[TNgqZhLR]

I was on Atkins when I got pregnant with my son, who has a mild type of Spina Bifida. I wanted to post and remind women who are following Atkins to be cautious and take Folic Acid 'just in case' (many birth defects occur before the mother even realizes she is pregnant which was what occured in my situation.)

Stacey =)

[erroxiainsona]

THanks for that reminder, Stacey.

In my intro on the induction pages you'll notice that I want to start for a family this summer. I really should start taking a proper multi with good folic acid now, shouldn't I?

[erroxiainsona]

By the way...

Any suggestions on a good over-the-counter pre-natal? It looks to be like they all tend to contain iron yet Atkin's suggests taking multis with no iron. Do you think it will be a problem to take a pre-natal that contains iron?

Thanks!

[TNgqZhLR]

Yes, I would def start taking vitamins and esp Folic Acid now. And I would not try to follow any type of 'diet' other than a healthy, well balanced one once you are trying to conceive. Good luck and congrats on making plans to start your family =)


Stacey

[TNgqZhLR]

I would definately take the prenatal vitamins regardless of whether Atkins suggest ones with iron or not. Probably more important to make sure all the vitamins etc are in your system but you can probably ask a pharmacist their opinion and go by his/ her advice.

Stacey =)

[Imampaictjg]

bri... check with your OBGYN on the vitamins. Let him/her know that you're doing Atkins and it's recommended that you take a multi-vitamin without iron. See if he/she agrees that a no-iron supplement is just as good as one with iron for prepping your body for pregnancy. Mega dose vitamins are not necessary. You can get a good general multi-vitamin without iron by choosing one for women over 50. Vitamins for men usually don't have iron, either, but they aren't designed for a woman's needs (like calcium) and they have things we don't need so much (like selenium) so avoid those. The iron supplement in vitamins for younger women is there to protect them from low iron caused by menstruation.

The RDA on iron is 18mg for child-bearing aged women. You can use fitday.com for a couple of days to see if you're getting that with the foods you're eating. FYI, the MOST you should ever have is 45mg a day.

Also, be aware the iron supplements often cause constipation/diarrhea/nausea. If you're dealing with that on Induction, you might not want to compound the issue, IYKWIM.

Here's something I found on iron overload that you should read, before you discount Dr. Atkins' advice to avoid iron supplementation:

"Who should be cautious about taking iron supplements?

Iron deficiency is uncommon among adult men and postmenopausal women. These individuals should only take iron supplements when prescribed by a physician because of their greater risk of iron overload. Iron overload is a condition in which excess iron is found in the blood and stored in organs such as the liver and heart. Iron overload is associated with several genetic diseases including hemochromatosis, which affects approximately 1 in 250 individuals of northern European descent [67]. Individuals with hemochromatosis absorb iron very efficiently, which can result in a build up of excess iron and can cause organ damage such as cirrhosis of the liver and heart failure [1,3,67-69]. Hemochromatosis is often not diagnosed until excess iron stores have damaged an organ. Iron supplementation may accelerate the effects of hemochromatosis, an important reason why adult men and postmenopausal women who are not iron deficient should avoid iron supplements. Individuals with blood disorders that require frequent blood transfusions are also at risk of iron overload and are usually advised to avoid iron supplements."

So you know I'm not making this stuff up, I got my information from the NIH. Here'a link to the Office of Dietary Supplements page on iron:

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/iron.asp#h7

Tril

[erroxiainsona]

Thanks for the replies Stacey & Tril