365 Days of Learning or Trying New Things: #51 - Choosing a Prenatal Vitamin: Nature's Way Completia Prenatal

Meets recommendations for the following:

Exceeds recommendations for the following:

Biotin is water soluble therefore it is unlikely to cause overdose symptoms since you excrete extra during urination.

this product offers a little extra calcium than recommended but your body can absorb about 500 mg of calcium at a time

Under Recommendations for the following:

Pregnant women need more iron – up to 50% more than non-pregnant women. I struggle to get enough iron not pregnant so having iron in my vitamin will be essential. This vitamin is a bit lower than the recommended dose for pregnancy but I will be tracking food intake so it’s possible I can make up the difference with diet. If not, iron supplements are inexpensive and I could add a table or ½ a tablet during the day if needed.

This is one that it might be best to err on the side of too little and make up the rest with food especially considering copper deficiencies are uncommon. Too much copper can damage the liver and kidneys. However, humans (and other mammals) have efficient mechanisms to regulate copper stores copper overdose is not very common.
Some foods high in copper are chocolate/cocoa powder, pumpkin seeds, nuts, and herbs such as oregano, marjoram, and basil.

Recent research shows that vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is a widespread problem-- even for women who take prenatal supplements.
Though this prenatal vitamin is low, vitamin D supplements are readily available and inexpensive.
Also sunlight causes our bodies to produce Vitamin D. However, being blonde-headed and fair skinned (which means I burn easily!) I cannot rely on the sun for my vitamin D needs as much as I would like.

Only slightly below recommendations and vitamin B6 is in many foods I love such as avocado, bananas, nuts, poulty, and meat.

Vitamin B3 (Niacin) is found in many foods so a healthy diet should make up the rest of the niacin requirements.

Too much vitamin E has been linked to congenital heart defects. However, this is at doses greater than 300 mg per day so this product should not be a problem in terms of vitamin E.

Though this product is a bit low in Vitamin B1, this shouldn’t be a problem considering many fruits and vegetables and other foods contain vitamin B1.

Lots of foods that have vitamin B2 including red meats and leafy vegetables. However, vitamin B2 is a water-soluble vitamin. That means that it cannot be stored in your body and must be constantly replenished because your body flushes it out on a daily basis.
Though this product is only slightly low in vitamin B1, so it could easily be made up for with a healthy diet.

Iodine deficiency use to be a common problem in the US, but the addition of iodine to salt has improved public health; therefore having a low iodine content in this prenatal vitamin doesn’t worry me since it can easily be made up with salt with added iodine.

Magnesium is required for the proper growth and maintenance of bones. Magnesium is also required for the proper function of nerves, muscles, and many other parts of the body. In the stomach, magnesium helps neutralize stomach acid and moves stools through the intestine.
I’ll check myfitnesspal.com nutrition to see how much magnesium I’m averaging daily before deciding to supplement. This prenatal vitamin will get me half way to my magnesium goal so I might be able to make up the difference with diet.

Pregnant women have a slightly higher need for selenium than non-pregnant women. However, women living in the United States usually get enough selenium through diet.

Deficiency of chromium is rare. And this product is only 5mcg lower than the recommended dose so it would be easy to make up the difference with a healthy diet.

Lacks the following:

I probably get enough manganese via diet but I’ll check it out on my nutrition log to be sure.

Molybdenum is a trace mineral found in foods such as milk, cheese, cereal grains, legumes, nuts, leafy vegetables, and organ meats.
Though this vitamin doesn’t contain molybdenum, such a small amount is needed that I’m certain I get enough of it considering my love of cheese. :)

365 Days of Learning or Trying New Things