Friday, January 22, 2010

Healthier Hair and Nails during Pregnancy

Healthier Hair and Nails during Pregnancy
During pregnancy, it is a common phenomenon that your hair is thinning and nails become brittle. Spending a considerable amount of bucks will not help in getting healthy hair. Start by maintaining a healthy diet and taking lots of water. Take enough of vital minerals and vitamins. These can be found in prenatal vitamins tablets. Here is a list of some of the essential vitamins and minerals that you require to fight limp hair and nails during your period of pregnancy.

  • Vitamin C: Vitamin C is quite vital for maintaining a healthy immune system. Your hair will definitely show signs of health if you can maintain a healthy body. Vitamin C helps in maintaining the hair color of your as well warding off brittle hair and nail breakage.
  • Vitamin B: Vitamin B can often be purchased over the counter. If you want to possess bouncy and shiny hair, Vitamin B might be answer. While purchasing look for the complex form of Vitamin B since it promotes scalp circulation and hair growth.
  • Vitamin D: Vitamin D helps in promoting strength to bones as well as helps in the absorption of calcium. The main source Vitamin D is the sun's UV rays. But you don't have much choice while looking for vitamin D because except for a few foods and fortified foods such as milk, there are few options.
  • Vitamin E: There are a lot of hair care and nail products in the market that are enriched with vitamin E. It helps in promoting hair growth as well as hardens nails by increasing the level of oxygen in your bloodstream. It is also found in prenatal vitamin like Promise Prenatal so that you may know that you are having the correct amount.
  • Biotin: Also known as Vitamin H or B7, Biotin is mostly found in supplements. Biotin breaks down amino acids and as a result fatty acids are produced in the body which helps in the strengthening of hair.

Folic Acid in Prenatal Vitamins

Folic Acid in Prenatal Vitamins
Folic acid, one of the most important components should be taken by women before pregnancy, during pregnancy and even after pregnancy. Folic acid or folate belongs to the Vitamin B family and is active in dispersing a disease called spina bifida, a condition characterized by incomplete closure of the embryonic neural tube. Other defects that can accompany in the absence of folic acid are cleft palate, cleft lip, limb defects, and low birth weight in children. Now you may ask why only folic acid. Studies have shown that that folic acid can help prevent the above the above mentioned diseases. Folic acid is water soluble and easily flashes out of the system within a little time after taking it.

For the normal adult about four hundred micrograms of folic acid is enough but pregnant and lactating women require more at about micrograms. But this should be excluded from the folic acid that you get along with your daily intake of food. That is why folic acid is considered to be an important part of dietary regimen.

Anemia, a common disease which often occurs during pregnancy can be warded off with the help of folic acid. It is quite useful in the formation of red blood cells which depletes when the patient is suffering from anemia. It also discourages in the production of epinephrine and serotonin.

Promise Prenatal Vitamins contains folic acid, one of the vital components for pregnancy along with a host of other vitamins and minerals. Include Promise prenatal vitamins along with a healthy and balanced menu.

Folic acid is needed by the body for the creation and maintenance of DNA and RNA. Thus its serves as an essential part of the nutrients needed during the intensive process of pregnancy. Folic acid is also helpful in the creation of red blood cells so it can help prevent anemia, and aids in the production of nor epinephrine and serotonin and it helps to keep a compound called homocysteine from reaching high levels in your blood.

The upper limit for folic acid is set at one thousand mcg. But this is due to the fact that folic acid has a tendency to mask the symptoms of a vitamin B12 deficiency as this deficiency usually presents initially with anemia. A healthy young woman should have no fear of B12 deficiency, except unless you are a vegetarian and don’t eat dairy products.

Pregnancy is a special event in a woman’s life. Pregnancy and the life of the unborn child can be very precarious for a number of reasons, not least of which is a pregnant woman lacking vitamins.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Feed Your Baby Right Even Before Birth

Feed Your Baby Right Even Before Birth
When you grow, you may think that you are what you eat but in reality you are what your mother ate. During pregnancy proper nutrition is very much essential if you want your child to be healthy for the later years. But remember starting early is good for you and your baby. Starting an early prenatal care early gives the baby a better chance to develop normally. How do you start then? Eat right!

Eating a proper diet can offer you a better pregnancy experience. It also helps you to lower the risks that are involved during pregnancy like high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, constipation and more. Again with the intake of proper food, you will gain the required pound that will help to minimize complications for both mom and the baby.

During the first trimester, you really don’t require any extra calories, as the baby is far too tiny to use extra energy from the mother. You can increase the calories during the 2nd trimester. At this time around, you must add about 350 calories to your diet and about 450 calories a day during the 3rd trimester. For those women who have started their pregnancy overweight may require few calories.

There are also many vitamins and minerals required especially during pregnancy, for instant folic acid, calcium and iron. However, excessive amount can also harm the mother and baby.

Eating the right food is very important but you must also remember taking a prenatal vitamin is also vital to fill in any nutrient gaps. A prenatal vitamin must be taken as early as possible. You can consult your doctor about the prenatal vitamins. If you need a prenatal vitamin that focuses on all stages of pregnancy then, Promise Prenatal Vitamins provide the perfect nutrients, are completely safe and can reduce nausea. It targets each stage of pregnancy with the perfect balance of nutrients.

A Healthy Nutrition Can Battle Post Partum Depression

A Healthy Nutrition Can Battle Post Partum Depression
One of the several aftereffects of a pregnancy is prenatal depression. Also known as postpartum depression, prenatal depression can arise mainly due to pre and post pregnancy stress. Stress can also arise due to a number of reasons although the exact causes are still not yet known. This may happen due to disorganized relationships, economic conditions, poor health etc. In some cases, the symptoms go up to drastic levels. Symptoms are also as varied as the causes with anger, mood swings and not to speak of frequent bouts of crying, sometimes the patient may want to hurt themselves and the fact is number of postpartum depression is also growing by the day. Almost 80% of the pre and the post natal women are suffering from this dreaded disease.

To combat postpartum depression, a proper prenatal nutrition diet will go a long way to give you a healthy mind and body in the long run. Foods especially rich in Omega 3 fatty acids should be included into your diet not only when you are pregnant but also when you are lactating. These are especially found in fish such as mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon. You can also go for various types of nuts such as walnuts, brazil nuts, butternuts, almonds, pine nuts, flex seeds, etc for getting enough prenatal nutrition. Women require a total of one gram of Omega 3 during pregnancy per day. Besides fish and nuts pregnant women can also opt for milk and eggs. Again other nutrients such as proteins and vitamins are also required in adequate amounts. Eat foods that contain a high amount of vitamins and try to keep track of what you are eating.

Besides having nutritious meals, try to include prenatal multivitamin. Prenatal vitamins that contain plenty of iron, folic acid and calcium must be taken as that would promote not only healthy body but also healthy mind. Taking prenatal vitamins along with a proper diet will give you a healthy body and mind and help you to beat postpartum depression.