Didn't weigh in today, but it is probably the same as it has been, around 205. I haven't worked out this week, and I'm sure I haven't eaten well either. *sigh* I thought it would be so much easier to work out at home rather than going to a gym, but at home I can find so many other things to do rather than work out (like blog, for example).
While I'm not taking official prenatal vitamins, I did start taking regular vitamins last month, and this month I added extra folic acid to the mix. So I want to do a comparison of the generally recommended prenatal vitamins to what I'm already taking, so I know where I need to make changes.
Here are the recommended levels:
-4,000 and 5,000 IU (international units) of vitamin A
-800 and 1,000 micrograms (1 mg) of folic acid
-400 IU of vitamin D
-200-300 mg of calcium
-70 mg of vitamin C
-1.5 mg of thiamine
-1.6 mg of riboflavin
-2.6 mg of pyridoxine
-17 mg of niacinamide
-2.2 mcg of vitamin B-12
-10 mg of vitamin E
-15 mg of zinc
-30 mg of iron
And here's what the comparison looks like:
Vitamin A--the current vitamin I'm taking only has 2500 IUs of vitamin A, but I just bought a different brand (which I'll start taking this weekend) which contains 4000 IUs of vitamin A. So the second brand is much closer to the recommended levels.
Folic Acid--the current vitamin I've been taking alone had 400 micrograms, as does the replacement brand, which is about half what I need if I'm pregnant. But this morning I added a supplement that has 800 micrograms of folic acid. So that plus the regular vitamin will put me over the recommended dosage. Guess I need to look at what an excess of folic acid may or may not do if I get pregnant.
Vitamin D--my current vitamin actually has double the recommended amount, but the replacement brand has 400 IUs, which is equal to the recommended dosage.
Calcium--my current vitamin only has 30 milligrams of calcium, which is about 10% of the recommended amount. The replacement brand has 60 milligrams, but that means I REALLY need to increase my consumption of dairy products to make sure I'm getting enough calcium. But along with the dairy products, I'll be sure to eat other high-calcium items, like broccoli.
Vitamin C--the vitamin I'm currently taking only has about half the recommended dosage, but the replacement brand has 60 mgs. That leaves me 10 mgs short. I need to make sure I'm getting fruits that have vitamin C in them, like oranges and such.
Thiamine, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine, Niacinamide--neither vitamin I have in my possession says anything about any of these. I need to do a bit of research into these items so I can find out what I need to consume to get these into my system.
B-12--both vitamins I have contain more than the recommended dosage. I wonder if this is a good thing or a bad thing.
Vitamin E--I only need 10 mg of this, and both vitamins I have contain more than the required dosage. Yay.
Zinc--my current vitamin doesn't say it contains any zinc, but the new brand I purchased has 5 mg. That puts me 10 mg under the recommended dosage. Red meats contain zinc, so that's a good reason to keep eating my barely cooked steaks.
Iron--neither vitamin says anything about containing iron. Again, good for me since I love to eat red meat.
So, I need to do some research into the prenatal vitamins that are on the market, and see whether I would really be better taking them rather than sticking with the vitamins I'm already taking (which are probably less expensive than the actual "prenatal" vitamin brands) and making sure the proper foods are part of my diet. Guess the next thing I need to do is look at pregnancy diets to make sure those foods are included.
No comments:
Post a Comment