Zita West Vital Essence 3 - 90 tablets (1 month's 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.
This new formulation of Vital Essence 3 is designed to help meet all these needs and to help ensure you keep as fit and healthy as possible in preparation for labour, birth, and breast-feeding. See Countdown to Labour for more information on labour.
We recommend that you take Vital Essence 3 in conjunction with Vital DHA.
The new, improved formula, contains increased levels of Calcium, to help with muscle growth and nerve and muscle functions, and increased levels of Magnesium to help support the development of the liver and heart and with the metabolism of protein. 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.
We've added Phosphorus to the new formulation too, to help with skeletal growth and the proper functioning of cell membranes. And there's plenty of Iron, to help 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 with the production of healthy cell membranes, as well as Iodine, Co Q10 and Folic Acid. The formula also contains Beta Carotene, to help protect against possible Vitamin A deficiency and cell mutation, plus Lutein, Lycopene, Alpha-Lipoic Acid and Pomegranate and Grapeskin Extracts, to help protect against free-radical damage to cells.
Take one tablet (with or after food) three times a day.
Vital Essence 3 is suitable for vegetarians. It is free from artificial colours, preservatives and gluten and is certified non-GM. Contains yeast.
Ingredients
Three tablets a day typically provide:
RDA%
Vitamin D 1000iu 25ug 500
Vitamin E 45iu 30mg TE 300
Vitamin C 180mg 300
Thiamin (Vitamin B1) 10mg 714
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) 10mg 625
Niacin (Vitamin B3) 36mg NE 200
Vitamin B6 10mg 500
Folic Acid 400ug 200
Vitamin B12 20ug 2000
Biotin 200ug 133
Pantothenic Acid Vitamin B5) 25mg 417
Vitamin K 100ug
Calcium 500mg 62.5
Phosphorus 250mg 31
Iron 21mg 150
Magnesium 250mg 84
Zinc 15mg 100
Iodine 220ug 147
Manganese 1mg
Copper 1000ug
Selenium 100ug
Chromium 20ug
Beta Carotene 4mg
Lutein 1mg
Lycopene 1mg
Inositol 10mg
Coenzyme Q10 12mg
Choline Bitartrate 80mg
Alpha Lipoic Acid 33mg
N-Acetyl Cysteine 50mg
Pomegranate extract 60mg
Grapeskin extract 25mg
Vital Essence 3 - Ingredients and their Benefits
•Beta Carotene - helps protect, safely, against Vitamin A deficiency and cell mutation.
•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. Now increased to 500mg a day.
•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. Increased intake of choline during pregnancy may help to lower the risk of neural tube defects.
•Co-enzyme Q10 - a useful anti-oxidant, very good for boosting energy in the final stages of pregnancy when you are feeling tired and carrying extra weight. It improves the body's ability to use oxygen and to utilise a steady flow of energy from food. Increased to 12mg for the 3rd trimester.
•Folic Acid (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 and more effective 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 - needed to manufacture red blood cells. Adequate supply now can help to support healthy blood supplies and adequate oxygen supply to muscles during labour.
•Magnesium - helps to support normal neurotransmission and proper cell division. Now increased to 250 mg a day.
•Phosphorus - plays an important role in a mother's metabolism, particularly in the production of cellular energy and in the normal functioning of cell membranes.
•Selenium - an important anti-oxidant, helping to support a mother's defences against infection as well as helping to protect DNA.
•Vitamin C - helps the absorption of iron. It is antioxidant and anti-viral and helps to fight infection and keeps collagen (a protein found in connective tissue, needed for proper growth and for healthy skin, bones and teeth) healthy and resistant to penetration by viruses, drugs, and toxins.
•Vitamin E - anti-oxidant, helps to speed up wound healing and to keep skin supple.
•Vitamin K - an essential ingredient of prothrombin, which causes blood to clot. It is made naturally by bacteria in the gut, but a baby is born with a sterile gut and has to get vitamin K from its mother. New-borns deficient in Vitamin K can be at risk of internal bleeding.
•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:
Dicalcium Phosphate, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Magnesium Citrate, Magnesium Oxide, Calcium Citrate, Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin C (as Ascorbic Acid), Anti-caking agent: Silica, Crosslinked Cellulose Gum, Choline Bitartrate, Magnesium Stearate, Modified Tapioca Starch, Stablisers: Acacia Gum, Ferrous Fumerate, Hydroxpropyl Methyl Cellulose; Pomegranate Extract, N-Acetyl Cysteine, Zinc Citrate, Niacin (as Nicotinamide), Alpha Lipoic Acid, Vitamin E (as D-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate) 1, Pantothenic Acid (as Calcium Pantothenate), Colour: Titanium Dioxide, Grapeskin Extract, Olive Oil, Vitamin B6 (as Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Thiamine (as Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1)), Coenzyme Q10, Sunflower Oil, Inositol, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Manganese Gluconate, Soya Oil 1, Glycerin, Beta Carotene, Copper Citrate, Lycopene, Lutein, Folic Acid, Potassium Iodide, Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Antioxidants: Natural Mixed Tocopherols 1, Ascorbyl Palmitate; Sucrose, Vitamin K (as Phylloquinone), Chromium Chloride, Vitamin D (as Ergocalciferol), Vitamin B12 (as Cyanocobalamin). Allergen Information: 1 - From Soya
Allergen Information From Soya: Vitamin E (D-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate), Soya Oil, Natural Mixed Tocopherols
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
VitalDHA alongside Vital Essence 3
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.
