No other physiological process is more demanding than pregnancy, yet most prenatal vitamins assure that baby gets the minimum vitamins necessary, with nothing left over for mom. This article is about why the pregnancy RDA's (recommended daily allowances) need to be raised to assure that both baby and mom are getting the nutrients they need for a healthy and happy pregnancy.
For the past 30 years in private practice, thousands of pregnant and postpartum women have come to me desiring to take a natural approach to treating their various health conditions. What I have learned is that most women come equipped with an inborn, intuitive sense of what is going on in their bodies. Pregnant women often can feel that their bodies being drained by donating all of the nutrients needed to form their baby's body. No other normal physiological condition depletes nutrients more than pregnancy. So many pregnant moms wonder why they suffer from fatigue, mood swings, excessive worry, poor sleep, despondency, muscle and joint pains, dry skin, nails and hair, lowered sex drive, excessive weight gain, and a myriad of other troubling health conditions. They are puzzled why they don't feel well even though they are taking their prenatal vitamin and eating well.
During the past decade, laboratory methods of testing of vitamins and minerals have become highly accurate so that we are now able to measure virtually all the vitamins, minerals, essential oils, proteins and antioxidants required to help a mother's body form her baby's body. These nutritional blood tests have shown me that the majority of pregnancy and postpartum related health problems are caused by deficiencies in essential nutrients. When the right nutrients are given in their correct dosages, most of these conditions resolve. Nutrients are essential to health because all of the human body's functions and tissues require nutrients. Nutrient deficiencies almost always cause health problems. Taking nutrients in their proper amounts help to prevent many diseases. When it comes to pregnancy, it is far better to try to prevent any problems with baby or mother by taking a comprehensive, truly high quality prenatal nutrient system.
Here is what these accurate nutritional blood labs have taught me: Most prenatal vitamins on the market are inadequate to meet the nutritional requirements of making a new baby's body and keeping mom healthy too. Virtually none of them have enough of the really important nutrients in their proper potencies. Virtually none of them have the highest quality Omega 3 oils necessary to form baby's eyes, brain, nerves, and cell membranes in amounts that don't drain mom.
Virtually none of them have enough truly absorbable forms of the minerals calcium and magnesium, separate from the time of day that iron is taken. While taking low potency prenatal vitamins are usually better than nothing, these tests reveal that they are inadequate to meet the real nutritional needs of both baby and mother. This is why we at Sound Formulas have developed and produced Before Baby Boost™ complete prenatal vitamin system.
A few years back I had the pleasure of teaching at a medical symposium with immanent psychiatrist Abram Hoffer, MD. Dr Hoffer shared with me that he was a member of the panel that decided the recommended daily allowances (RDAs) of many vitamins and minerals. This was over 50 years ago and the RDAs have not changed one bit. Further Dr. Hoffer told me that the panel at the time had guessed at the RDAs! The RDA amounts chosen were just enough nutrients to prevent classic vitamin deficiencies. They chose just enough Vitamin C to prevent the disease scurvy and just enough B-vitamins to prevent Beriberi and other B vitamin deficiency diseases. Dr. Hoffer was amazed that the RDAs had not been updated to catch up with present day knowledge in over 50 years! He had recommended that the RDAs be updated many times over the years but this still has not happened. Further most our food supply contains only half the nutrients they contained in the 1940s.
We at Sound Formulas have developed a truly superior complete prenatal vitamin system called Before Baby Boost. We have added only the highest quality ingredients in updated amounts based upon years of looking at blood tests that measure these nutrient levels. We haven't cut corners or costs because healthy pregnancies (babies and moms) are essential for healthy families and healthy societies. We have endeavored to bring you the highest quality, most comprehensive prenatal vitamins available at a great price.
Dr. Dean Raffelock is the author of A Natural Guide to Pregnancy and Postpartum Health, Avery- 2003. He has been in practice since 1977 and has a holistic practice in Boulder, CO. He has earned four board certifications (clinical nutrition, acupuncture, applied kinesiology, chiropractic) in the holistic arts. He is the president of Sound Formulations a company that formulates and manufactures science-based nutritional products for numerous companies. He is also the Vice President of Research and Development for Sound Formulas (SoundFormulas.com) - a company dedicated to providing women health information and top tier nutritional supplements.
