Folate vs Folic Acid?

[GoldenRatio]

Hey ladies, i recently got bfp and want to get on prenatals.

I was taking 1000 Folate and now if i switch to prenatal, it has 800 Folic acid.
I read that Folate can be absorbed better so thats why i was on Folate during TTC.
Is it okey if i switch to Folic Acid now?

 

[Isme]

You might be fine. You also might be one of the nearly 2/3 of people that have some level of folic acid absorption issues. (The issues can vary from mild to severe, but are generally more common than you might imagine.) In the more severe cases, synthetic folic acid can actually block the receptors that take in natural folate... which would leave you more deficient than if you weren't taking a folic acid supplement at all.

I'm struggling with this issue too because I've been taking folate (Solgar metafolin) for a year now... but I'd really like to start taking a prenatal because it would be simpler. Unfortunately, most prenatal vitamins contain synthetic folic acid and synthetic b-12. I prefer to take the activated forms of both of those, and I try avoid the synthetic versions just in case they may block the receptors. I also don't want a vitamin that has a lot of extra K... So I find myself 16 weeks pregnant without ever having taken a prenatal. I take many single-ingredient vitamins (activated Bs, magnesium, vitamin D, selenium, etc) but it feels weird not to be taking an actual prenatal as instructed by my midwife. She's not knowledgeable about the appropriate forms of folic acid, though, so I'm choosing to go with my own instincts on this one.

 

[GoldenRatio]

Garden of life -Vitamin Code Prenatal contains folate, its all organic and nongmo so im gonna buy that instead. Also gonna buy DHA from same brand.
I think its the best prenatal out there but i dont like taking so many pills and my current prenatal is one pill that contains all and DHA.

 

[Isme]

I've heard that's a good one! I'm glad you found something better to use that will work for you.

I also didn't realize that it had lower (well, lower than 100%) vitamin K, and that the source is actually K2 (mk7), which is superior. That's awesome!

My body is weird and doesn't respond well to large amounts of K. I also can't take Omega 3. I will eat a lot of foods that contain it naturally, but even then I have to be careful. Omega 3s and fish oil triggered a severe blinking tic in me last year. If I take/eat too much of it, then the blinking returns. At its worst I was nearly functionally blind. It sucks. I'm just hoping that my baby is taking what it needs from the stuff I eat, even if it leaves me deficient in those things.

 

[GoldenRatio]

Thats really strange, how did u notice it was omega 3 that causing blinking?

DHA and Biotin causes acne for me, thats why didnt take it during ttc but gotta take it for the baby. Hopefully Vit Code wont make me vomit. So expensive too, but all worth it

 

[mrsjk]

I take the Garden of Life mykind Organics prenatal as someone else mentioned it's the best prenatal on the market right now! You do have to take 3 pills a day though so that's the down side!

 

[GoldenRatio]

I take the Garden of Life mykind Organics prenatal as someone else mentioned it's the best prenatal on the market right now! You do have to take 3 pills a day though so that's the down side!

Do you take the ocean mom with it?

 

[Isme]

Thats really strange, how did u notice it was omega 3 that causing blinking?

DHA and Biotin causes acne for me, thats why didnt take it during ttc but gotta take it for the baby. Hopefully Vit Code wont make me vomit. So expensive too, but all worth it

Ugh, yeah. I always thought I got pregnancy acne because of hormones... but I ran out of my activated b vitamins (Thorne brand) for a few days and coincidentally my skin cleared up. I just got another bottle and almost immediately my face started breaking out again... so I'm guessing it's the biotin. I took my prenatal religiously with my last two pregnancies, so it'ss no wonder that my face looked like crap. I never have acne otherwise.

If it were just something like acne or nausea, then I wouldn't care to continue taking Omega 3. I actually felt wonderful when I was taking it. My circulation was great, my focus and concentration were great, and I had a lot of energy. BUT, blinking so much that I can't read or drive isn't an option.

It took me 7 months to figure out that it was the fish oil. I still probably wouldn't have known, as I'd spent countless hours researching blinking issues and brain issues... and made several pointless visits to the doctor without any answers. Finally I stumbled upon a forum where parents were talking about their children with tic disorders (Tourette's and such) and a few parents said that fish oil/omega-3s had made their children have an increase in tics, or start new ones (like blinking). There was so little information on it other than just a few comments from those parents, but I stopped taking it just in case... and lo & behold-- I could function again. It was really weird. I do still get triggered a bit when my allergies are bad, but it's nothing like before.

Still... I've wondered if I might be able to get away with a low dose of omega-3 since my body has changed with pregnancy. I've been scared to give it a try, though. I have noticed that I can eat more omega-3 rich food before the excessive blinking is triggered, so that's a good sign.

 

[minties]

I've only ever taken folate and/or folic acid, and iodine during pregnancies. I don't see the need for a bulked out prenatal. The one time I did take one for a couple of months, my iron levels went rediculously high.

 

[GoldenRatio]

Thats really strange, how did u notice it was omega 3 that causing blinking?

DHA and Biotin causes acne for me, thats why didnt take it during ttc but gotta take it for the baby. Hopefully Vit Code wont make me vomit. So expensive too, but all worth it

Ugh, yeah. I always thought I got pregnancy acne because of hormones... but I ran out of my activated b vitamins (Thorne brand) for a few days and coincidentally my skin cleared up. I just got another bottle and almost immediately my face started breaking out again... so I'm guessing it's the biotin. I took my prenatal religiously with my last two pregnancies, so it'ss no wonder that my face looked like crap. I never have acne otherwise.

If it were just something like acne or nausea, then I wouldn't care to continue taking Omega 3. I actually felt wonderful when I was taking it. My circulation was great, my focus and concentration were great, and I had a lot of energy. BUT, blinking so much that I can't read or drive isn't an option.

It took me 7 months to figure out that it was the fish oil. I still probably wouldn't have known, as I'd spent countless hours researching blinking issues and brain issues... and made several pointless visits to the doctor without any answers. Finally I stumbled upon a forum where parents were talking about their children with tic disorders (Tourette's and such) and a few parents said that fish oil/omega-3s had made their children have an increase in tics, or start new ones (like blinking). There was so little information on it other than just a few comments from those parents, but I stopped taking it just in case... and lo & behold-- I could function again. It was really weird. I do still get triggered a bit when my allergies are bad, but it's nothing like before.

Still... I've wondered if I might be able to get away with a low dose of omega-3 since my body has changed with pregnancy. I've been scared to give it a try, though. I have noticed that I can eat more omega-3 rich food before the excessive blinking is triggered, so that's a good sign.

Thats why i wanna try Vitamin code because biotin level is low enuf for me to tolerate and not get acne. Curently got lots of it due to pregnancy i think

 

[mrsjk]

I take the Garden of Life mykind Organics prenatal as someone else mentioned it's the best prenatal on the market right now! You do have to take 3 pills a day though so that's the down side!

Do you take the ocean mom with it?

No I don't! But I'm thinking I should!

 

[2have4kids]

Hi ladies, I can't agree more with you about taking the active form of folate. Folic acid requires your liver to break it down first and then your left with how much for baby? *If*you're able to break it down?
Biotin only helps us absorb omega oils so if you can take omegas in a decent amount you shouldn't need biotin to help absorption. Good food sources are hemp hearts, oily fish, and there are non-fish oil omegas for vegans that would prob be easier to digest & deal with. We were just discussing how much protein pregnant ladies need in another thread and it goes up from 45-70(sorry forget the units) and hemp hearts also have a huge amount of protein for a tiny serving. It's great over salads, soup, or greek yoghurt.

I did IVF to get pregnant and the fs said that the embryos go from a highly folated Petri dish environment to facilitate cell division, and then into your body. The most important thing in first tri is having enough folate and to not be iron deficient or anemic. Iron carries the oxygen to baby's brain and when you're anemic you slowly starve that brain of oxygen which causes permanent learning disabilities and cognitive impairments. I was anemic 2 months ago as it's quite common after giving birth so I got a very easy to digest iron (there's only a few good ones-SpaTone, Proferrin, or Folidix), and my hemoglobin levels are back up to healthy range before the IVF. I think you're right, most prenatals don't necessarily have quality ingredients. In fact they often pair a cheap form of iron that's hard to digest (ummm constipated anyone!) with calcium. Iron binds with calcium when taken together what are they thinking and who is making this stuff. I take my stuff individually, the tongue papers for B12, liquid calcium, liquid magnesium (mag helps prevent ms and active leg in 3rd tri), etc. but it's also been such a struggle for us to get pregnant I didn't want to have a silly reason for losing a baby due to my own negligence. When you wait for 6 years you try to ensure you get a good grip on health issues to ensure you do everything in your power to keep a pregnancy strong & healthy.