Pregnancy Nutrition: Pregnancy Vitamins & What You Should be Taking for Optimal Pregnancy Health

As promised here’s a written update of my interview with Dr Rohen Kapur on Wednesday. As you will probably recall Dr Kapur kindly spoke to us about the threat of Swine Flu during pregnancy and for babies and gave some oustanding advice that the government health agencies are keeping very quiet due to the fact that most of the experts on the board of the health agencies also sit on the boards of the major pharma companies who stand to make $billions out of the drug Tamiflu.

Now it is widely known that Tamiflu causes major side effects and it is not to be prescribed for pregnant women or babies. This is a stark reminder of the similar pandemic of Swine Flu back in the 70’s, where the prescribed anti-viral of the time was rushed out before it was properly tested and also caused brain damage and many fatalities, but still the NHS refuse to prescribe  the one and only proven cure for the flu virus (and in fact many other infectious diseases).

So what is this miracle cure – well it’s no miracle, just simple biology. Vitamind D3 is an essential ingredient in immune function and as most of us spend very little time out in the sunshine, the majority of people who live in developped countries are deficient.

So here’s Dr Rohen’s advice to boost your immunity and safeguard your pregnancy health and fitness:

First of all you need to ask your GP for a Vitamin D blood level test: It’s called 25 hydroxyvitamin D. You should also have your magnesium and calcium levels checked as well.

Vitamin D can be toxic if you take too much so you need to have this test first so you know whether you need supplementation or not.

Pregnant women who are caucasian should get out in the sun with at least 40% of their body exposed for 15 minutes per day without sunblock. This is important because you need UVB to make Vitamin D. If you start to go pink then get inside – don’t burn!!

If you are darker skinned you will need longer because your skin is thicker and it will take longer for the UVB to stimulate Vitamin D production.

Eat a good quality protein with every meal (from meat or fish) – at least 4oz. Protein is the building blocks of life and should form a large part of your pregnancy diet.

Omega 3 – essential in developping your baby’s brain and eyes – The 1000mg capsule that you get in most containers is not enough. This is about 1/5 of a teaspoon – when you consider how much vegetable oil you get in comparison this is nothing. You should be aiming for around 3 tablespoons per day. ( Have a look for double strength capsules and stock up! Dr Kapur reccomends around 22 capsules a day for the equivalent of 3 tablespoons!)

Starflower oil – 1-2 capsules daily

Vitamin B Complex: with 100mg Thiamine and plenty of Folic Acid to prevent neural tube defects

Vitamin C 1000mg three times per day (anything you don’t need your body will get rid of)

Make sure you are eating calcium rich foods every day – eg. sardines, spinach, oats, rainbow trout, salmon, collards and white beans

Eat plenty of fresh fruit and green leafy vegetables. ratio of vegetables to protein  3:1

For Babies:

2000 international units of Vitamin D3 daily.

In the US you can get water drops which you can add to milk/food – also they have a brand of Cod Liver Oil called Carlsons which has very high purity and is designed for young children. In the UK it’s not so easy to find but it is available in some pharmacies and online health stores.

I hope you find all that useful and I’ll update you on the results of using the Vitamin D doseage that Dr Kapur suggested for River.

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