Vitamins and Multivitamins

Updated Calorie and Nutrition Information For Common Fruits and Vegetables

We are in the process of updating our calorie and nutrition information for common fruits and vegetables. With the introduction of the PEERtrainer Cheat System, people have lots of questions. We are going to be providing as much explanation as we can on a food by food basis, along with links to relevant research.

This list will be updated as we update the pages.

Fruits:

Blueberries

Strawberries

Apples

Apricots

Avocado

Banana

Cherries

Grapefruit

Mangos

Oranges

Pears

Plums

Vegetables:

Artichokes

Arugula

Black Beans

Broccoli

Cabbage

Carrots

Chickpeas

Edamame

Onions

Pumpkin

Quinoa (close relative to cruciferous family)

Red Peppers

Spinach

Sweet Potato

Tomato

Yams

 





How To Ask Dr. Fuhrman A Question Directly

Most people in PEERtrainer are familiar with the basic ideas of Dr. Joel Fuhrman. We work hard to make sure that people understand his concept of "nutrient density" because it represents a different way of looking at the weight loss process. 

What Is Nutrient Density And Why Is It Important?

If you are not familiar with nutrient density or are unclear what it means, the basic idea is that certain foods have dramatically higher levels of "good stuff" than other foods. When you eat a lot of the "good stuff" a primary benefit is that it makes you less hungry. Your body starts to get the nutrients it needs, and begins to stop sending your brain signals commonly known as "food cravings."

This is a powerful idea, and combined with other core ideas that we promote, has helped to literally transform the lives of thousands of people on PEERtrainer. We get emails every single day thanking us for pointing people in this direction.

Often times, people have a lot of questions once they begin to grasp the basic idea of nutrient density. It has the power to help you reduce your weight, but also put you on the path to better health. One can lose weight pretty quickly, but the health part of the equation can be harder to get back into balance. You can't expect to instantly get into better health after abusing your body for 20 years.

Usually when people are in this process, especially on the health side of the equation, they have many questions.

One resource that you may want to take advantage of, but you likely do not know about, is Dr. Fuhrmans "Ask A Doctor" online forum.

In this forum he has already answered ten thousand questions and both the questions and the results are searchable. In addition, for questions not already answered Dr. Fuhrman answers those each week and posts them.

Access to this information and access to Dr. F is ridiculously cheap- about $15 a month, and less if you buy a year membership. Even if you join for a short amount of time, you can learn a tremendous amount in a short amount of time.

We highly recommend this forum and service. The reason we are creating this blog post is that recently Habib was traveling with Dr. Fuhrman and saw him up at 5 am, going through the forum, answering questions in his forum.  Pretty amazing, even now that Fuhrman has started to become very well known through his deal with Whole Foods, though his books- he is still answering peoples' questions at 5 am.

It is a level of total commitment that we find very impressive.

Here is the link to learn more about this forum:

http://drfuhrman.com/shop/benefits.aspx

If you have any questions, please reply in the comments section below or just reply to our email. We'd be glad to help you!

If you are reading this and are already a member, please let us know your experience so far and we will put it right in this post. 

One more thing- if you have ever wanted to meet Dr. Fuhrman, he is holding a "Health Getaway" this summer at Park City, Utah. The event is being mc'd by his friend Marilu Henner, who many of you remember for her role on the TV show "Taxi."  Like us, she is a strong advocate for the work Dr. Fuhrman is doing!

https://www.drfuhrman.com/events/utah_2011/utah_2011_health_getaway.aspx

Comment:

"I recently became a member of Dr. Fuhrman's member center. I was drawn to it because even though I thought I was following the Eat to Live method, I wasn't at the low weight that I had previously achieved. I thought maybe I needed more education on the matter and I joined up. I was right. I really didn't know enough about the method. Once I spent some time in the member center, a lot of my questions were answered and I was refocused. I especially love that I receive one new recipe per day by e-mail from Dr. Fuhrman AND that I can see what other members have to say about that recipe. That helps a lot when cooking as much as I and really what anyone has to do when you elimate most processed food."

Wendy Solganik

 

 

 

Dr Fuhrman Member Center Signup Link

The Important Relationship Between Inflammation, Weight Loss and The Future Of Your Health

We have been focusing a lot recently on the subject of energy at PEERtrainer. The reason we have been doing this is that an overwhelming number of you have been telling us that you are feeling tired. The response has been really great, and we have been sent hundreds of emails thanking us and asking us followup questions.

One of the reasons that the response has been great is that lack of energy is something you feel. It is an obvious thing. So when we send out an email that has a subject line of "4 Supplements That Will Give You More Energy" or some variation of that, the response is great. The emails get opened, the links get clicked on and the articles get read and passed around.

We are saying this because we are going to be shifting the discussion somewhat to the subject of inflammation. We are "caveating" this because inflammation is not something that you generally feel, like you feel when you are tired.

But it is equally as important. If not more important.

What is interesting about inflammation is that there is a PILE of research that specifically links elevated levels of "inflammatory markers" to a whole host of negative health outcomes. We have been looking at studies published by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) that link inflammation to future weight gain, increases in cholesterol levels, as well as raise the risk of stroke and heart disease.

On its face, PEERtrainer is a "weight loss company." But as you know, if you lose weight in a healthy, sustainable and long term way, your health improves. Ever since we met (and worked with) the founder of a large health care company, we have been working hard to make sure that people lose weight in a manner that leads to better health.

This has made things tough for us from a marketing perspective. There are a lot of highly popular ways to lose weight, that unfortunately lead to both people gaining the weight back and harming their health. The typical "yo-yo" diet cycle for example is very tough on your system.

A less popular weight loss marketing message is, "hey take two years of time, totally change your eating habits and become really introspective." That tends to not lead to immediate action.

But, it is pretty much the only way you are going to lose weight for the long haul. We are saying all of this to show, again, how "all this stuff is connected."

Key Point:

If you do the things that lead to long term weight loss, your health will improve. If you do the things that help foster greater health, you are likely to find it easier to lose weight.

So back, to the subject of inflammation....

What is also interesting about inflammation is that there is also a growing body of research that demonstrates the effectiveness of certain herbal substances in reducing inflammation. As well as a very well established set of protocols or "tools" that work to help you get the "fire" of inflammation under control.

We were in Whole Foods today (one of our favorite research labs!) and learned something very interesting. It turns out that the top selling herbal supplement that is sold to "promote healthy inflammation response" is also the most extensively researched.

The supplement is called Zyflamend, and it is the top selling herbal anti-inflammatory supplement in the United States right now. It is made by a company called New Chapter, and you can find it in most places supplements are sold. (It is important to note that New Chapter only sells whole food-based, non-synthetic supplements. If you are familiar with Dr. Fuhrman's urgent warnings on the dangers of synthetic folic acid, New Chapter's multivitamins only contain natural folate. New Chapter is widely regarded as the quality leader in their industry.)

Most herbal supplements rely on history, word of mouth and anecdotal evidence to help promote them. Zyflamend is in a different class because of a recent clinical study performed on it by Columbia University.

In this study they tested Zyflamend on a group of men between 40 and 75 who were at a high level of risk for developing prostate cancer. Over the 18 months that the study took place, half of the subjects had a 25-50% reduction in PSA levels. PSA stands for "Prostate-Specific Antigen", and the basic deal is that as PSA levels rise so do occurrences of prostate cancer.

We began this discussion of inflammation with clinical studies because we wanted to show you how well understood the problem is, as well as help show you how well understood many of the solutions to this problem are.

Now, inflammation is a big and complex subject. Entire books can and have been written on the subject. The purpose of this article is to get you focused on this issue, and also relate it back to your efforts to improve your weight and your fitness. It is intended to be a starting point for this important discussion.

 

What Are The Roots Of Inflammation And How Does One "Put Out The Fire?"

Chronic inflammation usually has it roots in diet, although a wide array of irritants can also exacerbate the problem. The usual suspects like sugar, processed foods and high amounts of animal fat are widely thought to contribute to inflammation.

A good way of thinking about reducing inflammation, is that you want to "put the fire out."

You need to identify and reduce the foods that help to foster the creation of pro-inflammatory substances. At the same time you want to identify and increase the foods that block these substances and help to reverse the damage done.

A nutrient dense diet, featuring high amounts of greens and cuciferous vegetable forms the base of a diet that will help prevent disease and generally make you feel better. This is the exact same diet approach that one would take to lose weight for the long term.

Hopefully reading this information will help to increase your motivation to consume more greens. 

Chronic inflammation can be a difficult and frustrating thing to completely tackle. For many people simply eating more vegetables and reducing gluten, dairy and sugar will not be enough. At least not right away.

You have to realize that a poor diet can take a toll on your body, and most of us have been hammering our bodies for years. You can't expect immediate relief. Yet many people do. 

However, if you take a broad approach to "putting the fire out" you will find that you will have greater control over this as time goes on.

For example in addition to making some shifts in your diet, you are also likely to benefit from a high quality fish oil supplement. You see these everywhere now, and there is a very good reason for that. Fish oil contains very powerful anti-inflammatory properties.

The research behind fish oil is extensive, (here is one example) and we will probably develop an entire article just on this subject alone.

Additionally, there are some herbal blends, like Zyflamend which have powerful anti-inflammatory properties. As you start to stack these different tools together, you are likely to have begun the process of putting yourself on the right track long term.

High doses of vitamins C and B have also been shown by clinical research to play an important role in reducing inflammation. It is important to remember that green vegetables like Broccoli are rich in Vitamin C. We usually think of Vitamin C as something we get from Oranges or Orange Juice. If you try and get some of your Vitamin C from greens, you'll avoid some of the extra fructose which just may help with your weight.

For those of you who are committed meat eaters, free range chicken and grass fed beef and bison are thought to be less inflammatory than traditional meat. We need to do some more research into this, but people like Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum suggest that eating grass fed meat instead of grain fed meat will provide some help.

This whole process is likely to be frustrating, especially if you have been grappling with chronic disease. But if you get a good view of the "playing field" you can begin to get handle on how you can go about tackling this issue.

Again, we'd love to hear your feedback on your experiences. The best content we create is in response to the questions you all have. So keep them coming, keep posting on our Facebook Wall. We are also very interested in Zyflamend, and New Chapter in general. 

Dr. Fuhrman has really sounded the alarm about certain synthetic substances and certain minerals that he feels ought to not be in vitamins and supplements. We have found New Chapter and Dr. Fuhrman to be very much on the same page. We will be working to confirm and verify all of this.

 

 


Is It Better To Eat Raw Vegetables or Cooked Vegetables? Dr. Joel Fuhrman Gives His Perspective

There is a lot of discussion about the benefits of eating raw foods. So we asked Dr. Fuhrman the question "is raw food better than cooked food?"

Cooking can cook some enzymes, for example in green vegetables. Other vegetables are better off cooked, where cooking can enhance nutrient absorption.


If you want to dig into this a little more, this is an excerpt from an article Dr. Fuhrman wrote:

"Certainly, there are benefits to consuming plenty of raw fruits and vegetables. These foods supply us with high nutrient levels and are generally low in calories too. Eating lots of raw foods is a key feature of an anti-cancer diet style and a long life. But are there advantages to eating a diet of all raw foods and excluding all cooked foods? The answer is a resounding “No”. In fact, eating an exclusively raw-food diet is a disadvantage. Excluding all steamed vegetables and vegetable soups from your diet narrows your nutrient diversity and has a tendency to reduce the percentage of calories from vegetables in favor of nuts and fruits which are lower in nutrients per calorie.

Raw vegetables are dramatically low in calories and we probably only absorb about 50 calories a pound from raw vegetables. Our caloric needs cannot be met on a raw food diet without consuming large amounts of fruits, avocado, nuts and seeds. This may be an adequate diet for some people, but in my 15 years of medical practice catering to the community of natural food enthusiasts, raw foodists and natural hygienists, I have seen many people who weakened their health on such raw food, vegan diets. Frequent fungal skin and nail infections, poor dentition, hair loss and muscular wasting are common on such fruit-based diets.

Unfortunately, sloppy science prevails in the raw-food movement. Raw food advocates mistakenly conclude that since many cooked foods are not healthy for us, then all cooked foods are bad. This is not true.

The idea that stirs the most enthusiasm for this diet is the contention that cooking both destroys about fifty percent of the nutrients in food, and destroys all or most of the life promoting enzymes. It is true that when food is baked at high temperatures—and especially when it is fried or barbecued—toxic compounds are formed and most important nutrients are lost. Many vitamins are water-soluble, and a significant percent can be lost with cooking, especially overcooking. Similarly, many plant enzymes function as phytochemical nutrients in our body and are useful to maximize health. They, too, can be destroyed by overcooking. However, we cannot paint with this brush of negativity over every form of cooking. Click here to continue reading the article:


Reference:







Do You Know The Difference Between Folic Acid and Folate? New Research Shows Why You Might Want To!

Habib and I were at lunch with Dr. Fuhrman recently. Blake Kassel, who runs Bodylastics, was also there and he asked Dr. Fuhrman a question that he had been asked about folic acid and pregnancy. The answer stunned us, and gave us the idea to come back the next day with a video camera and get some of this information out there, because it is not in any of his books right now.

For those of you who are not in a place where you can watch this video, here are the key points that Dr. Fuhrman made about folic acid:
  • Nobody should be taking folic acid, they should instead focus on folate. Green vegetables in particular have a lot of folate in them.
  • Food does not have folic acid in it, it has folate 
  • Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate, a member of the family of B vitamins that is involved in regulating DNA synthesis and gene expression. Because of these crucial functions, folate plays an important role in fetal development - folate is essential during pregnancy, especially early on in pregnancy, for the prevention of neural tube defects. Folate is abundant in green vegetables like spinach, collards, bok choy, artichokes, and broccoli. Even black beans are high in folate.
  • Women who followed the typical recommendations to take folic acid during pregnancy and were followed by researchers for thirty years were twice as likely to die from breast cancer.   Another study following women for ten years concluded that those who took multivitamins containing folic acid increased their breast cancer risk by 20-30%.   Folic acid in supplement form may contribute to producing a cancer-promoting environment in the body – in addition to breast cancer, synthetic folic acid has been linked to dramatic increases in prostate and colorectal cancers, as well as overall cancer incidence. The studies that Dr. Fuhrman references are listed at the bottom of this blog post. 
  • Folate has the opposite effect. High folate intake is associated with dramatic decrease in cancer. 
  • Even if a supplement has the word "Folate" it is probabaly folic acid. You can watch the video to learn more:





As promised, here are a list of the studies that Dr. Fuhrman references to back up his assertion. Note that most of these are relatively recent, and it takes time for people like Dr. Fuhrman to connect the dots and then communicate the analysis. He has begun to do this only in the last year. His own supplements used to contain folic acid. 


References:
1. Stolzenberg-Solomon RZ et al. Folate intake, alcohol use, and postmenopausal breast cancer risk in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Apr;83(4):895-904. 
2. Kim YI. Does a high folate intake increase the risk of breast cancer? Nut Rev; 2006; 64(10PT1) 468-75. 
3. Figueiredo JC et al. Folic acid and risk of prostate cancer: results from a randomized clinical trial. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2009 Mar 18;101(6):432-5. Epub 2009 Mar 10. 
4. Fife, J et al. Folic Acid Supplementation and Colorectal Cancer Risk; A Meta-analysis. Colorectal Dis. 2009 Oct 27. [Epub ahead of print] 
5. Whitrow MJ. Effect of Supplemental Folic Acid in Pregnancy on Childhood Asthma: A Prospective Birth Cohort Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2009 Oct 30. [Epub ahead of print] 
6. Haberg SE, London SJ, Stigum H, Nafstad P, Nystad W. Folic acid supplements in pregnancy and early childhood respiratory health. Arch Dis Child. 2009 Mar;94(3):180-4. Epub 2008 Dec 3. 
7. Ebbing M et al. Cancer Incidence and Mortality After Treatment With Folic Acid and Vitamin B12. JAMA. 2009;302(19):2119-2126. 
8. Charles D et al. Taking folate in pregnancy and risk of maternal breast cancer. BMJ 2004;329:1375–6
9. Harvard School of Public Health; The Nutrition Source: Keep the Multi, Skip the Heavily Fortified Foods; www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/folicacid/ Date accessed: 8/29/08. 
10. Hirsch S et al. Colon cancer in Chile before and after the start of the flour fortification program with folic acid. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2009 Apr;21(4):436-9. 
11. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/591111 
12. Kwan ML et al. Maternal diet and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Public Health Rep. 2009 Jul-Aug;124(4):503-14. 
Tower RL et al. The epidemiology of childhood leukemia with a focus on birth weight and diet. Crit Rev Clin Lab Sci. 2007;44(3):203-42. 
Petridou E et al. Maternal diet and acute lymphoblastic leukemia in young children.Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2005 Aug;14(8):1935-9. 
Jensen CD et al. Maternal dietary risk factors in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (United States).Cancer Causes Control. 2004 Aug;15(6):559-70. 
13. Huncharek M et al. A meta-analysis of maternal cured meat consumption during pregnancy and the risk of childhood brain tumors. Neuroepidemiology. 2004 Jan-Apr;23(1-2):78-84. 
Pogoda JM et al. An international case-control study of maternal diet during pregnancy and childhood brain tumor risk: a histology-specific analysis by food group. Ann Epidemiol. 2009 Mar;19(3):148-60. 
14. Sellers TA et al. Dietary folate intake, alcohol, and risk of breast cancer in a prospective study of postmenopausal women. Epidemiology. 2001 Jul;12(4):420-8. 
15. Kim YI. Folic acid fortification and supplementation--good for some but not so good for others. Nutr Rev. 2007 Nov;65(11):504-11. 
16. http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/nutrient-search
17. Bjelakovic G, Nikolava D, Gluud LL, et al. Antioxidant supplements for prevention of mortality in healthy participants and patient with various diseases. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2008;16(2):CD00776. 
18. Mayne ST. Beta-carotene, carotenoids, and disease prevention in humans. FASEB. 1996;10(7):690-701. 
19. Goodman GE. Prevention of lung cancer. Current Opinion in Oncology 1998;10(2):122-126. 
20. Kolata G. Studies Find Beta Carotene, Taken by Millions, Can't Forestall Cancer or Heart Disease. New York Times, Jan 19, 1996.

Why Is Vitamin D So Important?

By Dr. Joel Fuhrman

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that your body makes after exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun. Vitamin D functions as a hormone because it sends a message to the intestines to increase the absorption of calcium and phosphorus. By promoting calcium absorption, vitamin D helps to form and maintain strong bones.

Because vitamin D increases the absorption of calcium in the gastrointestinal tract and stimulates osteoblastic (bone-building cells) activity, vitamin D has been generating lots of interest lately in the medical literature. Borderline low levels of vitamin D have been found to be very common in the United States and Canada.

It is estimated that over 25 million adults in the United States have, or are at risk of developing, osteoporosis. Adequate storage levels of vitamin D help keep bones strong and help prevent osteoporosis in older adults. Vitamin D deficiency results in diminished calcium absorption, and has been linked to a higher incidence of osteoporosis-related bone fractures seen in post menopausal women and older Americans.

It is extremely important for individuals with limited sun exposure to ingest supplemental vitamin D.

Vitamin D is more effective than calcium for protecting and building bone. Most people do not have adequate levels of vitamin D. Often a multi-vitamin containing the RDA for D is simply not sufficient to bring blood levels up to the ideal range, especially as we age.

Up to now, much of the public attention on vitamin D has been related to its protective effects on bone health, via increasing calcium absorption. But it is now known that vitamin D has several other critical functions.

Vitamin D insufficiency is thought to be a key contributor to many human diseases including several cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression, and autoimmune diseases.1,2

Scientists have found that Vitamin D has biological actions in almost every cell and tissue in the human body. What is troublesome is that vitamin D deficiency is now recognized as a pandemic, affecting 30-50% of the population.2,3

Vitamin D regulates several genes and cellular processes related to cancer progression. Some of the most groundbreaking findings in nutrition science in recent years have been evidence of the powerful protection provided by vitamin D against common cancers:

* Breast cancer: About 75% of women with breast cancer are vitamin D deficient.4 A 2009 meta-analysis of 19 studies established a strong inverse relationship between circulating vitamin D levels and breast cancer – women in the highest vitamin D range reduced their risk of breast cancer by 45%.5 read more

* Colorectal cancer: A 2009 review of 25 studies found that sufficient vitamin D levels were consistently associated with reduced risk of colorectal cancer.6 Even after diagnosis with colorectal cancer, higher vitamin D levels are associated with reduced mortality.7

* Cancers of the prostate, pancreas, lung, and endometrium are also associated with vitamin D insufficiency.2,8

For most people, the principal source of vitamin D is production by the skin in response to sunlight. Very few foods naturally contain vitamin D, and achieving adequate vitamin D levels via sun exposure is difficult, considering that most of us work indoors, and cover our body with clothing, especially in the winter months. Plus, sun exposure to assure optimal Vitamin D status may damage and age the skin increasing wrinkling and the risk of skin cancer.

To maintain adequate blood levels of vitamin D, it is extremely important for individuals with limited sun exposure to ingest supplemental vitamin D



References

1. Holick MF. Sunlight and vitamin D for bone health and prevention of autoimmune diseases, cancers, and cardiovascular disease. Am J Clin Nutr 2004;80(suppl):1678S- 88S

2. American Heart Association. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics-2009 Update. Dallas; AHA:2009. Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. Circulation. 2008 Dec 15.

3. Lee JH et al. Vitamin D deficiency an important, common, and easily treatable cardiovascular risk factor? J Am Coll Cardiol. 2008 Dec 9;52(24):1949-56.

4. Hines SL et al. Breast cancer survivors and vitamin D: A review. Nutrition. [Epub ahead of print]

5. Chen P et al. Meta-analysis of vitamin D, calcium and the prevention of breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2009 Oct 23. [Epub ahead of print]

6. Zhou G et al. Optimizing vitamin D status to reduce colorectal cancer risk: an evidentiary review. Clin J Oncol Nurs. 2009 Aug;13(4):E3-E17.

7. Ng K et al. Prospective study of predictors of vitamin D status and survival in patients with colorectal cancer. Br J Cancer. 2009 Sep 15;101(6):916-23. Epub 2009 Aug 18.

8. Peterlik M et al. Calcium, vitamin D and cancer. Anticancer Res. 2009 Sep;29(9):3687-98.

 

Foods rich in Vitamin C:

Salmon, Sardines, Shrimp, Cows Milk, Cod and Egg

 


Good Organic Prenatal Vitamins and Multivitamins

There is a good discussion over in the PEERtrainer community about Organic Multivitamins and one company in particular, New Chapter Vitamins, kept coming up in the conversation. 

Some people questioned why one would need an organic multivitamin, but it does make sense for women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant to take the organic version. New Chapter makes a prenatal vitamin called "Perfect Prenatal", which seems to be a bestseller on Amazon in their category. Sometimes it makes sense to see where consumers are voting with their dollars. We did a search for other "organic prenatal" vitamins and New Chapter was the only company that popped up.

This is the product description from the company. It is a big list but from everything we have read and seen it is a good approach:


"Product Description Perfect Prenatal- Nourishing Fulfillment for You and Your Baby. Nature's organic probiotic whole-food prenatal vitamin. Promotes physical stamina and emotional well-being while nurturing mother and baby. Safe and sound potency without retinol. Endorsed by New Chapter's Council of Midwives We at New Chapter provide you an organic probiotic alternative to isolated or USP vitamins and minerals. All of our vitamins and minerals are cultured in organic soy using nature's most prized and studied probiotics, featuring Lactobacilli acidophilus, bifidus, rhamnosus, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. 


New Chapter's Probiotic Nutrients deliver biotransformed vitamins and minerals in their finest cultured form, much in the same way as miso, kefir, temphe, and yogurt. Your New Chapter nutrients: Are easy to digest, even on an empty stomach-they're cultured whole food! Deliver essential nutrients in their safest and most active form within the infinite complexity of whole food. Provide an energizing and protective array of phytonutrients and ferment metabolites, including cultured soy isoflavones, beta glucans, bacteriocins, SOD, glutathione, lipoic acid, and enzymes. 

Perfect Prenatal delivers 23 different easily digested, energizing and protective probiotic vitamins and minerals as well as 13 stress-balancing and free-radical scavenging herbs cultured for maximum effectiveness. Herbs like lavender and lemon balm have been revered for their soothing properties while other antioxidative herbs like peppermint, clove and rose hips provide key health benefits that support and sustain."