Vital Essence 3 – Third Trimester Vitamins & Minerals

Contents – 90 capsules (1 month supply)

The Third Trimester (28 – 40 weeks)

In the third trimester your blood volume increases by 40 percent, your pelvic joints expand and your breast tissue develops. Your baby is growing faster than at any other time in your pregnancy, doubling in size, increasing nerve cells, strengthening bones, maturing lungs, immune system and digestive tract, and laying down stores of fat, Iron, and Calcium. Brain cells are multiplying faster than at any other time in his or her life.

Vital Essence 3 is designed to help meet all these needs and to help you keep as fit and healthy as possible in preparation for labour, birth, and breast-feeding.

We recommend that you take Vital Essence 3 in conjunction with Vital DHA. The formulation contains 30 of the most important micro-nutrients for this key stage of your pregnancy, including Calcium, to help with muscle growth and nerve and muscle functions, and Magnesium to help with the synthesis of protein and healthy cell division. Most of a baby’s Calcium is deposited in this trimester as his or her bones and teeth harden. The foetus takes up Calcium at the rate of approximately 350mg a day during this stage of the pregnancy, so it is good to have a plentiful supply to prevent it being scavenged from your own skeleton. There’s plenty of Iron too, to help support your immune system and with the manufacture of red blood cells in preparation for the birth, as well as good levels of Vitamin D and Vitamin B3. We’ve also included Choline to help support the structural integrity of your cell membranes, as well as Iodine, Co Q10 and Folate (in the superior L-Methylfolate form). The formula also contains Beta Carotene, to help protect against possible Vitamin A deficiency, plus a wide range of other ingredients, such as Lutein, Lycopene, Alpha-Lipoic Acid and Pomegranate and Grapeskin Extracts.

We would recommend that Vital Essence 3 is taken in conjunction with VitalDHA. We also provide supplements for the first (Vital Essence 1) and second (Vital Essence 2) Trimesters

Directions For Use:

Take one capsule three times a day with food. Should only be taken on a full stomach. Suitable for vegetarians. Free from artificial colours, preservatives, gluten and yeast. Non-GM. If under medical supervision, seek guidance from your medical practitioner before using this product.

Optional Automatic Re-ordering Service

We recommend that supplements should be taken for at least 3 months in order to optimise their absorption into the body and bring your body back into nutritional balance.

Most of our products provide a 1 month supply so if you prefer we can send you a bottle of whatever you initially ordered to reach you before your existing supply runs out. We will only charge your credit card for the new delivery once we have dispatched it and you can amend or cancel your order at any time.

To set up automatic reordering simply tick the box at checkout or call us on +44 (0)1280 707400.

Vital Essence 3 – Ingredients and their Benefits:

Beta Carotene – helps protect, safely, against Vitamin A deficiency.
Biotin – essential for the normal functioning of the nervous system. The concentration of biotin in breast milk is 15 times higher than in the mother’s blood, which may suggest that Biotin is very important for a baby’s growth and development.
Calcium – needed initially for the development of the nervous system and strong, healthy bones and teeth. Most of a baby’s calcium is deposited in this trimester as its bones and teeth harden. The foetus takes up calcium at the rate of approx 350mg a day, so the mother needs a plentiful supply to prevent it being scavenged from her own skeleton.
Choline – an essential nutrient required by the body to make important compounds necessary for healthy cell membranes. Demand for choline during pregnancy is very high due to its transfer from the mother to the foetus.
Folate – critically important for normal cell division and normal tissue growth during pregnancy. Supplementation can be important as good supplies may be hard to find through food alone.
Fruit extracts – (pomegranate and grapeskin). Added, along with Alpha-Lipoic Acid and N-Aacetyl Cysteine, to provide a broader spectrum of anti-oxidants.
Iodine – an essential micro-nutrient in the human diet, most particularly as a component of thyroid hormones, which play a vital role in the regulation of metabolic processes such as energy expenditure.
Iron – makes haeomoglobin, the substance which carries oxygen in the blood. Women often have low Iron status entering pregnancy because of menstrual blood loss. A common symptom of deficiency is pica, a craving for strange foods. Iron is not absorbed well without Vitamin C and taking it on its own can lead to the loss of essential minerals. Also important for the normal functioning of the immune system, normal cognitive function and normal cell division.
Magnesium – essential for energy production, for proper nerve function and for every major metabolic reaction. Few enzymes (the protein molecules which carry out the the DNA’s instructions in the body) can work without it.
Selenium – an important anti-oxidant, helping to support normal thyroid function. Critical for a mother’s defences against infection as well as helping to protect maternal DNA.
Vitamin C – A valuable antioxidant. Helps to protect against damage to chromosones. Also added to help with energy production, the formation of collagen and the (critically important) absorption of Iron.
Vitamin D – important to help maintain a healthy inflammatory response and the normal functioning of the immune system. The Department of Health now recommends that all women should consider supplementing with Vitamin D during pregnancy. Recent research from our clinic shows that over half of all women who have their Vitamin D status tested are deficient.
Vitamin E – essential for metabolism and the protection of DNA, proteins and lipids from oxidative damage.
Zinc – essential for the normal function of the immune system and the proper metabolism of fatty acids and Vitamin A. Critically important for normal fertility and reproduction.

Source Ingredients:

Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Colour: Titanium Dioxide; Dicalcium Phosphate,  Calcium Citrate, Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin C (as Ascorbic Acid), Magnesium Citrate, Magnesium Oxide, Choline Bitartrate, Ferrous Fumarate, Pomegranate Extract, N-Acetyl Cysteine, Zinc Citrate, Niacin (as Nicotinamide), Anti-caking agents; Silicon Dioxide, Magnesium Stearate; Alpha-Lipoic Acid, Modified Tapioca Starch, Pantothenic Acid (as Calcium Pantothenate), Grapeskin Extract, Coenzyme Q10, Corn Maltodextrin, Thiamin ((Vitamin B1) as Thiamine Mononitrate), Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Inositol, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Olive Oil, Manganese Gluconate, Vitamin E (as D-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate), Soya Oil , Beta Carotene, Modified Corn Starch, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Copper Citrate, Sunflower Oil, Lycopene, Lutein, Antioxidants: Sodium Ascorbate, D L Alpha-Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Natural Mixed Tocopherols; Quatrefolic (TM) 5-Methyltetrahydrofolic Acid Glucosamine Salt,  Sucrose, Acacia Gum, Potassium Iodide, Sodium Selenite, Biotin, Chromium Chloride, Potato Maltodextrin, Vitamin D3 (as Cholecalciferol), Vitamin B12 (as Methylcobalamin).

Do the ingredients in Vital Essence 3 contain the RDA?

Yes – they have been approved by the HFMA and are formulated in conjunction with Department of Health guidelines.

My GP says if I am eating a good diet, I do not need to take vitamins?

In our view, even if you have a healthy diet – which many people don’t these days, given missed, hurried or convenience meals – you can’t always be sure you are getting the vitamins and minerals you need. Not least because intensive food production and processing have stripped many foods of a lot of their nourishment. In our opinion, a good multi-vitamin and mineral supplement is valuable during pregnancy, if only as an insurance policy.

My appetite has gone off, I don’t want to eat as much. May I take Vital Essence 3 instead of food?

No, you must maintain a good diet, especially one rich in carbohydrates, during the end of pregnancy. Carbohydrates will give you fuel for labour.

What is “RDA” and why are so many of the ingredients in Vital Essence 3 higher than 100%?

“RDA” is an abbreviation of “Recommended Daily Allowance.” The RDA was devised by the Dept of Health in the UK in 1979 to provide guidance on the intake of a limited number of specific vitamins and minerals that an average adult should have daily in order to avoid a deficiency that may lead to disease or general ill-health. Whereas this was, and remains, a useful benchmark for judging the contribution that any supplement may make to reaching those minimum requirements, it wasn’t intended to represent an indication of optimum intake. You will probably have noticed that many supplements, particularly premium priced ones such as our own, contain daily levels that are frequently many times higher than the RDA, sometimes substantially so. This is because the vitamins and minerals concerned have been set at therapeutic levels in an attempt to boost the body’s store of the nutrients concerned, often for a particular and limited period of time, the need for which can of course vary depending on factors such as general health, age etc. It is universally recognised that pregnancy, and preparing for pregnancy, for example, benefit from special attention to nutrition on the part of both partners. All of the formulations within the Zita West range are well within the Government’s guidelines for what represents the upper safe limit (USL) for long term daily supplementation of any given nutrient.

Vital DHA during the third trimester

During the last trimester of pregnancy, the baby goes through a period of intense development called the brain spurt. At this time, your baby’s brain will take up 70% of your calorie intake and demand for DHA is greater than ever. We strongly recommend that all our clients consider supplementing their DHA intake before and after this critical period.