Every woman is aware that during pregnancy you need to take additional vitamins and minerals, so necessary for an intensively growing and forming baby.
But is it really necessary to drink tablets?.
Nutrient deficiency can have a lot of negative consequences for the health and future well-being of the baby and his mother.
We are talking about growth retardation, low birth weight, skeletal deformities, preeclampsia, and others..
All these fears feed the multibillion-dollar industry of vitamins and food additives, which produces hundreds of different complexes for pregnant women.
A typical tablet contains more than 20 vitamins and minerals, including the whole group B, as well as vitamins C, D, E, K, iodine, magnesium, zinc, selenium, copper.
One can only guess what colossal money is behind this industry. For example, in the UK the cost of taking a multivitamin complex for pregnant women is about? 15 per month - 1,250 Russian rubles!.
A new report published in the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, allows you to cautiously say that such complex cocktails are not at all necessary for expectant mothers.
What vitamins are really needed for pregnant women Although this issue has been devoted to a lot of scientific work, the lion's share is in the underdeveloped countries, where nutrient deficiency in pregnant women - it's normal.
At the same time, scientists do not know whether to use multivitamins for pregnant women in Europe and North America, where the education and dietary intake of expectant mothers are 10 times better.
A review of the latest studies revealed that the strongest evidence base for one substance - folic acid, or vitamin B. Lack of folate in the early stages of pregnancy is fraught with severe abnormalities of the fetal nervous system.
American and British guidelines recommend taking 400 micrograms of folate every day until the 12th week of pregnancy, and during the conception period. For women who had previously had children with neural tube defects, the dose should be 5 mg / day.
Another important vitamin is cholecalciferol, vitamin D3. Synthesized in the skin under the influence of ultraviolet rays, it plays a key role in the assimilation of calcium and the maintenance of bone strength in children and adults.
The scientific data on the need to take D3 by pregnant women are less convincing than the data on folate. But the authors believe that we should not neglect the recommended dose of 10 ?g throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding.
The most important vitamin D3 for women who live in cold, cloudy places where there is not enough natural sunlight, and also in winter.
Most multivitamins are a waste of money.
As for the other components - vitamins A, C, E, B1, iron, selenium, iodine - the scientific grounds for their intake during pregnancy are extremely unreliable.
Extra vitamin A (retinol) is even capable of damaging the fetus.
"We found no reason to recommend to pregnant women multivitamin complexes. The only exception is folic acid and vitamin D, which can be purchased in any country relatively cheaply. Unfortunately, the companies take advantage of the fact that future mothers are very vulnerable and worried about the future of their child, "says the scientists' commentary.
Therefore, dear mothers, be prudent.
Do not take superfluous preparations, listen less to advertising, and more - to advice of experts.
medbe. en.
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