10 Oct 99% of Prenatal Vitamins are Inadequate!
Most pregnant women rely on a prenatal to fill in the nutritional gaps they may have in their diet while pregnant.
A new study out of University of Colorado finds this may not be a good enough approach! The study followed close to 2500 women through their pregnancies to assess dietary intake of several key nutrients to assess whether they met the National Institutes of Health’s nutritional targets for pregnancy. The researchers then compared more than 20,000 prenatal vitamin supplements available in the US to see whether they would make up for those nutritional shortfalls. 90% of women in the study failed to get adequate nutrition from their diets alone and 99% of supplements on the market were inadequate in making up the difference!
My take: DIET, DIET, DIET! Particularly in pregnancy, women should be eating a varied, nutrient-dense diet. You are literally creating another human!
It’s highly unlikely that a one-a-day prenatal vitamin will be good enough. I generally recommend either a three-a-day or a prenatal multi shake for more comprehensive nutrition. I also recommend an added fish oil for increased Omega 3 needs of pregnancy; DHA added to a prenatal is generally not good enough!
