Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The ease of taking a pill

I am finally reading Fertility, Cycles, and Nutrition by Marilyn Shannon. It is a book published by the Couple to Couple league and has information on how nutrition can improve fertility and overall health - lessen the affect of PMS. If you notice on the website, it is frequently bought together with Optivite PMT which is recommended in the book. Optivite is a multi-vitamin that is specially formulate with those who suffer from PMS. Multiple double-blind studies have shown effectiveness. So why haven't I read this book before? Because it is very technical and overwhelming. I'm reading it to prepare for the class I will teach but I don't think I would force myself to read it otherwise because it is information overload. Back to the PMS topic, I definitely have that issue and I have seen a holistic doctor as well as a NFP-only ob/gyn who know my complaints on the topic. Why have neither brought the vitamin to my attention? Enough about my rant...on to the purpose of this post

There is a non-hormonal vitamin that, when taken daily, lessens the severity of PMS. Irritability, cravings and cramps diminish just by taking this vitamin. As someone who has struggled to eat healthy and exercise with no luck and a surgery to boot, I wish they would replace some of those YAZ commercials with Optivite commercials. It almost seems too good to be true that there would be a vitamin supplement that can have the same beneficial results without the risk of stroke or miscarriage. What I found appealing about the option of the pill last summer was the relative ease - take a pill and you're done. Now I find out I could have switched multi-vitamins and potentially had the same results? wow!


Has anyone actually used this vitamin and if so does it really work?

4 comments:

  1. I'm lucky enough not to have bad PMS, so I haven't read the book or heard of the pills either. Would you recommend the book for someone who's just interested in NFP stuff in general, or only if you're having difficulties and want to use nutrition to ease things?

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  2. The book is more nutrition oriented and really focused on how to cure ailments or what to eat when expecting (or hoping to start expecting)

    I found the book "Real Food for Mom and Baby" much more helpful in regards to what you should be eating before and during pregnancy. She had a conversational writing style that was easy to follow and no-nonsense, easy tips for how to gradually improve eating habits as well as a don't sweat it attitude about not getting everything everyday.

    Both authors follow similar organic recommendations including whole fat dairy products and multiple servings of fish each week (hopefully ocean caught).

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  3. I agree with you that I'd much rather see Optivite commercials than Yaz commercials! But I was a bit turned off from Optivite because it seemed a little bit gimmicky as though the main point were to sell the "special supplement" since that is what people want rather than buying generic vitamins already on the market. But I guess it does make things simpler for some people and so that is good. I would have tried it if I hadn't found a vitamin powder that worked well for me. You actually inspired me to compare the ingredients of the two and they were quite similar, so based on that I highly recommend that you try it!

    Also, did you read the newest edition of the book? I read what was then the most recent edition a few years ago and was rather disappointed since some of the material seemed out of date (telling obese women to gain at least 30lbs during pregnancy?!) and a lot of it I knew from my mother's extensive lectures on health. But people keep raving, so I wonder whether I am missing something from the newest edition.

    To compare vitamins I looked at Amazon:
    http://www.amazon.com/Optivite-Pmt-Tablets-180-207779/dp/B000GFHQJW

    http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Way-Alive-Vanilla-powder/dp/B000OP5ZHE

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  4. As for the book - yes I have the most recent and that advice is still there. I didn't like the format of the book more than the information but I agree in that I'm not sure what all the fuss is about other than the fact that it has the CCL seal

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