Mamas! I want to address a common misconception you may have heard – that taking prenatal during pregnancy is unnecessary.
While it’s true that a well-rounded and balanced diet is essential to a healthy pregnancy, relying exclusively on your diet to provide all the necessary nutrients may not be practical or even possible.
While we all aim to eat well and get as many nutrients we need from food alone, it genuinely is hard to get all the nutrients from food alone especially if you have morning sickness, health challenges, dietary restrictions, pregnancy exhaustion, heartburn, depleted prior to pregnancy, a family and house to run, work commitments, etc. These factors can make it challenging to consume ALL the 20+ nutrients needed daily for a healthy pregnancy.
Prenatal vitamins are specifically formulated to provide the necessary nutrients in the optimal forms and dosages, that have been proven time and time again through research to reduce the risk of certain health conditions, birth defects & ensure optimal growth & development of your little one.
While it is recommended to try to meet as many nutrient needs through diet, it is not always realistic or feasible to eat perfectly & add up all the 20 different nutrients your body requires throughout the day. It can be hard to meet, even with the healthiest of diets.
It takes nutritional skill, careful planning, calculation and the financial means to eat ALL the varying foods. I can’t even imagine the mental band width it would have taken me to have to worry about every single nutrient I was getting throughout the day to sustain my twin pregnancy! Not to mention, I genuinely don’t think I could have fit it all in.
Also not to mention, the extra effort of having to be mindful of cooking methods as to not lose too many nutrients. Water-soluble vitamins, such as B and C, are the most sensitive to cooking methods. These vitamins can be degraded by heat and leach out. The effort of not having any fruits/veg sitting in fridge/counter too long and constantly sourcing the freshest product. Most produce loses 30% of nutrients three days after harvest, on the conservative side! For instance, broccoli can lose up to 70% of its vitamin C and beta-carotene and 505 of its antioxidant activity in just six days in the fridge.
So think of prenatal vitamins as an insurance policy to fill any gaps in your diet, so you are able to eat as healthy as you possibly can, but when you aren’t able to hit all the nutritional targets in your diet, you know your prenatal has you and your baby’s back.
