Is Elevit A good Prenatal?...
Is Elevit a good prenatal? The other week I shared my unpopular opinion about one of the top recommended prenatal supplements, and boy were people divided! Some couldn’t agree more, yet others thought I was crazy for saying such a thing! I also got lots of questions about which prenatal I recommend as a Fertility Naturopath.
What this signifies to me is that there is a need for more education about the quality and importance of particular ingredients in prenatal supplements. Not sure you even need a prenatal vitamin? Read my blog about that here.
So, here’s my unpopular opinion to the question, is Elevit a good prenatal?
The top 3 reasons why I don’t recommend the prenatal Elevit:
- 1. Quality of ingredients
- 2. Counting fillers/binders as active ingredients
- 3. Missing beneficial nutrients for preconception and pregnancy
1. Quality of Ingredients:
Folate
Elevit is formulated with folic acid. Folic acid is important for a healthy pregnancy and to reduce the risk of developing neural tube defects. The problem I see most frequently in clinical practice is that some people cannot metabolise folic acid to the more active formed used by the body methyl-folate. This means that some women aren’t able to convert the folic acid used in Elevit (and other prenatal brands such as Blackmores, and Natalis).
Not having enough Methyl-folate can result in:
- – Infertility
- – Poor egg quality
- – Recurrent miscarriages
- – Preeclampsia
- – Increased risk of neural tube defects
- – Unsuccessful IVF rounds
Vitamin B12
In addition to this, Elevit is also formulated with a form of B12 called cyanocobalamin. This is a synthetic form of B12 that occurs only in trace amounts in human tissues. This form of B12 takes many steps for the body to utilise the B12 and depending on your genetics, this may not be done well meaning you can have less active B12 which is important for fertility.
Research has found that women undergoing IVF who were supplemented with methyl-folate and vitamin B12, had higher rates of pregnancy and live birth when compared to those supplemented with only folic acid. The study doesn’t state what type of vitamin B12 was used. But it’s definitely a step in the right direction to bring more understanding of how methylated folate can be beneficial in cases of infertility.
2. Counting binders as active ingredients
When looking at the ingredients list of Elevit, I noticed that in addition to using a poorly absorbed form of magnesium (magnesium oxide), magnesium stearate was also being counted towards the total magnesium content.
Magnesium stearate is common capsule filler that you find in a lot of supplements. It’s used to prevent the individual ingredients in a capsule from sticking to each other.
The issue is it has no biological affect within the body. So you think you’re consuming magnesium but really it doesn’t have any positive affects in the body. Essentially you’re paying to consume a cheap filler that is not a good quality form of magnesium.
3. Missing beneficial nutrients for preconception and pregnancy
Elevit is missing one important nutrient that is vital for pregnancy, It doesn’t contain choline. Choline is involved with all stages of early reproduction, from basic fertility and egg health, to specifically supporting fertilization and implantation. It is also important for babies’ tissue and brain development.
A recent research article from 2019 acknowledges the importance of choline in pregnancy and notes that most women (in the US) aren’t meeting the recommended dietary intake of choline, 450 mg per day. While I’ll give it to Elevit, they do sell a seperate choline supplement, I do think it’s a good idea to have a small amount include in the prenatal vitamin itself.
My Most recommend Prenatal in Clinical Practice
So here I’ve touched on 3 keys points to answer the question, is Elevit a good prenatal? There are a few other things to consider, but let’s leave those for another day! Instead, let’s talk about my most recommend good quality prenatal vitamin.
The prenatal that I recommend the most is Naturobests Women’s Prenatal. This is because it contains good quality forms of methyl-folate, B12, and magnesium. It also contains choline, Co-Q 10 and other vital antioxidants which are important for improving egg quality and reducing the risk of pregnancy loss. More importantly you don’t need to be working with a Naturopath or Nutritionist to buy it. I love it so much that I decided to add it to my online store!
I hope you learnt something from this article and hope you can now answer the question is Elevit a good quality prenatal all by yourself!
If you’re thinking of working with me to improve your hormones and fertility, then you can book in for a complimentary 10 minute consultation and ask me all your questions about working together.
Need help choosing the best Naturopath prenatal Supplement for PCOS?
Download my 20 page guide that gives the 3 key ingredients that I look for in a prenatal for those with PCOS! I also give you step by-step instructions to ensure you know how much folate your prenatal contains.
Download today!
P.S. If you’re already pregnant and want a better prenatal vitamin, then try Naturobest’s Prenatal Trimester One with Ginger or Naturobest’s Prenatal Trimester 2 & 3 Plus Breastfeeding.
