Folic Acid

[Ah34]

I was told by my obgyn to take prenatal vitamins while I am trying to get pregnant. I do take the prenatal but I am just distrustful of how much of this magical vitamin powder in pill form my body will absorb so I have been trying to eat foods that have good amounts of folic acid in them. It makes me wonder why my dr. doesn't say by the way trying including some of these foods in your diet instead of take this pill. I am even drinking orange juice now even and I truly hate the stuff haha. I'm probably completely paranoid about having another miscarriage and trying to learn as much as I can to have a healthy pregnancy this next time around.

 

[seoj]

Sounds like you are doing what you can hun. I think a multi-vitamin or pre-nat are good because most of us don't get proper nutrients in our diet. I found a pre-nat that I only have to take once daily- as some require 2-3 pills!!! ugh. So I just take it at night before bed... but I also try my best (don't always succeed) to eat right. I also exercise regularly as well and drink lots of water. I figure it can't hurt and may help

I also ordered a bunch more supplements and "super foods" just in case I have to try again next cycle. I want to feel proactive! lol.

Best of luck to you hun! Hope you get that sticky bean soon!!!!

 

[MrsRH]

It is still advisable (in the UK at least) to take a supplement of 400mcg of folic acid daily to help prevent neural tube defects eg spina bifida,

If you are sure you are getting this from your diet..great!! but it may be very
time consuming to calculate your daily intake.

It is easier to take a vitamin pill and be certain you have had 100% of your requirements

lots of luck and
x

 

[Ah34]

I keep picking up these food or drinks that are good for me and just look horrible the latest is this juice called Naked that is a dark green and 3 bucks a pop. haha Good luck to you as well! I have just made the transition from seeing if it will happen on its own to being proactive. I am gonna pick up my first ovulation test this week to see how these things work

 

[sounder]

take your prenatal, but also take additional folic acid to prevent neural tube defects. the prenatat vitamin isn't enough!!!
i am taking a prenatal and 5 tabs of folic acid after having had a babe with anencephaly in the winter. it is key to take it before you are pregnant - the neural tube defects happen before you know you are pregnant. neural tube defects are pretty rare, but there are a bunch of us on B&B, so it does happen. if i had known then what i know now...

 

[Seity]

My prenatal had 800 micrograms of folic acid in it. I ate as usual (and never touched OJ - Hate the stuff)

 

[Regalpeas]

I take a folic acid tablet, a multivitamin and another vitamin that has folic acid and still I fall under the daily recommendation for ttc. The funny thing is when I bought the folic acid I went to the general section of the store. On the bottles there it said do not take more than 400mch (or maybe it was 600mcg) daily. However, when I went to the prenatal sections the same exact brand and dosage did not have the information listed on the bottle. So I asked the guy at the counter why that was. He looked a little off before basically saying he wasn't sure. So I took the bottle back to the shelf. I felt uncomfortable with the discrepancy. I searched several bottles to make sure it wasn't an error. So I can understand your skepticism. Some of this stuff is just bull or marketing strategy imo.

Also, searching the back of prenatal vitamins I find that they don't have the 5mg daily minimum either. I think it's because it's still up for debate whether folic acid actually helps with birth defect in the first place.

However, I say err on the side of caution. Talk to a obgyn or specialist first. Then take at least a folic acid stand alone just to be safe. Because I heard sometimes if we mix the wrong foods while eating some of the properties of one may cancel out the absorption of others. So you might not get your folic acid/folate from the foods you expect.

"They" say vitamins are made so the body will absorb. But who knows if that's just what "they" are telling us.

It can become frustrating trying to keep up with all of this!lol Good luck!