Do You Prefer Pills or Drinking?
It’s an age-old comment made by all moms, “If I would have known then what I know now,” and I find myself uttering it quite often as my boys grow taller then me. This one is about prenatal vitamins.
I stopped taking vitamins when I was done nursing my babies. The reason was the upset stomach I would get every time I popped those pills. I tried taking vitamins after breakfast, lunch and dinner, but still felt nauseous. I finally just got in the habit of taking them after dinner, and sucked a peppermint, too.
If I only had known……
Now there are flavored liquid prenatal supplements! No more coating made from who knows what that is hard for your body to break down! No more dried fillers to make a capsule. No more manufactured sources for the nutrients my baby and I need, and the liquid form of vitamins can provide nutrients from organic products!
Maybe I’ll start taking vitamins again…..especially if I can just add the liquid to my morning NutriBullet shake!
Anyone else get queasy taking pills?
*Disclaimer ~ This is an advertisement post
Many women have trouble swallowing pills, especially when they are pregnant due to morning sickness. Liquid prenatal vitamins are then perfect for women during pregnancy that cannot swallow pills. To be perfectly honest, when searching for liquid prenatal supplements or vitamins, I only found a couple of brands that provided liquid forms of their prenatal vitamins. Rather than list the different sizes, flavors or variations of these vitamins, I choose to give you both liquid prenatal vitamins and chewable prenatal vitamins in this article. Chewable prenatal vitamins have many of the same benefits of liquid prenatal vitamins in that they are easy to take, easy to digest and do not seem to cause as much trouble with morning sickness as prenatal vitamin pills.
When I got pregnant for the first time, I dutifully asked my OB which prenatal vitamins I should be taking. I also asked her what I should be eating (or not), if I needed a flu shot, and so forth. Generally, I did whatever I was told, which included taking two Flintstones chewable vitamins each day (I had awful morning sickness so this was the most I could handle).
You should also note the amount of folic acid in the supplement. This is because many supplements have less than the required amounts of folic acid, which is 400 mcg a day. Every year, approximately 2,500 babies are born with neural tube defects in the US, and many additional neural tube defect-affected pregnancies end in miscarriage or stillbirth. Neural tube defects occur in the first three to four weeks following ovulation/fertilization. It is, therefore, important for women to make prenatal liquid multivitamins (containing folic-acid) a daily, dietary cornerstone well before getting pregnant. To achieve a satisfactory folic acid level it is suggested to begin folic acid supplementation at least 1-2 months before pregnancy. Because many pregnancies are not planned, all women of childbearing age ought to regularly take increased amounts of folic acid on a daily basis. Many vitamins are available by prescription and others over the counter. It is important for you to take a multivitamin that contains enough of what you need and absorbs into your body easily. Multivitamins in liquid form generally enhance the absorption effect. When trying to decide which prenatal vitamin is right for you, seek your doctor or midwife’s opinion and look out for the amount of calcium it has, as well as the amount of folic acid and other vitamins it contains. Remember that too much vitamin A can cause birth defects. Ensure you are taking a prenatal vitamin or a multi-vitamin with under 10,000 IU of vitamin A. Also too much iron in a prenatal vitamin will be poorly absorbed. So, check on its amount in the supplement you plan to buy too.
When I was six, I nearly choked to death on a circular grape hard candy. One minute I was playing with my friends outside and the next minute, my mother was dislodging the candy from my throat. That might have something to do with the reason I am still squeamish about swallowing pills. You can imagine taking those prenatal horse pills during pregnancy was no walk in the park, but I managed to do it.
While getting these vitamins in seems almost more trouble than it’s worth, the good news is prenatal vitamin intolerance usually doesn’t last past the first trimester. Until you get there, we applaud your effort!
Maybe I’ll start taking vitamins again…..especially if I can just add the liquid to my morning NutriBullet shake!
I never thought of that! What a great idea! Adding liquid vitamins to my NutriBullet would make it that much more healthy! Thanks!
When I was six, I nearly choked to death on a circular grape hard candy. One minute I was playing with my friends outside and the next minute, my mother was dislodging the candy from my throat. That might have something to do with the reason I am still squeamish about swallowing pills. You can imagine taking those prenatal horse pills during pregnancy was no walk in the park, but I managed to do it.
prescription prenatal vitamins will contain a more bioavailable form of folate; 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF).