Healthy Supplements for Pregnant Women
We’ve already covered the importance of taking a high-quality prenatal vitamin before and during your pregnancy, and ideally you should continue taking it postpartum while you are breastfeeding as well when you are still baby’s exclusive food source and the quality of your milk can be directly enhanced by your diet. But there are a lot of other vitamins and supplements that can help you to have a healthier and easier pregnancy and postpartum period in addition to your prenatal vitamin.
Through the study of epigenetics we now know that there are other vitamins and minerals that are not typically included in your prenatal vitamin, that some women may have trouble getting in high enough amounts through their diet and can be taken as supplements during pregnancy as well. In addition, there are some great supplements that can just help make pregnancy a whole lot easier! Like things that help to ease nausea for instance.
It is not pertinent that you consume all of these supplements during your pregnancy. However it is beneficial to be aware of them, that they are safe to consume during your gestation, and choose those that may fill your own personal needs or nutritional gaps to make part of your health regimen throughout your pregnancy.
Supplements to Ease Nausea and Constipation in Pregnancy
Almost every pregnant woman experiences some level of morning sickness. For each woman, and for each subsequent pregnancy, the severity and duration of nausea may vary. It is most common that morning sickness commences around week 6 of pregnancy and fades away after the 12th week of pregnancy. But just because that is the typical textbook time frame that most women suffer from morning sickness doesn’t mean you will experience the same. I’ve had a “textbook” morning sickness pregnancy, a pregnancy that I suffered 1st and 3rd trimester morning sickness, and a pregnancy that I was mildly nauseated for the entire duration of the pregnancy.
You will more than likely suffer from at least some level of nausea and constipation during the first trimester, and these supplements may be the key to keeping you feeling better. Nausea during pregnancy is believed to be caused by hormonal fluctuations, but there are still lots of things you can do to alleviate the problem.
Ginger Capsules
Pregnancy nausea can be very intense. And calling it morning sickness gives women the idea that they’ll feel nauseous in the morning exclusively. This is a complete misnomer. I like to call it “all day any time it wants sickness.” Because in reality it can strike at any time of day and last the entire day!
While munching on ginger candies can be very beneficial to combat the nausea, there are healthier sugar free options that may be even more beneficial. Ginger is one herb that is safe during pregnancy and known around the world to alleviate all types of stomach discomforts!
You can take ginger in capsule form. According to WebMD the proper dosage of ginger in capsule form for morning sickness is 500 to 2500 mg of ginger daily in two to four divided doses for 3 days to 3 weeks.
Vitamin B-6
A wonderful only moderately well-known way to treat morning sickness is taking a good dose of vitamin B6! B6 is known to be perfectly safe for your baby.
B6 can drastically help to take away the all-encompassing nausea of morning sickness. It has been proposed that the active form of B6 which is known as pyridoxal-5′-phosphate, may be more effective at treating morning sickness when compared to the more common form of B6 called pyridoxine.
A typical dose of vitamin B6 for morning sickness is 10 mg to 25 mg, 3 times a day. Talk to your health professional before you take vitamin B6 for morning sickness. Be cautious to not take too much, as intake of more than 100 mg a day of vitamin B6 can cause temporary nerve damage,” according to U of M Health.
I personally take my B6 in a B complex supplement with a hefty dose of B6 (different B complexes contain different percentages of each B vitamin) to help take away morning sickness as well as give an exhausted mommy a little boost of energy. You can get a high quality B6 here.
Whichever B vitamin supplement you get be sure the vitamin B is methylated so that no matter what genetic variations you may or may not have (and whether or not they are turned on or off) you will STILL be able to absorb the vitamins. Don’t worry, everything I link here is!
Digestive Enzymes
During pregnancy you may feel voracious. Going too long without food (especially protein) can cause you to become nauseated. Even if you have eaten recently, it may take more food than you would normally consume to even satiate you. Whether you have eaten too fast, eaten too much, or just eaten a lot to fully satisfy your extreme hunger, that feeling of being too full, can once again cause nausea!
If you are someone who suffers from stomach discomfort after eating a large meal or certain types of food (think meat maybe) digestive enzymes can be a huge help and may ease your nausea as well.
Pregnancy can make your digestion sluggish between the surge of hormones and the rearranging of your internal organs to make room for your new baby. You can combat sluggish digestion, and post meal nausea with 2 different types of digestive enzymes. I found great success using Mega Digestive Enzymes after a big meal like dinner, especially during the first trimester. These enzymes contain a blend of powerful natural enzymes including protease, amylase, and lipase that assist in breaking down proteins, carbohydrates, and fats and aid in mineral absorption. When your stomach is breaking down your food efficiently and working optimally, you can reap the best benefits of the natural healthy, nutrient-rich foods you are consuming.
Betaine Hcl with Pepsin is another helpful digestive enzyme for pregnancy specifically formulated to assist in the breaking down of protein. Hydrochloric Acid is typically produced by the stomach and aids in protein digestion by activating pepsin. This activation then stimulates the release of natural digestive enzymes. It also helps to maintain a healthy gut flora for optimal digestion and overall health.
Senna Tea
Another trigger for intense pregnancy nausea is constipation. Pregnancy constipation (especially in the first trimester) is thought to be caused by those raging hormones once again. Once you get backed up, your nausea will increase. It is best to keep your digestive system in tip-top shape during pregnancy to ease those nauseous feelings. While some laxatives are controversial and not recommended during pregnancy, according to multiple OBGYNs I’ve personally asked, senna tea is perfectly safe to take during pregnancy!
If you feel constipation setting in try a delicious cup of senna tea to get things moving again. I recommend taking it just prior to going to bed for the evening as it can cause uncomfortable intestinal cramping. Traditional Medicinals has a delicious version called Smooth Move Tea that is highly effective and available online as well as in most grocery stores and big-box-stores like Target and Walmart.
High-Quality Liver Supplement
It is very important to increase your iron intake during pregnancy to the recommended 27 grams per day. During pregnancy, your blood volume is almost doubled, and you need a lot of iron to accommodate the creation of all those new red blood cells to take care of your baby.
Red meat is very high in iron. But liver has twice the amount of iron than even red meat. If liver is something that you can stomach it can be extremely helpful in growing a healthy baby. In addition to having a strikingly high amount of iron, liver is also rich in a multitude of nutrients required for optimal gene expression! Liver is a great source of:
- Heme iron (Which is the form of iron derived from animal sources. It is easily absorbed and utilized by the body. Iron derived from plant sources is referred to as non-heme iron and unfortunately is not used nearly as efficiently in the body.)
- Choline (In fact liver is the only substantial food rich in choline aside from eggs.)
- Folate
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B12
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin K
- CoQ10
- Hyaluronic Acid
- Copper
- Zinc
- Chromium
While liver is an irreplaceable source for vitamins and minerals in your diet it can be hard to stomach. The idea of eating liver in addition to its flavor and smell are a turn off to many people. If the idea of eating liver, or even meat, makes your stomach turn (which it probably will especially in the first trimester) consider taking a high-quality liver supplement. You will not be searching for an iron supplement, but one genuinely made from grass fed beef liver like the supplement linked above.
By including a high quality liver supplement into your prenatal nutrition plan you get all the naturally sourced iron that you would get from the fresh liver as well as high amounts of all those nutrients listed above! This is assuming you opt for a grass-fed beef liver supplement like this one, because they have the highest nutritional density, are naturally derived nutrients sourced from real foods, and have the lowest if any pesticide residues because it is from grass-fed beef.
Grains have a higher amount of pesticide residue, when grain-fed cows eat them they are filtered by their liver. Thus grain-fed liver will have a higher pesticide residue than a grass-fed cow. This holds true for their meat as well. Many studies point to iron and calcium competing for absorption within your body. So to get the best results from taking your liver supplement by absorbing the most iron, do not consume anything high in calcium within two hours of taking your liver pills.
Chlorella
During pregnancy and while breastfeeding, detoxifying your body is generally not recommended. Detoxing the body is great to do under normal circumstances to flush out all the toxins we come in contact with every day. But there are two schools of thought as to why you should not do a typical detox program during your gestation. Whichever one is correct (if not both) does not matter, they both point to potentially harming the fetus.
The first belief is that if you detox during pregnancy the toxins that you flush from your organs will enter the bloodstream at even a higher level than they were at before and may cross the placenta into the baby. The second reason detoxing is usually shunned during pregnancy is that most detoxification programs involve restrictive to no eating which would compromise fetal development.
Despite those facts, it is important to detox in a safe way during pregnancy as it has been shown that toxins do cross the placenta and are passed to the baby through the mother’s blood. So how can a mother detox during pregnancy in a gentle and proven safe way? The only safe form of detoxing during pregnancy is taking a regular dose of chlorella.
It is recommended to begin taking chlorella as soon as you can during pregnancy and to continue taking it throughout your breastfeeding journey for the benefit of your baby as dioxins have also been shown to pass from mother to baby through breastmilk. If you are still planning your pregnancy and haven’t conceived yet, start taking a chlorella supplement now.
Chlorella is a high-quality energy boosting supplement known to detoxify heavy metals and chemical pollutants from the body. It also helps to regenerate the body’s tissues and even contains:
- potassium
- calcium
- magnesium
- iron
- zinc
- selenium
- chlorophyll
Chlorella is specifically known to inhibit dioxin absorption. Dioxins are a family of highly toxic compounds that is part of a dangerous group of chemicals called persistent organic pollutants (aka POPs). Dioxins negatively affect many organs and include polychlorinated dibenzo para dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and similar compounds you may have heard of called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Dioxins are throughout the entire world and the most common exposure is through diet, especially meats, fish, shellfish, and dairy. Since all of those foods are extremely important to proper fetal growth and development, you can combat your exposure to these toxins with a daily supplement of chlorella.
Chlorella works to eliminate toxins by hindering your absorption of toxins that you have consumed. Instead of absorbing into your bloodstream, toxins such as dioxins and even mercury will pass through your body and be eliminated.
Chlorella has additional benefits for a pregnant mama even beyond hindering toxin absorption. Because chlorella is rich in folate, iron, and B12 pregnant mothers who take a regular chlorella supplement have less likelihood of becoming anemic during pregnancy and decreased chances of getting pregnancy induced high blood pressure. This is one superfood you definitely want to be taking throughout your entire gestation and beyond.
It is safe and recommended to take chlorella during pregnancy. You can take it easily in supplement form as a capsule or tablet. You can also find chlorella in powdered form in a greens mix or alone and add it to smoothies. It may be easier to stomach chlorella in tablet or capsule form during pregnancy if your stomach is sensitive. Chlorella doesn’t have an extremely overwhelming flavor, but queasy pregnancy stomachs may prefer a tasteless pill. Whether you opt for chlorella tablets or capsules or loose chlorella, it is definitely something you need to be taking during pregnancy.
- Chlorella Tablets
- Empty capsules to encapulate your own chlorella powder (for if you’ve selected powder form but it makes you queasy some days)
- Organic Chlorella Powder (this is the most cost effective way to take it, but may cause nausea if you have a very sensitive stomach while pregnant)
- Chlorella and Spirulina tablets for added nutrients and iron in addition to detoxification properties)
Spirulina
Spirulina is another “greens” that is a type of blue green microalgae. It is rich in nutrients and benefits and extremely helpful during pregnancy. Spirulina can even come in combination with chlorella in capsule, tablet forms, and powdered forms to make taking them simpler for you. Spirulina does have a very strong smell and flavor (like seaweed) and I highly recommend purchasing it in capsule or tablet form during your pregnancy. Both superfoods have been tested to be safe and highly beneficial dietary supplements for pregnancy.
Spirulina contains significant amounts of:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin K
- Folate
- Calcium
- Niacin
- Potassium
- Magnesium
- B Vitamins
- Iron
- Essential Amino Acids
- DHA
Spirulina is raved about for it’s highly absorbable and well utilized plant protein content, as well as for it’s nutritional density. Spirulina helps pregnant women avoid anemia, helps to lower bad cholesterol while raising good cholesterol, can increase energy, promotes hormonal balance, and helps strengthen the bones.
If you aren’t loving the taste or smell of meat while pregnant, this is a great way to get additional iron. During my last pregnancy I forced myself to eat meat once daily because I knew the vital importance of getting those nutrients (but I didn’t want to, and honestly you should be eating meat each meal but I couldn’t stomach it), so I made sure to supplement with spirulina daily and my iron levels remained high. If you are experiencing the same, consider adding in this supplement.
Adding this antioxidant-rich superfood into your prenatal diet will benefit healthy growth of the fetus and improved health for mom.
Wrapping Up Supplements You Need for Pregnancy
There are a lot of wonderful supplements that you can take to help make your pregnancy easier and healthier. Most of these supplements are naturally derived nutrients that are required in high amounts to grow a healthy baby. Even though you will be taking them in supplement form, most of these supplements are simply encapsulated whole foods and thus very well utilized by your body for growing a healthy baby.
A quick review of supplements you may find extremely helpful to take during your pregnancy:
