There are many myths about prenatal vitamins. Some of the most common include that they'll make your hair and nails grow faster, or that they'll help you lose weight. Neither of these are true -- nor can prenatal vitamins balance your hormone levels. They're simply multivitamin supplements formulated for pregnant women.
Hormone Balance
Women mean different things when they refer to hormones being "out of balance," but generally speaking, if you've been diagnosed as having a hormone imbalance by a doctor, you're being treated for it already and shouldn't self-treat with additional supplements or medications. If you haven't been seen by a doctor but suspect a hormone imbalance, it's best to consult a physician; there are many other reasons you could be feeling depressed, out of sorts, "hormonal," or otherwise out of hormone balance.
Prenatal Vitamins
Prenatal vitamins are daily vitamin and mineral supplements specially formulated for women who are pregnant or nursing. They're very similar in many ways to regular daily multivitamins for non-pregnant women, except that they contain larger quantities of two key pregnancy nutrients: iron and folic acid. Iron helps you produce additional red blood cells to increase blood volume during pregnancy; folic acid is essential to formation of your fetus' neural tube, which becomes the brain and spinal cord.
What Prenatals Can Do
Prenatal vitamins are a great idea if you're pregnant or breastfeeding, but generally speaking, they can't do anything that a regular multivitamin can't. As such, if you wouldn't consider "treating" your symptoms with a regular multivitamin, don't expect that a prenatal will do the trick. This is because vitamins and minerals, while essential to cellular function, aren't medications; unless you're truly nutrient-deficient, you won't benefit from extra vitamins and minerals above the daily requirements.
Safety
While prenatal vitamins won't balance your hormones, they won't hurt you either, explains dietician Katherine Zeratsky for MayoClinic.com. Though iron is toxic in large quantities -- especially to children -- the amount of iron in prenatal vitamins isn't enough to cause you harm if you're an otherwise healthy woman. However, prenatals are very expensive. As such, if you don't actually need them -- that is, if you're not pregnant or breastfeeding -- they're probably not worth purchasing.
References
- "You: Having A Baby"; Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.; 2009
- "What to Expect When You're Expecting"; Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel; 2008
- MayoClinic.com: Prenatal Vitamins
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