and issues with labor. I really enjoy iced teas. There are some tasty herbal brands out there. I love Rasberry Zinger (does not have red read leaf in it) but tastes great. Plain ole water kinda makes me gag too right now.

I thought I read somewhere to stay away from Herbal teas.... I think it was in the What to Expect when you are expecting book. I think I will try the ice tea as well- I am so thirsty and I can't keep water down. And I don't want to drink a whole 2 liter of sprite- it just grosses me out!

About the Pre Natal Discussion.... I told my husband about the different brands you are all using. He just kind of started laughing. He works, has worked for many years, in the Vitamin Industry. He does Quality control. Here is what he told me. About 95% of all our Vitamins are Imported from China or India (Some from France and Spain). The company he works for imports them, raw in bulk, and sells them to manufacturers (folic acid, Vitmin B, Vitamin C, Biotin etc). ALL Vitamins, in order to be sold for human consumption have to meet the same guidelines. This is government regulated (See FDA or USP website). The way it works, they will import it, and then repackage it. They will test the vitamins before they repackage them. And then, they sell them to different companies. Some use it for generic things, some are brand names. So the vitamins out of the $50/month bottle most likely came from the same batch as those from the free one that the doctor prescribes, and if they don't, they still have to meet the same guidelines. There are only a certain number of plants that those vitamins are imported from. My husband said one of their customers that they sell to, is a brand manufacturer (I don't want to say their name due to privacy). If they 'accidentally' purchased too much product, they will use the left over to make cheaper vitamins. They just put them in a different bottle. 

I thought this was very interesting (I never was really interested in this part of my husband's job before). So, I thought I would let you know. 

[wrenmoon]

Ooh. I have questions for your husband!

Is he talking about manufactured/synthesized vitamins? As in substances that are made in a lab and then packaged into pill form?
Does that process apply to plant/food based vitamins as well?

I am very curious about that because a "traditional" cheap b vitamin will make me throw up pregnant or not, and food based vitamins will not. By food based i mean the ones that actually list the dried vegetables and herbs that are in it. Do those have some lab made vitamins too? Curious and curious.

So the vinegar test is showing not the quality of the actual molecules we call vitamins, but the FORM the vitamin is sold in, a tablet with binders and fillers or capsule etc. I am concerned the digest-ability of the form, I see what he was saying about the actual vitamin.
You don't really have to ask him if you don't want to, I am just a geek. Like I said before.
(Where's that little icon of the guy under the paper bag?)
As for herbal teas I usually suggest to people to get their information about herbs from sites and books written by practicing herbalists. (I'm a practicing clinical herbalist) You're more likely to find accurate information about specific plants there, rather than a broad scope brush that usually sounds something like 'talk to your doctor if pregnant or nursing'.
If you look at even the big conservative theoretically these could maybe be a problem lists of herbs to avoid in pregnancy, very very few of those herbs are actually in a boxed tea from celestial seasonings. I think licorice is probably the likeliest one.
Much of the information out there about herbs is poorly researched and a recycling of information from books written years ago by people who didn't have a practicing knowledge of the plants. Theres more I could say about this but I won't bore you with the history or western herbalism in the last 200 years. (Unless you want me to) (cause I could)

Most boxed teas in the store (celestial seasonings) are so powdered and in such small doses that even if there were herbs with strong actions, (there generally aren't) one would have to double/ triple the tea bag or more and do that several times a day for a therapeutic dose. Otherwise it is just a beverage and can be treated as such. Not to say that they aren't medicinal herbs just cause they are in a tea bag, I'm just saying dont throw the baby out with the tea water. I'm more worried about the glue in the tea bags screwing with my baby than the powdered plants inside it.

If you're interested in a very well written herbal by a midwife- herbalist- now MD, I recommend Aviva Jill Romm's Naturally Healthy Pregnancy. She has a clear list of avoid herbs in the beginning as well as some fine recommendations for uses of herbs in pregnancy.
Her children's health book was my bible in the beginning of baby havin.

Stepping away from the keyboard now...

[dayiscoming2006]

Yeah, a good herbal sweet tea will hydrate. Sprite will dehydrate you. Any soda is known to cause further dehydration from what I've read. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[InLove2009]

I kind of thought sprite is doing that. I am so thirsty, and I can't seem to get enough to drink, therefore I don't think it is doing much good. 

Thanks for the tip on the book! I will see if the library has it. Is it ok to sweeten with Splenda?

I asked him about the Vitamins.... He says they import the raw bulk material. They don't manufacture them. But they import both, plant based and manufactured. They sell to all kinds of industries (Cosmetics, feeding (animals), food (e.g. cereal) and pharmaceutical to name a few) so different industries require different standards. He doesn't know what binders they use to put them into the pill form, but he thinks that depends on the company. His main point was that the quality of the Vitamins has to be the same for human consumption, not matter who makes them, due to regulations. Did that answer your question? 

[wrenmoon]

Yes it does, thanks for doing that. My main interest has been about the ability to assimilate what ever vitamins were there and the different forms they come in. I think the quality of the brand has to do with the binders (thus the vinegar test) and the actual form of the vitamin/mineral being sold. For example, some forms of calcium are more easily assimilated than others, and the less expensive to produce (I think it is calcium carbonate from oyster shell) is difficult for most people to assimilate. So the food based brands probably have alternative forms of calcium, easier to assimilate. But I also think it all comes down to reading labels, again. How is it held together and what form is it in. Thank your DH for me, I appreciate that bit of information.

I personally avoid any artificial sweetener and high fructose corn syrup, and use raw honey or maple syrup or just plain real sugar when I want something sweet. But I'm not a big sweet tooth person so I don't have to get very creative about it, luckily. I would try to avoid soda as an everyday beverage because of the high fructose corn syrup. Both HFCS and the resulting glucose and insulin spikes are inflammatory in the body, which requires your kidneys to work harder, and essentially you end up peeing more to try to rid your body of the inflammation. Thus dehydration from sodas. You could try bubbly water with a splash of juice in it- maybe that would meet the not plain water criteria and still be sweeter than plain water.
That being said, I've been drinking my fair share of coca cola (the real sugar kind) in the last week, hoping it will help my nausea. It does. Sort of.

[heyitskalista]

Originally Posted by dayiscoming2006 

Rainbow light is the cheapest whole food prenatal. I wouldn't take your average prenatal from off the shelf or prescribed by the doc. Unless they are food based, they most likely aren't doing much for ya based on my research. 

Kalista: I took prenatal gummies from vitafusion with my last pregnancy in the first trimester. They don't have all the nutrients of others, but they are tasty and at least it is better than nothing. 

Thanks, I'll look into it.  Though I'm interested in the one I could mix into my food...that would be perfect in my smoothies!

 

 

As for the quality vitamin stuff- I don't mind paying the extra for good vitamins.  I think its important to consider everything that is in the pill (binding agents included).  And, though this is purely anecdotal, I switched from generic prenatals to the New Chapter while I was just breastfeeding and I felt a significant increase in energy and just felt healthier over all.   Maybe its a coincidence, or a placebo effect, but I'll take it regardless! :D

[dayiscoming2006]

Originally Posted by heyitskalista 

Thanks, I'll look into it.  Though I'm interested in the one I could mix into my food...that would be perfect in my smoothies!

http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Life-Vitamin-Prenatal-capsules/dp/B002JOVOVY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354492317&sr=8-2&keywords=raw+prenatal

I think these can be opened and put in smoothies. ^ And they are high quality.

[InLove2009]

Originally Posted by wrenmoon 


That being said, I've been drinking my fair share of coca cola (the real sugar kind) in the last week, hoping it will help my nausea. It does. Sort of.

That is my main reason for drinking sprite and gingerale lol. It kind of helps, it kind of doesn't. I found Crackers don't help. I have some local organic honey, I'll try that in the tea.... I just thought of 'not drinking your calories', but I am not sure if that applies to pregnancy.... 

[heyitskalista]

dayiscoming- Thanks!!!  I'll check them out!

inlove- I think in pregnancy, its get your calories in any way that will stay down! lol 
 

[SunnyMuffin]

I finally found a brand of vitamins that works, they aren't PNV's (every kind I've tried makes me throw up because of the iron content)

Its an easily absorbable iron, folate, and b6.  http://www.platinumnaturals.com/easyiron.html I took one 2 hours ago and it stayed down

theres the link if the iron content of regular pnvs is bothering anyone else

[ashleybrook]

Originally Posted by dayiscoming2006 

Rainbow light is the cheapest whole food prenatal. I wouldn't take your average prenatal from off the shelf or prescribed by the doc. Unless they are food based, they most likely aren't doing much for ya based on my research. 

Kalista: I took prenatal gummies from vitafusion with my last pregnancy in the first trimester. They don't have all the nutrients of others, but they are tasty and at least it is better than nothing. 

thanks! i've been thinking of getting a gummie and i think i'll go with this! :)

[here we are]

Wrenmoon: Any comments from you as a herbalist for me , about why nettles and alfalfa gives me itchy bumps on my face? Who knows, maybe it was some kind of coincidence and i got it stuck in my mind it was that..but i sware i always took it around the same time of month and the next 3 days=itchy face. I think if i ignored it and kept drinking it annoyed me more. I am craving something extra herbally, and strong, just not sure what. And, another question, since you said you loved talking about it, because so do i, but i havent quite figured out how to since it is quite a touchy subject i believe, culturally. So, about what is a medicinal dose..my new chapter has lemonbalm and some other herbs, and i wanted to drink it too, or even like the peppermint in it, but dont want to take too much. How do you know how much is too much? And, i am interested what you think of web.md.com, because i have come to use it as a guideline since i had such problems with my reproductive areas, though they may be a bit overly cautious, then again i think many herbalist can be a bit too easy going . Dont let me scare you away though.

[cynthiamoon]

I'm taking:

"Vitamin Code RAW Prenatal" which is all food derived and includes probiotics (3 pills a day)

"MorDHA Prenatal" which is all brain food (1 pill a day)

"Bluebonnet Liquid Calcium" (2 spoonfulls a day) 

Between those three I am meeting all they key minimums for nutrients (at least in the book I am following for nutrition "You: Having a Baby"), but more importantly, I am maintaining the proper RATIOS of nutrients that need each other to be functional. Technically, the pregnant woman calcium requirement would be 3 spoonfulls, but I eat a lot of calcium rich foods, so I don't want to over do it. 

I picked these because I liked the idea of raw vitamins extracted from real foods (though I don't have proof they are truly better), because the MorDHA pill has the right ratios and 3 times as much nutrients as other pills which have a ton of fillers, and because the liquid calcium has the right ratio of calcium to magnesium for maximum absorption. 

I usually take them spaced throughout the day with meals. 

[cynthiamoon]

Originally Posted by wrenmoon 

Ooh. I have questions for your husband!
Is he talking about manufactured/synthesized vitamins? As in substances that are made in a lab and then packaged into pill form?
Does that process apply to plant/food based vitamins as well?
I am very curious about that because a "traditional" cheap b vitamin will make me throw up pregnant or not, and food based vitamins will not. By food based i mean the ones that actually list the dried vegetables and herbs that are in it. Do those have some lab made vitamins too? Curious and curious.
So the vinegar test is showing not the quality of the actual molecules we call vitamins, but the FORM the vitamin is sold in, a tablet with binders and fillers or capsule etc. I am concerned the digest-ability of the form, I see what he was saying about the actual vitamin.
You don't really have to ask him if you don't want to, I am just a geek. Like I said before.
(Where's that little icon of the guy under the paper bag?)
As for herbal teas I usually suggest to people to get their information about herbs from sites and books written by practicing herbalists. (I'm a practicing clinical herbalist) You're more likely to find accurate information about specific plants there, rather than a broad scope brush that usually sounds something like 'talk to your doctor if pregnant or nursing'.
If you look at even the big conservative theoretically these could maybe be a problem lists of herbs to avoid in pregnancy, very very few of those herbs are actually in a boxed tea from celestial seasonings. I think licorice is probably the likeliest one.
Much of the information out there about herbs is poorly researched and a recycling of information from books written years ago by people who didn't have a practicing knowledge of the plants. Theres more I could say about this but I won't bore you with the history or western herbalism in the last 200 years. (Unless you want me to) (cause I could)
Most boxed teas in the store (celestial seasonings) are so powdered and in such small doses that even if there were herbs with strong actions, (there generally aren't) one would have to double/ triple the tea bag or more and do that several times a day for a therapeutic dose. Otherwise it is just a beverage and can be treated as such. Not to say that they aren't medicinal herbs just cause they are in a tea bag, I'm just saying dont throw the baby out with the tea water. I'm more worried about the glue in the tea bags screwing with my baby than the powdered plants inside it.
If you're interested in a very well written herbal by a midwife- herbalist- now MD, I recommend Aviva Jill Romm's Naturally Healthy Pregnancy. She has a clear list of avoid herbs in the beginning as well as some fine recommendations for uses of herbs in pregnancy.
Her children's health book was my bible in the beginning of baby havin.
Stepping away from the keyboard now...

DITTO all these questions...