365 Days of Learning or Trying New Things: #50 - Choosing a Prenatal Vitamin: New Chapter Organics Perfect Prenatal

Meets recommendations for the following:

Exceeds recommendations for the following:

no known risks from too much Vitamin B12. This vitamin is water soluble therefore you excrete extra via urination.

Vitamin E in very high doses may interfere with the body's ability to clot blood, posing a risk to people already taking prescribed blood thinners.
Vitamin E excess has been shown to be linked to congenital heart defects – this was seen at doses over 300 mg a day so this product does not appear to have that risk since even with added diet, it’s a long ways from 300mg a day

Thiamine (Vitamin B1) is generally safe. Very high doses may cause stomach upset however, 4mg is not considered a high dose.

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

There is no known toxicity to vitamin B2. Because riboflavin is a water-soluble vitamin, excess amounts are easily excreted by the body in the urine.

Being among the B vitamins, and a water-soluble vitamin, vitamin B5 is therefore eliminated immediately from the body through the urinary system.

Excess intake of chromium is not known to cause any adverse effects. However, people who have kidney and liver disorders are likely to suffer from an overdose of chromium.

Below recommendation for the following:

your body can only absorb about 500 mg of calcium at a time
Because I don’t drink very much milk I would possibly need to add a calcium supplement if I decide to use this prenatal vitamin.
I plan to track my food intake on myfitnesspal.com to determine my current intake of calcium and decide whether to supplement or not.

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.

zinc deficiency may also cause an increase in preterm birth
The daily requirement for zinc during pregnancy is 15 milligrams, but a higher dose may be needed. That’s because high intake of folic acid can interfere with absorption of zinc and thus create a deficiency of this mineral.
I think I can make this one up with diet. The vitamin will get me to half the dose and some foods high in zinc include chocolate! , beef, and eggs.

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.

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.

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.

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.
Though lots of foods contain magnesium, I think I will consider a supplement should I ultimately choose this prenatal vitamin. Again, I’ll check myfitnesspal nutrition to see how much magnesium I’m averaging daily before deciding to supplement.

Verdict: Maybe

365 Days of Learning or Trying New Things