vitamin C and zinc?

[lauraellajane]

Hi ladies,

Google is not being friendly today :(

Does anyone know if it's okay to take extra vitamin C and zinc while pregnant? Last year I used effervescent tablets and they were fab at nuking nasty flu.

It's flu/cold season in the office and desperately don't want to avoid lurgy before 12 weeks!

Thanks xxx

I wouldnt recommend taking extra vitamins as there is so little research on this. That said, there's nothing to stop you taking a prenatal vitamin and eating your bodyweight in satsumas and brazil nuts to help boost your immune system. Good luck with your pregnancy - and avoiding the flu.

You shouldn't take too much Vit A but Vit C is fine. In fact it helps with the absorption of iron which is also good for your energy levels and staving off anaemia. Not sure about zinc though. I'd prefer the satsuma approach as above though. And a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice every morning (from a carton!). You can get the flu jab too during pregnancy. I'm not sure at what gestation you have to be to get it on the NHS. Everybody is able to get it at my work regardless of their health. I had mine last week at 18 weeks and in my previous pregnancy I had it at ?32 weeks. It won't stop you getting a cold though!

Drinking orange juice and eating green leafy vegs at the same time helps with vit c absorption too OP.

Thanks everyone, that's really helpful. Had the flu jab already but it didn't stop me getting really bad flu! I'll stick with eating oranges etc.