Title:

Healthy Pregnancy Tip: Supplements To Avoid

Word Count:
639
Summary:
Knowing which supplements are safe to take during pregnancy and which to avoid,
can be confusing. This article discusses two supplements and one common drink in
gredient that scientists have cautioned women against taking whilst pregnant as
they have the potential to harm the fetus.
Keywords:
birth defects, prenatal vitamins, pregnant women, healthy pregnancy, healthy pre
gnancy tip
Article Body:
Prenatal vitamins are an important source of folate and other vital nutrients du
ring pregnancy. And many women, with the popularity of herbal medicine, take oth
er herbs during pregnancy. Some of these herbs they may have been taking before,
for an existing condition. Others, they may take to help cope with some of the
physical difficulties that go with pregnancy. The following supplements and food
additives should be avoided during pregnancy to avoid potential problems with t
he health of the baby.
<ul><li><b>Quinine</b> - Quinine is found in many drinks like tonic water, and t
hese are popular as a result of their slightly bitter taste. But it was found th
at one woman who drunk more than 1 liter of tonic water a day whilst she was pre
gnant had a baby that was suffering withdrawal symptoms when it was born. It had
nervous tremors within a day of being born, which disappeared two months later.
Germany's BfR (Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) recommends that pregnant
women treat quinine drinks, no matter how small the amount of quinine in them, a
s a medicinal product, and avoid them as a precaution during pregnancy.
<li><b>Ginseng</b> - One of the more than 20 active constituents of ginseng was
found by researchers at the Chinese University of the Hong Kong Prince of Wales
Hospital to be a <b>possible</b> cause for concern for pregnant women. These res
earchers were measuring the effect of this active principle on fetal development
in rats. And they found that, relating to the dose, rat embryonic development w
as affected. Higher doses meant a higher level of abnormalities, according to th
e markers of development their study used.
Now, this study was one done on rat embryos, and so may not translate into simil
ar effects on humans. And it only studied the effects of one of ginseng's active
constituents, which was a ginsenoside called Rb1. Ginseng actually has over 20
ginsenosides, and other studies have found that these each have different action
s.
One of the difficulties with studying active constituents in herbal medicine is
that the whole herbal extract may have a very different overall effect than a si
ngle constituent. This is because of the way active principles both work togethe
r and counteract each other. These two aspects, the fact that the study was not
done on humans, and does not measure the overall effect of the whole ginseng ext
ract, mean that its results should be treated cautiously. As a safety precaution
, at this time it is best to at least avoid ginseng supplements during the first
trimester, as the authors of the study suggest, and probably for the whole of t
he pregnancy. But ginseng should certainly not be branded dangerous as a result
of this research as it is only a very preliminary finding in the overall picture
, and more points the way as to where further research needs to be done.
<li><b>Ginkgo Biloba</b> - Ginkgo biloba is another supplement that is best avoi
ded whilst pregnant. Researchers at Wayne State University in Detroit found one
of the constituents of ginkgo biloba in the placenta of women who had taken gink
go supplements. This particular constituent, an alkaloid called colchicine, can
be fatal in high doses, though medicinally, it has great anti-inflammatory effec
ts. Other research has found that cochicine can harm a growing fetus. The potent
ial problem with taking ginkgo supplements regularly whilst pregnant is that col
chicine can build up in the womb, like caffeine when taken in excess of the reco
mmended maximum amounts. The researchers did stress that there was no link estab
lished in the study between ginkgo and complications in the pregnancy, the study
only looked at levels of colchicine in the womb.</ul>
References:
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/news/ng.asp?id=60554
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/news/ng.asp?id=25810
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/news/ng.asp?id=20934