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Here, I'd like to briefly discuss nutritional needs during pregnancy. Estimated reading time is about 20 minutes.
Contents: Cardiovascular Changes and the Need for Iron; Folate, B12 and Neural Tube Defects; Calcium Needs; Vitamin E; Be Careful With Vitamin A.
There is probably no time during the course of a healthy person's life in which nutrient needs are so great as in pregnancy. After all, two or more people are nourishing and growing in only one body! That's some pretty intense stuff!
There are a number of changes that occur in a woman's body that provide for the development and nourishment of her baby. These changes require attention to diet, including nutritional supplementation, in order to provide for the complete nutritional support of the mother to be, and thus the healthy development of her baby. Check this out:
Cardiovascular Changes and the Need for Iron.
During the course of a woman's pregnancy, her blood volume can expand by as much as 50%! In order to move that increased load, her heart will actually enlarge a little, and her heart beat will increase.
The increases in maternal blood supply significantly increases a pregnant woman's demand for iron, in order to provide for the expansion of her red blood cell volume. The heme component of red blood cells use iron to help bind inhaled oxygen, making it available for the mother and her baby's cells and tissues. A woman with child thus needs extra red cells, and therefore extra heme, and thus extra iron, in order to get oxygen to her uterus, placenta and developing baby.
The full term fetus and placenta accumulates about 250-300 mg of iron; and all of this is ultimately obtained from the mother's diet. As such, an expectant mother's iron requirements, averaged over the length of her pregnancy, amounts to about 10-15 additional mg of iron per day, resulting in a total need of about 30 mg of iron each day.
Many times women DO NOT enter pregnancy with sufficient iron status to cover ALL of their pregnancy needs. An anemic woman would be less able to tolerate any hemorrhage occurring with delivery. In view of this, supplementation is acknowledged as a viable means to prevent iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy...
Folate, B12 and Neural Tube Defects.
The growth changes occurring in an expectant mother's uterus means that the B vitamin folate must be considered. This vitamin is crucial to a baby's developing nervous system, since folate, or folic acid, the synthetic form, is one of the most significant vitamins with regards to cell proliferation and tissue growth. It's important to note that regular dietary intake and absorption of folate is often NOT sufficient to establish protective blood concentrations of this vitamin. Further, the synthetic form, folic acid, is absorbed more efficiently than the folate in foods. Since malformation of an embryo's neural tube (the baby's early brain and spinal cord) can result if a woman's own folate status is inadequate; and since a baby's neural tube closes 8 days after conception (which is often before many women realize they are pregnant), it is recommended that an additional 400 micrograms of FOLIC ACID be supplemented throughout one's childbearing years, in order to provide for sufficient folate nutriture - in advance - of conception. Neural tube defects affect one out of every 1000 births. It's the second most common birth anomaly after Down's syndrome.
Two additional points on folate: first, a folate deficiency MAY increase a woman's risk of cervical cancer. Supplementation may help to decrease risk. Second, an increased folate/folic acid intake may conceal a B12 deficiency. Here's how:
A poor B12 status can develop when one's diet is devoid of foods derived from animal sources (e.g. total vegetarianism), or in cases of ulceration and/or chronic inflammation of your stomach. Along with folate, B12 is critical to the development and maintenance of nervous tissue, red blood cells, and even bone. Further, B12 is necessary for the propagation of folate metabolism. An inadequate B12 status can thus stall the process of folate metabolism at a point where a product called 5 methyltetrahydrofolate over accumulates, which can lead to the development of a red blood cell condition called megaloblastic anemia. Supplemental folic acid can provide for the production of the metabolic products of folate that occur past that stalling point, such that the tell tale anemia is not produced, masking a B12 deficiency until it is more severe. Note however, B12 is such an important micronutrient that your body will struggle to hold on to it. As such, diets or health conditions that negatively impact B12 absorption may not produce a major deficiency symptom, such as the anemia, for quite some time. Despite that, if you are planning a pregnancy, it's all too important to be sure you are not habitually running a B12 deficit due to diet or gastric anomalies. Even chronic use of over the counter antacids can negatively impact B vitamin uptake.
In view of the complex interrelationships between folate and B12, and the importance of the two vitamins to growth and develpment, it's a good idea to supplement both of these vitamins together, to be safe for both you and your baby...
Calcium Needs.
Calcium is a mineral of critical importance to pregnant women. Unfortunatly, many people, both men and women, don't ingest and/or absorb optimal amounts of calcium. Optimal calcium ingestion and uptake is important to protect us from the bone loses that occur in both sexes later in life. These loses can be particularly pronounced in women following menopause, particularly so in women of Northern European and Asian descent (See the Knowledge Link below: About Osteoporosis).
As you know, our skeletons increase in length from childhood until we reach an adult height. But did you know that your bones actually continue to grow, increasing their density, until you are about 25 years old? This long period of bone growth commences in the womb, where about 25 grams of calcium are initially deposited into a developing baby from the mother. Another 5 grams of calcium is held in reserve by the mother to meet the demands of lactation. In order for an expectant mother to obtain enough calcium to supply her baby's needs, facilitate her own skeletal development (If she is less than 25 years old) and store enough calcium to counterbalance the losses that occur later in life, it's a safe bet to get no less than 1200 to 1500 mg of calcium daily BEFORE you are pregnant, and to keep that amount up during your pregnancy. This is particularly so for young women of Asian and Northern European descent, who are considering one or more pregnancies. Supplementation is often recommended in order to obtain the amounts of calcium given above, especially for those who, for whatever reason, consume little or no dairy products and/or certain plant based foods, such as greens and soy products...
Vitamin E.
Due to changes in a woman's body that provides for the synthesis of her baby's new, living tissue, a little extra vitamin E is important to an expectant mother and her baby. The child growing in her womb is making new cells that require vitamin E in their membranes to help protect them from lipid peroxidation. Lipid peroxidation is the structural disruption of cell membranes by reactive molecules generated by normal, metabolic reactions. The recommendation for extra vitamin E is 10 mg a day of alpha tocopherol, which includes an extra 2 mg over the amount suggested for a non pregnant woman. This extra amount will be the baby's supply.
Be Careful With Vitamin A.
One essential vitamin that should be carefully managed during pregnancy is vitamin A. Preformed vitamin A in daily amounts exceeding 5000 IU can be teratogenic, that is, it can contribute to fetal malformations. Be careful if you are taking a multivitamin while you are pregnant, that it does not exceed that amount. Many mulivitamin supplements often provide anywhere from 2 to 5 times the RDA of preformed vitamin A (10,00 to 25,000 IU).
Supplements containing beta carotene however, a vitamin A precursor, have not been associated with teratogenic effects. Your body will convert beta carotene to vitamin A as needed, as opposed to absorbing large amounts of preformed A, as can occur with vitamin A supplements and the ingestion of certain foods. Speaking of foods, if you eat organ meats such as liver, you could be getting goo gobs of preformed A. Be mindful of that if you are taking multivitamins containing high amounts of A...
In view of the above concerns, to help you meet any supplement needs you may have as an expectant mother, you can click on the "Best-Health" site below, for a remarkable selection of vitamins, minerals and herbs(*). There are also supplements specifically designed for the nutrient needs of men, women and children, as well as a full line of natural skin and hair care products. Supplements to support weight loss and physical training are also available; as are supplements especially formulated for detoxification and the prevention of specific disease conditions.
You can also give the gift of health this holiday season!
After visiting the award winning "Best Health" site by clicking the first link below, if you key in, review and order either a Daily Basics Nutritional system, or a Core Pack for men, women or children, 10% of your purchase will be donated to the Susan G> Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. If you email notice of your purchase, you will receive an official notice of your donation....
Also, check out the E International, Aestival, and the Dr. Berman's skin and hair care systems. These products can help to protect and restore the subcutaneous (under the skin) collagen and lipid deposits, that keep skin full and unwrinkled. They also nourish underlying skin cell layers, and remove damaged superficial skin cells, helping to make skin look naturally healthy....
Note also that the ALL ORDERS ARE ENCRYPTED AND COMPLETELY SECURE! Please see the "Customer Service" section at the bottom right corner of the "Best-Health" site for more information.
Ordering online from Martino's Supplement Resources means that you won't have to look for time in your busy schedule to hustle to a store and question a clerk about supplements. Likely, the clerk will only be able to respond to your queries with a bunch of supplement hype, as opposed to considering your best interests and giving you the facts!
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To order, or ask any questions about supplements, or to suggest a possible topic for a future Knowledge Link, click on the "Best-Health link below. You can send an email through the address on the page.
* With regards to the use of herbs, for pregnant women, try not to go heavy on herbal supplements. It's probably safest not to use herbs at all during pregnancy. If you've used certain herbs before throughout a pregnancy, you have your own experience and judgement to rely on. Still, certain purified, concentrated herbs can have affects similar to medications, though usually not as potent, unless used in very high amounts. There have been little or no studies done on the affect of such substances on a developing baby, which is rather vulnerable during growth and development.
Finally, never try to self diagnose and treat any illness. Leave diagnosis and treatment to trained health care professionals. These people can apply accurate tests to identify what's going on in the event of a serious health anomaly. They can also use professional judgement to interpret variations in tests results, and discern what those variations may mean. You or I can't do that. The information in these pages is intended to help people learn what efforts they can safely make to prevent health anomalies; manage certain benign health conditions; or confer with health care practitioners in a more informed capacity with regards to nutrition and health.
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About me: I've been a professional Biologist for almost 20 years. I have a lifetime of experience with exercise, nutrition, and diet related concerns. Any questions feel free to email me. Below is a photo of me doing the lab thing! Please excuse the red eye!
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