Over the last decade the importance of vitamin D has become more significant and in the forefront of research. It has been common knowledge that vitamin D plays an important role in helping the body to absorb calcium and bone mineralisation. Limited dietary sources of vitamin D and insufficient sun exposure can contribute to vitamin D deficiencies. 

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Knowing the importance of vitamin D and the fact that so many Australians and New Zealanders have a vitamin D deficiency means that it is essential that we are getting enough vitamin D at all times.

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When you are pregnant many doctors will look for provide you with proper supplementation with help with the conceivement, development and the easy delivery of your baby, making you have a healthier and more intelligent baby. In fact many docter will advise you what you be on if they know you are planning to concieve.

Do you know that what you take during pregnancy as a mother can affect the baby’s health for the rest of its life.

According to Dr ray Strand MD www.drraystrand.com says that women should consider taking at least 400 to 800 mcg of folic acid prior to becoming pregnant.

Good Nutrition During Pregnancy

As the spine and brain development happens very early in the foetus development- even before the mother is aware of her pregnancy- the mother must consider to take folic acid to help prevent the occurance of neural tube defects in the baby. The nerve tissues need plenty of folic acid. A good multi vitamin should have folic acid in their formulation. If folic acid is not present your doctor should be consulted.

Avoid cheaper brands as contamination from heavy metals example mercury in fish oils and lead in calcium supplements could be unsafe for your baby.

We recommend the following

( Please take with your doctor’s advice)-

• A good multivitamin guarantees that the mother and baby have all the vital essential nurients required for the foetus to grow and develop perfectly. The multi vitamin should be is formulated with folic acid important for your baby’s development.
• Secondly the the supplement should not contain Vitamin A which is known to be harmful and toxic for the baby but rather beta carotene in the natural form to supply you vitamin A in its natural safe form only when you require.
• Omega 3 fish oils: Taking 1 to 2 gms daily is prudent for good brain development and the development of the foetus. Do you know that studies have shown that taking a high quality fish oil supplement during pregnancy have resulted in baby’s having higher IQs. Secondly the omega-3 oils can help with the tissue elasticity and help you with an easy child birth. Omega-3 fish oil supplement should be guaranteed safe and have no heavy metal contamination and is made to pharmaceutical standards.
• Calcium and magnesium: Try taking a supplement that can deliver 800 to 1000mg per day. The Magnesium has a calming effect and helps the young mother and baby sleep well. Secondly calcium and magnesium in the right formulation to give the best effects for the formation of healthy bones. Magnesium also help to reduce night cramps in the mother as well as improves the nerve functions.
• During pregnancy the young mother may have developed piles (haemorrhoids) and increasing taking a high fibre supplement could help prevent or reduce this problem.
• These nutrients also help support normal, healthy heart function, nerve and myelin function and helps maintain good joint health.

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Unfortunately in today’s fast world of modernisation women cannot get the right ingredients fresh enough to give themselves all they need.

Fifty years ago woman’s health was so different. Women had the company of other family members to share the work load of the home as they lived mostly in joint families. There was time to shop at the local market daily each morning and the produce was always fresh. Women were able to cook a lot of variety as families were large and the dishes were always fresh.

Woman health issues have become severe as today life has changed as women have been dragged into the work force to help supplement the family income, families are usually only 2 children strong and the working day spans 10 to 14 hours as a lot of the time goes into commuting.

We do not get enough time to shop as we live too far away from supermarkets and shopping is always in a hurry and done once a week. Gone are the days of the fresh open air markets in big cities.

We are certainly not getting freshness or variety these days.

The lack of freshness is certainly impacting on our nutrient levels these days. Variety is another issue inspite of the fact we may take carbohydrates, proteins and fats in each meal. Unfortanately it’s not the macro nutrients but rather the micronurients that are lacking in our meals. Some of these are calcium, magnesium, copper,etc. This is one of the reason why we need to supplement vitamins into our daily diet each day.

In 1980 the American Journal of Medicine JAMA mentioned strongly that men and women need not take vitamins as their diet was sufficient to give them all they needed. Yet just 20 years later in early 2002, Jama turned its findings around saying it is prudent that we supplement our diet with vitamins as we do not take the basic 5 to 7 servings of fruits and vegetables needed for a healthy diet each day.

Women health issues can be prevented if adequate amounts of essential nutrients are present in her diet daily. She needs to be able to take antioxidants, minerals, alpha lipoic acid, folic acid and vitamins to help with the onset of cancers and osteoporosis. Heart disease is seen to be less when women supplement with a high quality essential fatty acid found in salt water fish. The ratios of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids have to be in the right ratios to help with this condition. Too much of omega 6 is harmful. Omega 6 normally comes from red meats commonly seen in western diets. Another issue is to see if the fish oil in the omega capsules have been distilled twice to remove any heavy metals such as mercury.

Vitamins for women also include calcium and mangesium. Both must be present to help with the absorbtion of calcium into the bones. This is best absorbed when Vit D3 is present. Most of the body’s calcium is in the bones with only 1% in the blood. The blood calcium comes from the bones and this is the reason we need to take high calcium rich foods such as green leafy vegetables to help restore the calcium taken from the bones.

Today osteoporosis is a major problem amoung women as calcium supplementation is so low that women as young as in their 30’s are falling victim to this disease. Once the calcium has been leached from the bones the disease cannot be revoked.

Women need to supplement life long to prevent osteo-arthritis. Taking a calcium supplement is the answer but be careful on the type of supplement you do choose for your body. Calcium formulated with the wrong combinations will calcify in your body leading to complications such as seen in kidney stones. It is important to supplement with a vitamin that you can trust.

As quoted by Dietary Guidelines for Americans, from the Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture “

• eat a variety of foods
• maintain healthy weight
• choose a diet low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol
• choose a diet with plenty of vegetables, fruits, and grain products
• use sugar and salt/sodium only in moderation
• if you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation. “

If you are looking for more information on the best multivitamins for women then you are free to our Newsletter that has alot of useful health material to help you take the best vitamins women need today.

The frustrating aspect of science is that it is never clear.

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Accordingly to 3 independent medical journals that published major scientific reviews during the period between 1990 and 2003, they say that nearly a 3rd of the results did not hold up.

Where can we find the top brands?

In a in-depth study into the comparison of nutritional supplements, Dr Lyle MacWilliam Msc,FP, goes through a number of products that were seen to have high levels of toxicity and failed to dissolve properly in the body.

For people who care about their health this study can be a useful guide in determining what vitamins can be trusted.

Packed with the latest clinical studies on oxidative stress, inflamation and degenerative diseases, this resource can be very useful.

How The Comparisions Were Done

In the NutriSearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements Dr Lyle MacWilliam has created the Blended Standard as the bench mark to rate all nutritional products on the market.

You can access his work here to the right.

What is the best brands of women vitamins on the market?

The top best 5 brands are:

• Which Company…….  97.8 per cent … Get our newsletter to find out
• Solgar Omnium 56.7 per cent
• Thorn Research Al’s Formula 47 per cent
• Clinician Vitamin and Mineral Boost 45 percent
• NFS Nutraceuticals Ultimate Sports Multi 44.5

The best rated vitamins for women have to pass a ten point test for us to be confident that we are getting what we need for our body where women vitamins are concerned.

Where can we find the top brands? All the information is in our newsletter. See what you get by subscribing to our health tips.

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Capps stands for completeness, absorbabilty, potency, purity and safety. Watch movie

• Completeness: It’s best for optimum health that you take a little of all the essential nutrients instead of just taking a lot of one or two vitamins. A good supplement product will give you a complete balanced spectrum of all the nutrients required – vitamins, minerals, alpha lipoic acid and coenzme Q10. You will find that many nutritional manufacturers will leave out expensive nutrients to be competitive in the market.
• Balanced: Our bodies are complex systems that require nutrients at different levels and are best absorbed when they are present together in synergy. They tend to be less effective when alone. A good formulation will be having nutrients in synergy to deliver optimum levels of essential nutrition to our cells. If the balances are out then we can be faced with harmful consequences and the absorbabilty of other nutrients may be hampered if one is out of balance.
• Potency: If nutrition is too little its useless and if too much it can be harmful. Though the micronutrients are in very small amounts we still need to be careful of these amounts as we could do more harm than good if we over dose with the wrong amounts.
• Bio-Availablity: If we don not use any of the nutrition in our bodies then that is wasted. The absorbality of vitamins and minerals vary where some are more bio-available than others. A good brand of supplement always uses the best form of nutrition that could deliver the highest level of bio-availability. Any example of this is that of chelated minerals, ie., those minerals that are bonded to an amino acid will be readily absorbed than mineral salts.
• Safety: We`all take vitamins for extra protection and do not want to do harm to our bodies. Safety plays an important part in selecting a good supplement. Avoid supplements that have iron or performed vitamin A, as these can have long term adverse harmful effects on our bodies. Also the formulation must adhere to exacting standards of manufacturing as seen in pharmaceutical products, ensuring purity and uniformity in every product.

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