I have been thinking more about vitamins (and prenatal) and whether or not I should take them. At first, I had decided not to, wanting to stick to the goal of getting my nutrients from food. Then I got some responses and opinions to that decision which encouraged me to take vitamin supplements and discouraged getting all my nutrients from foods. I read the websites suggested and listened to the point of views. I read about how difficult it would be to consume the amount I needed every single day, especially since it can be hard to want to cook every day or eat good healthy meals every day. I also read some studies saying that synthetic folic acid from a vitamin is more easily absorbed than trying to get the right amount of folic acid through my food. Additionally, my pregnant sister was mentioning pregnancy cravings, and pointed out that it might be difficult to eat all these varied and nutritious meals. Her senses seem to be heightened and some smells or foods just make her sick to be around. I, of course, will not be able to know which foods will affect me this way until the time comes.
With all this in mind, I also read some websites where some people stated their views on vitamins – that they are supplements, not the food we eat. They are an addition, not something in place of good foods. I liked this point of view, and I felt that this was in the spirit of how I had been feeling. I felt like I was being told that all I have to do is take a vitamin and that that would make me healthy enough for the baby. I was feeling that I certainly needed good natural nutrition, from food. Also that I needed to keep up with exercising. I just didn’t think a pill would solve all problems. I believed that I could take all the vitamins I wanted, but if all I ate was junk, then I am not going to get the greatest results. So at this time, I decided to take a prenatal multivitamin in order to supplement my normally nutritious eating that I have been practicing.
I wanted an organic vitamin rather than synthetic because I do not share the belief that some scientists have that a synthetic vitamin is exactly the same as a natural vitamin. I am also a little worried about synthetic vitamins being bad for me in the long run. I don’t have proof of that, so I call it a belief of mine. I just don’t trust the synthetic vitamins. So I bought an organic multivitamin, and it was 40 dollars. I looked at the many organic vitamins at two stores, and I kept having trouble. I found a website that lists the “natural” ingredient for a vitamin and the “synthetic” ingredients for the same vitamin so that I would know by the label if the vitamins were natural or synthetic. It seemed that all of the “organic” and “natural” vitamins I was looking at all had synthetic vitamins. The best one I could find is the 40 dollar one which I bought that had almost all organic vitamins, but then a few synthetic ones. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t find a totally organic or natural one. I found a website selling organic vitamins with absolutely no synthetic ingredients, and it was only 20, plus about 6 in shipping, but when I tried to read the amounts of items, such as folic acid and calcium, the numbers just seemed off. It seemed to be giving me about a million times the amount of folic acid and only about 30 (out of 1200+) mg of calcium. So I didn’t like it that I couldn’t figure that out. These complications made me stop and think again.
I took the 40 dollar vitamins back and I got to thinking things over with Joel. I felt like I was acting out of fear now, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get the good nutrients, worried that I wouldn’t be able to digest all the nutrients from foods right, worried that the synthetic vitamins would be bad for me, worried that I need to pay a lot of money a month on vitamins just to get a good one, but worried that I couldn’t trust what was in those vitamins, worried that the vitamins might be bad for me rather than good because I just don’t think that taking a pill solves all these problems. I mean, when I think about what I know about nutrition, all of it, together, is so important. It is so important to get the whole package from a food and from mixing foods together, not just taking vitamins from a pill. I needed the fiber, I needed to use my teeth, I needed enough protein, etc… I felt like I was being scared into buying a pill, like I need it just in case. I feel like if I take the vitamins then I am trusting that it will make me healthy, but I think that is wrong.
I have gone back to the original plan, to consume all my nutrients from foods. I believe this to be the best plan because I know I am capable of making and eating many nutritious meals in a day. I have been worried about health and nutrition for many years now, and I am good about eating healthy. I have been eating every two hours now for a while, and consuming a wonderful amount of food. It isn’t that hard to get good meals, just look at some pregnancy recipe books – they have some great stuff in there! I have just bought 2 cereals about a week ago, one is a bran cereal and the other is a mixed grains with blueberry clusters. Both of them claim that in one serving, they each contain 100% of the RDA for folic acid. The folic acid is probably synthetically added into the cereal, and so every morning for about a week, it is like I have been consuming a folic acid vitamin of 800mcg. I remember learning in my nutrition class that many cereals and breads, among other foods, have been fortified with folic acid since they discovered its role in diseases and difficulties such as the neural tube defects. So I wasn’t surprised to find that I was already consuming the same as in a vitamin at breakfast. It’s the same for many other vitamins, many foods and drinks have been enriched with all kinds of vitamins and minerals. And the more natural healthy foods already have those nutrients in them. For example, I love lentils, and I bought some the other day, along with these other beans I have never heard of called Aduki, and lentils alone have 300 something mcg’s of folic acid, so the two days I ate the soup along with the cereal, I was getting 1100mcg’s of folic acid, which is more than enough. How much of it did I digest? I don’t know, but I highly doubt that my body discarded more than half of it. And that is just in the lentils and cereal, that doesn’t count the other foods that I ate, such as the broccoli in the soup and the spinach that was in my salad. So in some sense, you can rest assured that I am taking my vitamins, since they are in some of the foods and drinks that I buy already, in addition to the healthy meals I am consuming.
And it does take up a lot of time and energy to make all these meals, but that is my goal, that is something I have felt the urge to spend my time doing. I believe that I want to cultivate and provide a nutritious lifestyle for the family I am about to start, and to encourage it with the members of my family right now. I have been gathering recipes and trying more and more to learn about what is healthy and what is not. I know that Joel’s comment was in jest regarding our “arduous journey to the foreign country of Wal-Mart,” but I do think that his underlying point remains – it isn’t that impossible to get your nutrients from food when you make that your goal.
With all this in mind, I also read some websites where some people stated their views on vitamins – that they are supplements, not the food we eat. They are an addition, not something in place of good foods. I liked this point of view, and I felt that this was in the spirit of how I had been feeling. I felt like I was being told that all I have to do is take a vitamin and that that would make me healthy enough for the baby. I was feeling that I certainly needed good natural nutrition, from food. Also that I needed to keep up with exercising. I just didn’t think a pill would solve all problems. I believed that I could take all the vitamins I wanted, but if all I ate was junk, then I am not going to get the greatest results. So at this time, I decided to take a prenatal multivitamin in order to supplement my normally nutritious eating that I have been practicing.
I wanted an organic vitamin rather than synthetic because I do not share the belief that some scientists have that a synthetic vitamin is exactly the same as a natural vitamin. I am also a little worried about synthetic vitamins being bad for me in the long run. I don’t have proof of that, so I call it a belief of mine. I just don’t trust the synthetic vitamins. So I bought an organic multivitamin, and it was 40 dollars. I looked at the many organic vitamins at two stores, and I kept having trouble. I found a website that lists the “natural” ingredient for a vitamin and the “synthetic” ingredients for the same vitamin so that I would know by the label if the vitamins were natural or synthetic. It seemed that all of the “organic” and “natural” vitamins I was looking at all had synthetic vitamins. The best one I could find is the 40 dollar one which I bought that had almost all organic vitamins, but then a few synthetic ones. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t find a totally organic or natural one. I found a website selling organic vitamins with absolutely no synthetic ingredients, and it was only 20, plus about 6 in shipping, but when I tried to read the amounts of items, such as folic acid and calcium, the numbers just seemed off. It seemed to be giving me about a million times the amount of folic acid and only about 30 (out of 1200+) mg of calcium. So I didn’t like it that I couldn’t figure that out. These complications made me stop and think again.
I took the 40 dollar vitamins back and I got to thinking things over with Joel. I felt like I was acting out of fear now, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get the good nutrients, worried that I wouldn’t be able to digest all the nutrients from foods right, worried that the synthetic vitamins would be bad for me, worried that I need to pay a lot of money a month on vitamins just to get a good one, but worried that I couldn’t trust what was in those vitamins, worried that the vitamins might be bad for me rather than good because I just don’t think that taking a pill solves all these problems. I mean, when I think about what I know about nutrition, all of it, together, is so important. It is so important to get the whole package from a food and from mixing foods together, not just taking vitamins from a pill. I needed the fiber, I needed to use my teeth, I needed enough protein, etc… I felt like I was being scared into buying a pill, like I need it just in case. I feel like if I take the vitamins then I am trusting that it will make me healthy, but I think that is wrong.
I have gone back to the original plan, to consume all my nutrients from foods. I believe this to be the best plan because I know I am capable of making and eating many nutritious meals in a day. I have been worried about health and nutrition for many years now, and I am good about eating healthy. I have been eating every two hours now for a while, and consuming a wonderful amount of food. It isn’t that hard to get good meals, just look at some pregnancy recipe books – they have some great stuff in there! I have just bought 2 cereals about a week ago, one is a bran cereal and the other is a mixed grains with blueberry clusters. Both of them claim that in one serving, they each contain 100% of the RDA for folic acid. The folic acid is probably synthetically added into the cereal, and so every morning for about a week, it is like I have been consuming a folic acid vitamin of 800mcg. I remember learning in my nutrition class that many cereals and breads, among other foods, have been fortified with folic acid since they discovered its role in diseases and difficulties such as the neural tube defects. So I wasn’t surprised to find that I was already consuming the same as in a vitamin at breakfast. It’s the same for many other vitamins, many foods and drinks have been enriched with all kinds of vitamins and minerals. And the more natural healthy foods already have those nutrients in them. For example, I love lentils, and I bought some the other day, along with these other beans I have never heard of called Aduki, and lentils alone have 300 something mcg’s of folic acid, so the two days I ate the soup along with the cereal, I was getting 1100mcg’s of folic acid, which is more than enough. How much of it did I digest? I don’t know, but I highly doubt that my body discarded more than half of it. And that is just in the lentils and cereal, that doesn’t count the other foods that I ate, such as the broccoli in the soup and the spinach that was in my salad. So in some sense, you can rest assured that I am taking my vitamins, since they are in some of the foods and drinks that I buy already, in addition to the healthy meals I am consuming.
And it does take up a lot of time and energy to make all these meals, but that is my goal, that is something I have felt the urge to spend my time doing. I believe that I want to cultivate and provide a nutritious lifestyle for the family I am about to start, and to encourage it with the members of my family right now. I have been gathering recipes and trying more and more to learn about what is healthy and what is not. I know that Joel’s comment was in jest regarding our “arduous journey to the foreign country of Wal-Mart,” but I do think that his underlying point remains – it isn’t that impossible to get your nutrients from food when you make that your goal.
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