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Prenatal Supplements: Why They Help — But Never Replace Real Food

Updated: 3 days ago

When you’re trying to conceive, pregnant, or planning for pregnancy, it’s tempting to think that taking a prenatal vitamin means you’re “covered.” If you are searching for the best fertility supplement on the market, you'll want to keep reading. Here’s the truth:


Prenatal supplements are a support — not a replacement — for a nutrient-rich, whole-foods diet.





While a good prenatal can help fill gaps, it can’t mimic the bioavailability, synergy, and breadth of nutrients you get from real, whole foods. And when women rely on supplements in place of eating well, it can encourage a diet high in processed, nutrient-poor foods — making it even harder to build the nutrient stores your body needs for fertility, pregnancy, and lifelong health.



Whole Foods Provide Nutrients in Their Most Absorbable Forms


Whole foods contain not only key micronutrients, but cofactors, enzymes, and food matrices that help your body use those nutrients efficiently. For example:


Heme Iron vs. Supplemental Iron

  • Heme iron, found in animal foods (like beef, liver, and poultry), is absorbed much more readily than many forms of supplemental iron. Actually, most of the time, I don't recommend supplementing with iron at all - here's why

  • Supplements use forms like ferrous bisglycinate which are better tolerated than older forms, but they still don’t compare to the natural bioavailability of heme iron from food.

  • Iron from food also comes packaged with protein, B vitamins, and other co-factors that support red blood cell production and energy.


Vitamin A: Retinol vs. Beta-Carotene

  • Animal sources provide vitamin A as retinol, the active form your body can use directly.

  • Many prenatals use beta-carotene, a precursor that must be converted by your body — and conversion varies widely among individuals.

  • Vitamin A is essential for fetal growth, immune function, and healthy vision, but too much supplemental vitamin A (preformed retinol) can be toxic — especially in early pregnancy. Whole-food sources help ensure safety and balance.


Folate vs. Folic Acid

  • Whole foods like leafy greens, legumes, and liver provide folate, which your body recognizes and uses naturally.

  • Many prenatals use folic acid, a synthetic form that must be converted in the body — and not everyone converts it efficiently.

  • Folate is critical for DNA synthesis and neural tube development; getting it from foods plus a quality supplement helps ensure optimal status.


The Nutrient Gaps in Many Prenatals

Many nutrients are essential for fertility and pregnancy but are often low or missing in standard prenatal formulas, like:


Choline

Choline is essential for:

  • Brain and spinal cord development

  • Cell membrane formation

  • Nervous system signaling

  • DNA methylation and gene expression

Despite its importance, many prenatal supplements contain little to no choline, largely because it’s bulky and difficult to include in capsule form. Yet needs increase significantly during pregnancy.

Top food sources: Egg yolks, liver, beef, chicken, fish, and dairy


Copper

Copper is a trace mineral with an outsized impact on fertility and pregnancy. It’s required for:

  • Proper iron metabolism and red blood cell formation

  • Energy production

  • Antioxidant defense

  • Connective tissue development

  • Hormone and enzyme activity

Copper often works in balance with iron and zinc, yet it’s frequently omitted from prenatals — which can contribute to iron utilization issues when iron is supplemented without adequate copper.

Top food sources: Liver, shellfish, cocoa, nuts, seeds, and whole foods grown in mineral-rich soils


Iodine

Iodine is absolutely essential for:

  • Thyroid hormone production

  • Brain and nervous system development

  • Metabolic regulation

  • Growth and development in pregnancy

Even mild iodine deficiency during pregnancy has been linked to impaired cognitive development in children. Yet iodine is often missing from prenatals — especially those marketed as “clean” or “natural” — due to concerns around dosing.

This is particularly important because many women avoid iodized salt and dairy, which were once primary iodine sources.

Top food sources: Seafood, seaweed, dairy, eggs, and iodized salt (much of the iodine evaporates from salt- so if this is your only source of iodine, you likely aren't getting enough!)


Omega-3 Fatty Acids (DHA)

DHA is a long-chain omega-3 fat that plays a key role in:

  • Fetal brain and eye development

  • Nervous system maturation

  • Reducing inflammation

  • Supporting healthy pregnancy outcomes

While many prenatals include DHA, the amount is often well below therapeutic levels, or DHA is left out entirely and sold as a separate supplement.

Top food sources: Fatty fish (salmon, sardines, anchovies), fish roe, shellfish, and high-quality fish oil supplements


Why Relying on Supplements Alone Can Lead Women Astray

When women believe a prenatal vitamin “covers everything,” it can inadvertently:

  • Encourage diets high in processed foods and low in protein

  • Reduce motivation to eat balanced, whole-food meals

  • Create a false sense of security about nutrient status

  • Lead to gaps in essential co-factors that supplements don’t replicate


A prenatal vitamin should be just that — a supplement to a strong nutritional foundation. Now, it's true that our soil is more depleted of essential minerals than ever, therefore the foods we eat are not as nutrient-dense as they were decades ago. But whole-foods are still the best resource for optimal fertility.


Why Whole-Food Nutrients Matter for Fertility

High-quality foods help more than just pregnancy outcomes; they help with:


Egg quality & ovulation

Nutrient-dense foods provide building blocks for healthy hormones, balanced blood sugar, and antioxidant defenses.

Hormone balance

Whole foods with complete proteins, healthy fats, and minerals help regulate insulin, thyroid, and sex hormones — all of which are essential for conception.

Inflammation control

Foods rich in omega-3s, antioxidants, and phytonutrients can reduce inflammation, supporting implantation and early development.

Blood sugar regulation

Adequate protein and balanced meals stabilize glucose and insulin — which is especially important for women with insulin resistance or PCOS.


Mother nature is smart, the whole-foods we eat contain vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that work synergistically with each other, allowing for better absorption and use within the body. Something that is missing in supplements.


Prenatal Supplements Are Not Created Equal

Unlike drugs, prenatal vitamins are not tightly regulated. A product can be labeled “prenatal” without meeting any standardized criteria for nutrient content or quality. That means:

  • Dosages can vary widely

  • Nutrient forms may be poorly absorbed

  • Key nutrients like choline may be low or absent

  • Fillers and additives can be present


When choosing a prenatal, look for:

  • Bioavailable forms (e.g., methylated folate, chelated minerals)

  • Third-party testing or transparent sourcing

  • Adequate levels of nutrients like choline, copper, zinc, iodine, and omega-3s

    • it's unlikely you will find everything you are looking for in a single supplement!



A Final Note-

Prenatal supplements can be valuable — but they are not a shortcut to good nutrition. Whole foods deliver nutrients in their most absorbable, synergistic forms — and that’s a foundation of fertility, a healthy pregnancy, and your baby’s long-term development.


This is where functional testing like an HTMA (Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis) becomes incredibly valuable. An HTMA gives us a baseline picture of your cellular mineral status, showing how key minerals like calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, zinc, and copper are functioning at the tissue level


Instead of guessing or using a one-size-fits-all approach, this data allows me to create a clear and customized nutrition, lifestyle, and supplement protocol that supports mineral balance, nervous system regulation, hormone signaling, and egg quality. When we address imbalances unique to your body, we remove the roadblocks preventing you from your dream family.


Click the link below to learn more about how I use HTMA to help clients get pregnant sooner, and how you can work with me!






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  2. West, K. P., Jr. (2003). Vitamin A deficiency disorders in children and women. Food and Nutrition Bulletin, 24(4 Suppl), S78–S90. https://doi.org/10.1177/15648265030244S206

  3. Bailey, L. B., Stover, P. J., McNulty, H., Fenech, M. F., Gregory, J. F., Mills, J. L., … Molloy, A. M. (2015). Biomarkers of nutrition for development—Folate review. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 101(6), 1449S–1463S. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.114.099887

  4. Derbyshire, E., & Obeid, R. (2020). Choline intake during pregnancy and lactation: Associations with maternal and child health. Nutrients, 12(4), 1128. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12041128

  5. Prohaska, J. R. (2008). Role of copper transporters in copper homeostasis. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 88(3), 826S–829S. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/88.3.826S

  6. Wu, G., Fanzo, J., Miller, D. D., Pingali, P., Post, M., Steiner, J. L., & Thalacker-Mercer, A. E. (2016). Production and supply of high-quality food protein for human consumption: Sustainability, challenges, and innovations. Food & Function, 7(11), 4250–4265. https://doi.org/10.1039/C6FO01258A


 
 
 

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