Good Prenatal Vitamins?

[beanbean]

Can anyone recommend a great Prenatal Vitamin? Right now I'm taking Nature Made, but I don't know how good it is. I did soak a vitamin in vinegar and it dissolved quickly, but that's all I know.

Thanks for your help!

[xenomama]

The soak only tells you if it will dissolve in your stomach. I take Maxi One Prenatals - I like the ingredients, it's only one pill, and it doesn't taste that bad.

[greyskye]

rainbow light brand

prental

whole foods based

have to take six a day

i use them still since i am breastfeeding

check out www.iherb.com for some really great deals.

they ship fast and ship free plus they give additional % discounts on already cheap prices if you are first time buyer, buying alot, nurse, etc...

[isulari]

I second Rainbow Light- I prefer the one a day option. I also take the RL calcium supplement.

[Sleepymama]

I can't take any with iron--they make me puke immediately. Right now I'm just taking a 800mg folic acid supplement, later on when I'm feeling better I like the rainbow light 1 a day ones.

[greyskye]

the reason i dont take the 1 a day rainbow light was because i thought they were not whole food based?

[Dreaming]

Nature's Plus Ultra Prenatals are the ones I always come back to.
2 a day.

[beanbean]

These are all good suggestions, and thanks for the iherb referral!

So tell me, WHY did you choose your brand of prenatal?

[EllasMama]

I've tried several brands of prenatals, for various reasons. I guess Rainbow Light is my favorite overall. Based on whatever's going on with my life/health (like, do I need extra B vits or less iron or whatever) at a given time, there is often a certain level of everything I'd like to take, and Vitanica brand was my choice prenatally and early in pregnancy this time, but now they won't stay down. They aren't whole foods based, so I'll probably switch to Rainbow Light when I'm feeling better, since perhaps they'll be easier on my body. Last time I started with Eclectic Institute brand, again b/c of the amounts of certain vitamins. I believe they had less iron or something. I switched to Rainbow Light in the second half of pregnancy, I think. Perfect Prenatal brand was recommended by a friend, but when I read the label they didn't contain any of some important vitamin, I want to say it was vitamin A?? So at $50 per bottle I vetoed them.

Though not a "prenatal" vitamin, I'm pretty encouraged by good results I had when I started taking Juice Plus (which is entirely food based). I went to an info session led by 2 midwives who were sold on them and they said they almost regretted encouraging clients to "take your prenatal vitamins" for so many years since some prenatals are so unabsorbable and poorly constituted.

I don't like the one-a-day vitamins as much b/c if you calculate the amounts, they always have less of certain vitamins than the 4 or 6-a-day vitamins. If you have a great diet then I'm sure that's fine, but let's just say my diet is only pretty good in the best of circumstances. Right now I'm happy to keep anything down, and the very thought of vegetables (usually they're my favorite things!) makes me gag.

Unfortunately I can't take any of my prenatals or Juice Plus right now b/c of nausea and vomiting. I manage to take a folic acid every third day or so, that's it. I even tried chewing my daughter's gummy Juice Plus which are quite yummy (the red ones in particular), but they didn't agree. Blech!

Carol

[beanbean]

Carol, I've heard about Juice Plus but I didn't want to invest that large of a sum of money until I knew more about it. I take it you liked it?

[soulshinemama]

I take New Chapter Organics Perfect Prenatal. It is whole food, easy on my stomach and you take it 4 times a day. The whole food thing is very important to me and I can take two at night (if i forget one during the day) and it doesn't upset my stomach at all. I also agree with the 4 or 6 a day vitamines. The one a days were less on certain things and more on things you don't really need that much of. Plus I think it is harder to find a one a day that is whole food.

[Boobiemama]

So do you think a walmart prenatal is no good then?
I see so many people say they only take the more expensive ones, but I cant afford the ones I have seen.

I also talked to a juice plus person once, and it sounded really interesting, but I too was afraid to invest too much in it, since they wanted a contract of sorts...

[EllasMama]

Yes, I felt happy with Juice Plus, though unfortunately I only took them for about 2-3 months before nausea set in. I didn't notice so much when I took them, as when I stopped taking them b/c I ran out (my first month's bottles were a gift from a friend). Then all the sudden I felt much less well than when I'd been taking them.

They are expensive, though. There is a sort of a contract in that they send them every so many months (I think it's a four-month supply every four months), but I think they charge you one month at a time and you can always call your rep and say "I've got too many, skip my shipment for the next two months" and then you won't get them. Which reminds me, I need to do that, since not much Juice Plus is going down this gullet for a while longer....

Oh, and did I mention the kiddie gummy ones? - my dd loves them, and she has never been too keen on vitamins, even other gummy, bear-shaped ones. She asks hopefully, "Can I take my vitamins after dinner?" Whoohoo! But unfortunately lately I never remember to give them to her. :

Carol

[Dreaming]

Boobiemama- The best vitamins are whole food vites. That means that they are real vitamins taken from nature.
Walmart vites are most likely synthetic vitamins.
I haven't done extensive research on the subject (you may want to check the Nutrition section here on MDC for more information).
The vites at Walmart are less expensive but I would rather my body can actually absorb and benefit from the vitamins I am taking.

Good luck!

[MelissaEvans]

I found this link a while ago. I haven't looked too deeply in it, but hoped it might be helpful to you.
http://www.consumerlabs.com/results/multivit.asp
My chiro has me on Standard Process products, not vegan by any stretch of the imagination. But she's a raw foodist and still loves them (and I'm not a vegetarian) so I figured it's ok for me.