Pregnant Women: Is Your Baby’s Nutrition Missing this Key Ingredient?

Pregnancy brings along for the ride a whole barrel-full of questions about nutrition and supplements.

I’ve known many women that are completely confident about their health and taking supplements during their “everyday” life who then start to question whether or not they should continue taking supplements while they’re pregnant.

Um, YES!!!

During pregnancy and while breastfeeding, a woman’s nutritional needs are greater than ever.

So, it is NOT the time to stop supplementing.

Actually, this is the perfect time to make sure you are taking the best prenatal supplements possible.

But with so many prenatal multivitamin/mineral supplements on the market, how can you evaluate your decisions?

Here’s a tip: pay attention to the amount of iodine in the formula.

The Importance of Iodine

In healthy adults, iodine serves a number of functions within the body. First and foremost iodine supports healthy thyroid function, which is important for normal metabolism.*

For pregnant or lactating women, iodine is crucial because it not only supports a child’s healthy thyroid growth and function, it also plays a key role in healthy brain and central nervous system development.*

In other words, it can have a direct impact on a child’s metabolis, learning and behavior later in life.

Now, here’s the problem. Consumption of iodine has been steadily declining for nearly 50 years, especially in the United States, resulting in a higher prevalence of mild iodine deficiency in the general population.

Pregnant and lactating women’s needs for iodine skyrockets during this critical time in the child’s development, so supplementation can help fill the gaps.

Here’s an especially sobering fact: only about half of the prenatal supplements on the market contain any iodine at all.

The Prenatal Chelated Mineral in USANA’s BabyCare Essentials delivers 300 mcg of iodine in a daily dose which is a higher amount of iodine than many other products on the market.

The amount of iodine found in USANA’s prenatals helps effectively support healthy neurocognitive development while staying well within the Institute of Medicine’s recommendation of a maximum of 1,100 mcg of dietary iodine daily.

The iodine USANA uses is in the form of potassium iodide, which is a form that has been shown to be very bioavailable in humans.

A word of caution: Though unlikely, it is possible to consume too much iodine during pregnancy or breastfeeding. So, if you eat a lot of sea vegetables, scallops, yogurt, cow’s milk, eggs or strawberries every day, talk to your doctor about monitoring your levels of iodine.

Perfect Partners: Iodine & Selenium

When taking iodine, it’s important to take adequate amounts of selenium, which also supports proper thyroid function.

Here’s a little insider tip: there are about 100 mcg of selenium in 2 tablets of BabyCare Prenatal Chelated Mineral.

Ladies, if you think you could get pregnant, or if you are actively trying, help your little kidlet get a smart start.

Supplement your healthy diet with the USANA BabyCare Prenatal Essentials for comprehensive nutritional support all throughout your pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

Do you know anyone who might benefit from this information? Please share!

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.