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Prenatal Vitamin Question


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UPDATE: Moved from the Pregnancy forum--where there were no responses--to this forum.


 


Greetings,


 


Lately, I've undertaking a considerable amount of research on prenatal vitamins/minerals in order to help my wife select one.  She's not pregnant yet, but we'll be trying to conceive in short order.


 


Upon starting the Whole 30 diet, I came across this forum and read the previous posts on prenatal vitamins.  It's refreshing to see folks talk seriously about prenatal vitamins, and the quality and bioavailability of the vitamins and minerals contained therein.


 


From what I gather here, and in "It Starts With Food," most people are recommending "Pure Encapsulations Nutrients 950 with Vitamin K" as a prenatal and regular multivitamin/mineral.  While this supplement has a lot of things going for it, it also has some real drawbacks (IMHO).  


 


First, many of the mineral chelates are other than glycinate, which I understand to be the most bioavailable.  Second, the amount of manganese seems way too high.  From what I've read (hat tip: Paul Jaminet), manganese toxicity is a real concern.  Third, I've read that many people are unsure how many to take a day--seeming to feel that 6 is overkill or too much--and are therefore taking 2/day.  That would mitigate my second concern (i.e., manganese levels), but now is one getting sufficient magnesium, selenium, potassium iodine, etc?  I'm not so sure.


 


I turned up several alternatives that seem viable, and I'm curious any of you have tried them or have opinions about them. 


 


1.)  Designs for Health Prenatal Pro.  Seems like an excellent selection and form of minerals.  The form of folate is a combination of L-5-MTHF and folinic acid (from what I've read).  Downsides are that many of the b-vitamins are not in active form (but neither are they in Pure Encapsulations, except for B6 (other than folate)).  At the moment, this is probably the supplement I'm leaning toward.


 


2.)  Seeking Health Optimal Prenatal.  Has most of the vitamins and minerals in the active or best chelate form.  This one is so close to getting it right.  However, doses may be a bit high.  More importantly, I'm not sure about the additional ingredients/supplements.  For example, Betaine HCI, CoQ10, Milk Thistle Extract, etc.  Seems like it's better to play it safe than sorry during this particular time. 


 


3.)  Emerald Labs Prenatal Multivitamin/Mineral.  Also has most of the vitamins and minerals in the active or best chelate form.  Biggest concern, again, are the additional ingredients/supplements.


 


4.)  Douglas Labs Prenatal Vitamin/Mineral.  Seems like a pretty safe bet, but not the best versions of B vitamins and some of the minerals.  Also, seems low in some of the minerals (e.g., Magnesium)


 


5.)  Thorne Research Basic Prenatal.  Good B vitamins (particularly folate), but iron is high enough to make my wife nauseated.  This vitamin also has too high a level of manganese.


 


In summary, I am trying to understand why "Pure Encapsulations Nutrients 950 with Vitamin K" is a better choice than, say, Designs for Health Prenatal Pro.  Is it merely the inclusion of iron?  If it's just the lack of vitamin K (in MK-7 form), this is a relatively cheap item to supplement with.


 


Thanks for taking the time to read through this!  I would greatly appreciate any thoughts you may have, including any other suggestions that I may have missed.  (FYI, my wife is not adverse to taking 6 pills a day (split across three meals), which I mention only because I know this is a deal-breaker to some.)


 


Thanks again!


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