Kathy is wondering whether she needs to take prenatal vitamins, or if it is just a bunch of hype. She feels fine, and eats a decent diet, so she isn’t sure it is really necessary for her. She really doesn’t like swallowing pills.
Are Prenatal Vitamins Necessary?
The nutrients are certainly necessary, but to take fractionated, isolated vitamins is absolutely not the same thing. Why is nutrition important? Because the vitamins and minerals and many co-factors present in foods will help you be healthy and get pregnant. They are necessary for a healthy pregnancy, an uncomplicated birth, and a healthy baby.
Good nutrition comes from real, whole, foods. Supplements, including prenatal vitamins, should never be taken to compensate for a poor diet.
Here are the nutrients that we know are essential for a fertility diet:
- Fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K2
- Folate and other B vitamins
- Vitamin C
- Minerals such as calcium, magnesium, zinc, iodine, selenium, iron, and more
- Essential fatty acids
What foods provide these nutrients?
- The fat soluble vitamins are best supplied by animal products. Choose meat, eggs and dairy from animals that are eating the diet intended for them (grass fed cows and chickens eating greens and bugs)
- B vitamins, including folate, are found in whole grains, fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, seafood and organ meats.
- Vitamin C is found in many fruits and vegetables and in certain animal organs. It is destroyed by heat. Alcohol and many common drugs including aspirin and oral contraceptives may reduce vitamin C levels in the body.
- Minerals come from plants grown in mineral rich soils, sea weeds, bone broths, unrefined salt, and mineral rich water.
- Essential Fatty Acids must be obtained from food. Luckily they are present in essentially all whole foods, and the body only needs them in small amounts. Good sources include nuts, seeds, some grains, eggs, organ meats and fish (if the animals are raised naturally), and green vegetables (if raised organically).
Are you getting the idea that food is important, and that the quality of that food is very important? You are worth it. Worth the effort to learn what good nutrition is, and properly nourish yourself.
Why these nutrients are so important is explained in other articles, such as “Is a Special Fertility Diet Important?” This will help you begin to understand how to truly nourish yourself to get pregnant and have a healthy, happy baby.
To Your Vibrant Health!
Veronica Tilden, DO
