Trainer Jillian Michaels did a live interview with US Magazine to promote her new book, Yeah Baby! The Modern Mama’s Guide to Mastering Pregnancy, Having a Healthy Baby, and Bouncing Back Better Than Ever. Jillian wrote the book after her experience following her partner Heidi’s pregnancy and birth in 2012. Jillian and Heidi went to a fertility clinic to get pregnant, and Jillian said that doctors tried to get Heidi go to on the drugs Clomid and HCG to increase her fertility and she pushed back against that, insisting that Heidi didn’t need that because she was already ovulating. Jillian also complained about the prenatal vitamins the fertility clinic gave Heidi, because they had unnatural ingredients. It sounds a little extreme to me, those ingredients aren’t “poison,” but here’s what she said about that, and about her advice to mothers on getting back in shape postpartum:
On the prenatal vitamin given to her partner at a fertility clinic
At the number one fertility clinic on the west coast they give her a prenatal vitamin. So me being a nut, I read it. ‘Red number 40, hydrogenated oil, propylene glycol’ these are just a few and that’s a really toxic preservative. I was like ‘you’re giving a pregnant woman a pill full of poison.’ So I got a team of doctors and a registered dietitian to write the meal plan and a pregnancy fitness expert… to write the book here literally.Do you have to shift your workout before you get pregnant?
You want to get yourself down to a healthy weight. Some of those markers [like gestational diabetes] have to do with body weight affecting your hormones. When it comes to your fitness regimen, don’t go too crazy. Exercise is interpreted by the body as stress. [Intense exercise] can affect your fertility. [She also recommends you keep you iron, calcium and magnesium levels up] Clean foods, eliminate the chemicals now.On exercise recommendations while pregnant
First semester there really aren’t a ton of modifications. Second trimester [you have to check for diastasis recti] You don’t want to be doing a ton of ballistic or explosive exercises like plyometric or Olympic lifts. You don’t want to be crunching, you don’t want to be rotating. You want to strengthen your pelvic floor, you do want to maintain a strong core. [Without doing too much core work. She recommends modifying exercises.] Don’t go over 140 bpm.Postpartum exercise recommendations
The delivery you have is going to impact [it]. If you did get diastasis recti, a C-section [or] an episiotomy you want to talk to your doctor. In the week we give a six week walking regimen to build you back gradually. From there we start to gradually rehab, build up core strength, posture, strengthen the back… by six months you should be back to prepregnancy fitness level, bang it out.
When I read the article on US’s site about this interview I rankled a little at the quote “by six months you should be back to prepregnancy fitness level,” quote because holy crap that was not realistic for me and like Chrissy Teigen I do not consider that realistic for most moms. However in context, when I saw the video, it was clear that Jillian is talking about the plan in her book and how following it should bring someone back to being fit. I prefer the advice of a more moderate and older fitness expert, Denise Austin, who says it takes nine months to have a baby and that it should take nine months to get back in shape. (I’m paraphrasing because I’m going from memory.)
As for her comments on prenatal vitamins being poison – come on. They may have some unnatural ingredients but from what I can find propylene glycol is approved by the FDA and is metabolized into lactic acid in the body. It’s considered safe. People can be allergic to red dye number 40 and it has been show to affect the unborn babies of pregnant rats – when consumed as 10% of their overall diet. So while I may object to her calling prenatal vitamins poison, I get avoiding red dye 40 while pregnant. Plus doctors recommend avoiding trans fat as well. But how much of that stuff is in the pill actually?
photos credit: WENN.com
Well I am due on the 28th and I have gotten my nutrition from whole foods rather than a prenatal. Almost every vitamin i tried gave me nausea or a headache so I cleared this with my OB and I am comfortable with my decision. For the record, i don’t think anything is wrong with prenatal vitamins – to each mother their own.
I also experienced nausea when I took them. With my first baby I was so sick that I need IV fluids , the vitamins didn’t help .
I used to throw mine back up sometimes, glad to know I wasn’t the only one!
I threw up prenatals all 3 pregnancies – it was something about DHA, I think. I would burp up fish oil until the nausea overwhelmed me.
Those fish oil burps were the worst. I couldn’t handle it.
I got really sick from prenatal vitamins until I switched to vegan. They get the DHA from seaweed rather than fish, soo much better.
With me, it was the DHA that made me nauseated as well.
It’s a strange thing…I mean…here is a trainer who is educated and she prevented her partner from ingesting some logically toxic ingredients. They opted for an healthy diet instead. My point is that, while I -guess- we shouldn’t police other’s choices- how humane is it for these companies to seemingly prey upon the lesser informed markets. If it was up to me I would not only label GMOs but also put on the label- “some tests have been indicated a toxic level of blah blah to be associated with blah blah”. I mean- RbGHT is now labeled with a “some people think its poison but it’s not substantiated blah blah”. I personally refuse to take any supplements whatsoever and people really push them. I have to just agree often and throw it away later. Food and lifestyle are my course of action. Cheaper as well! It’s a fear based industry and I would actually move toward reform and better labeling. (BEAUTIFUL family BTW)
I understand her business is fitness, but give me a break . Anyone who has had a newborn knows you’re sleep deprived and walking around in a fog. I can only speak for myself on this, but my schedule was on baby time and I was lucky if I got a shower that day.
We’re all trying to do our best and maybe we should give each other some slack instead of judgment .
Jillian didn’t give birth so she is writing based in her partner’s pregnancy. First side eye.
Second side eye – She was hit with four lawsuits for selling toxic diet supplement pills.
Anyway I thought it best to stick to my grandmom and mom’s basic advice to get as much sleep as possible and eat to keep up with breastfeeding demands.
I ate greens and lentils, took folic acid and my doctor said this was good. I trust my doctor.
Folic acid is key to reducing the risk of spina bifida. I’m damned if I’d take advice about alleged poison from someone whose lips seem to be inflated with fillers.
Cool story, Jillian— what are your bio-medical credentials again? Oh, I know youre not like that fool Jenny McCarthy, but youre not far behind.
Amen.
I find Jillian insufferable. And sorry Jilly I am not accepting that you know more than an Ob/Gyn physician about pregnancy or birth just because your partner Heidi was pregnant and gave birth.
If anyone ever wants a take that counterbalances the woo-woo out there about pregnancy, birth, etc. I recommend the Skeptical OB website. She’s not for everyone but I do find her refreshing.
But let’s all take this with a grain of salt- a molecule of folic acid or whatever. I just heard on Democracy NOW! that the new trump head of FDA is going to allow tons of pharms to pass through unchecked. There is no climate to erratic and there is no pharmaceutical too new for this up and coming administration. My point is that we need to do our own research because the government is giving the wheel to corporate interests.
I heard her talking about the book the other day, and she definitely consulted/co-wrote it with a number of actual MDs and they are credited for it.
Clearly she is unfamiliar with March of Dimes and how have pushed for prenatal vitamin education for decades because the vitamins have loads of folic acid which prevents a variety of very serious birth defects. The average woman does not get enough folic acid in her diet. For Michaels to make such a broad statement is incredibly irresponsible. She and her partner may have a healthier diet than average but that doesn’t mean you should generalize for the entire population. Yes, she sounds like the new Jenny McCarthy. Sheesh!
To be fair though, only folic acid and iron supplementation have been proven to be beneficial as supplements during pregnancy. There’s a lot of “extra” in prenatal vitamins that has not been proven to be of benefit. There’s also the fact that vitamin companies go overboard adding in higher levels than necessary (I do not understand why they do this! I guess because some consumers look at the labels and think more is always better?)
It really annoys me how hard it is to find a prenatal vitamin with 400 – 600 ug of folic acid (400 ug daily being the dose proven to prevent neural tube defects). For some reason almost all the major brands put in 1000 ug folic acid, which ups your risk for cancer.
Jillian. Hush. Your privilege is showing.
Sometimes getting folic acid is more important that avoiding all traces of red dye, and not all women can afford the plans you are espousing (I bet it includes avocado, nuts and other expensive things).
It is better to get your vitamins from whole food, but calling pregnancy supplements poison is wrong and bad and Jillian, you should probably feel bad for it.
At risk of sounding like going down the ‘eat lentils they are cheap and healthy route’ – if you ARE keen on nuts and on a budget, they often have enormous bags at Costco/Sam’s club for much cheaper than regular stores, and you can freeze them so they don’t go bad.
Which is excellent, and its a great option for people who are watching their finances. I’m speaking more for the women and families where a Costco membership is out of the budget.
For which you have to pay for a membership and usually have to have a car to access.
And the fact low income people often can’t afford freezers or buying in bulk.
hey jillian – you know what is bad for babies? neural tube defects.
uh, yeah, seconded lizzie. I have a genetic condition that forces me to take ungodly amounts of folic acid, b vitamins, and lovenox injections while pregnant or I will not carry to term or have a baby with neural and spinal defects. I completely understand wanting to know what is going into your body, and trying to be healthy and natural and staying on top of your own health, but blanket statements drive me crazy. Ima trust my doctor, who was a high risk specialist for mothers with genetic conditions, over biggest loser minion Jillian Michaels. I know people will say she probably just meant people with “normal” pregnancies or whatever, but it is dangerous when celebrities start trying to tell people what to do with their bodies and pregnancies when they have absolutely no.medical.training. Yeah, you researched it on google and Mark’s daily apple or whatever that is, but no. Be quiet.
There you go! No ifs, ands or buts. A lack of B vitamins in early pregnancy IS the primary cause of spina bifida. So unless you’re able to eat mountains of leafy greens, a supplement is a must! It’s a sad, difficult outcome that is avoidable.
Exactly! I’m 5 months pregnant and for the first 11 weeks I was so sick that all I could handle was bagels, gatorade, and saltines. And even then I threw most of that back up. Prenatals gave my baby the nutrition she needed.
Now that I’m feeling better, sure I do my best to eat as well as I can. But for many women, prenatals are (literally) a lifesaver!
Exactly – and these are 100% preventable with folic acid use
I love how these untrained lunatics want other people to risk the health of their unborn children. Let me guess she doesn’t believe in vaccines either. These people should be shot for their arrogance
I religiously took my vitamins with my first baby and, wow, my eyes sparkled and my skin looked great. My son was a big healthy baby and is now a tall healthy 24 year old.
I was so sick with my daughter, though, that I couldn’t swallow the vitamins for months, and then only erratically. I looked wan; I ate terribly, trying just to find things that didn’t make me sick.
And my daughter was a big healthy baby and is now a tall healthy 17 year old.
So….
But, that is not how science works. This is the same rationale as “my grandpa smoked for 70 years and never got lung cancer, so….” Science is science, take it or leave it, one can of course make their own decisions about what to do. But anecdotal experience is not the equivalent as for instance, scientific research regarding neural tube defects and folic acid.
I think her point was that things can go differently for every person/pregnancy, and one just should consult their doctor and pay attention to their body. I didn’t get the “anecdotal evidence beats science” vibe from that post at all.
@Lyka ok fair enough, maybe I am a little crabby today. Jillian Michaels brings it out in me.
I think, in general vitamins are overused to the point of toxicity. But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t necessary for some people. I have a terrible diet (and health issues that make improving that challenging,) so I take B12, magnesium and a multi-vitamin everyday. A baby essentially leeches vitamins from it’s mother so I can see why vitamins are necessary for pregnant ladies. As for the ingredients in the vitamins ….ehhhhh. I can see looking for a “purer” source if you are that kinda nut.
Yes, I hope people will read this, as I DO Have issues with prenatal vitamins. But not because of the benign ingredients like “propylene glycol” but for the levels of some vitamins they put in them. Some prenatal vitamins contain 400 – 600 ug of Folic acid which is perfect. BUT MOST put in 1000 ug folic acid. Taking 1000 ug folic acid daily increases your risk of BREAST CANCER. This is the result of scientific research though, not just “I don’t know what these chemicals are but they sound scary” like Jillian says above.
It makes me mad that all the makers of prenatal vitamins put 1000 ug in there when only 400 ug is necessary to prevent neural tube defects, and that unnecessary extra folic acid raises the cancer risk for the mother. It’s stupid!!!!! Why do they do this?!?!?
Is it okay to critique what we put into our bodies? Sure. But that’s not what she’s doing. I live in a state with an unnaturally high maternal death rate, largely connected complications from obesity and…YOU GUESSED IT…lack of access to quality prenatal care and nutrition. A lot of women in rural Louisiana, and hell, even in New Orleans neighborhood, don’t have easy access to an OB/GYN, but they CAN walk into CVS or Rite Aid and buy prenatal vitamins, which is a start.
Maybe instead of adopting a position of privilege, we dig into the core of prenatal health concerns in our country? ‘Cause it ain’t the propylene glycol.
So true- America, as a nation, needs to take a look at infant and maternal mortality rates. Our scores are abysmal- comparable more to developing nations.
When I did the genetic testing while pregnant I found out that I have a double MTHFR mutation which can lead to folic acid deficiency. That, in turn, is related to an elevated risk of neural tube defects, i.e., spina bifida, etc. The best way to combat these defects is by taking extra folic acid in vitamins. However, a pregnant woman likely wouldn’t know she has this mutation until after the window in which neutral tube defects arise. So, it’s directly due to people like me that prenatal vitamins are recommended (and anyone can have this mutation without knowing it). Something to think about before we chuck the vitamins.
Same. I, too, have the mothereffer gene (as we called it), so I’m a tad sensitive on this topic.
I do have the gene mutation too and have been eating real whole food for the past 7 years. I dont take supplements. I had my folic acid and b12 levels tested regularly (when pregnant too) and also had homocysteine and MMA levels checked to see if b vitamins are metobolised efficiently. All levels were normal, even during pregnancy. Baby is healthy as well. Only time my vit levels went crazy was when I was taking supplements back in the day and I was feeling super crappy then. My blood b-vitamin levels were off the chart high. Turns out you cant properly metabolise all those synthetic vits with MTHFR so never again. I tried those new age vitamins created for MTHFR once cos I was guilted into it briefly during pregnancy but they made me feel even worse. So I think they are not all that cracked up everyone claims them to be.
I work in genetics/maternal fetal (high-risk OB) and we don’t even test for MTHFR anymore. After further research it’s been learned that it’s not that serious. No lovenox is needed, etc.
Kittenfarts my late miscarriage would disagree with that, as would my dr. It can indeed be very serious.
KF, really? I was told that because I tested homozygous, my stroke risk was really high (that’s actually why I was tested before having kids – I lost my dad and his mother to massive strokes).
Whoa.
She can have all the seats.
I thought she was Amanda Peet.
Well there are prenatal vitamins without artificial colouring. I’m taking a brand that is grey and grainy looking. It’s usually ones with coating that contain dye- the coatings are easier to swallow as they’re slicker. My cousin is a herbalist who makes natural skin care products. She uses a combination of salicylic acid and benzyl alcohol to preserve her lotions. She said preservatives are required to maintain many products and prevent early spoilage. I have tried in the past to avoid preservatives and find it very hard as many many food, drink and self care products contain them.. Not to mention how expensive it can be to buy products that are free of nasty chemicals and/or organic. For myself, I do make an effort to be aware of what’s in products, but complete avoidance of preservatives is not realistic..
Ok… Um the ingredients she listed are toxic and I would not want to give to my body or baby. Propelyne glycol? Food dye? Ok yeah there are people without access to vitamins yadda yadda. I thought the same thing as Jillian when I was pregnant. No f-ing way I was using those crap prescription prenatals.
i was having all kinds of stomach issues, and my doctor told me to stop taking vitamins. She said they were junk, my body wasn’t getting any nutrients from them, and the stomach problems were being caused by calcium deposits from the vitamins. She said that the entire vitamin industry is a scam. I don’t know how much of that is true or just opinion.
I think we have all learned from recent events (cough, vomit, Trump!) that how you get attention is to make loud, angry, inflammatory, ‘paint with a broad brush’ comments. Not only will the media report on it, whatever you are pushing will be popular and taken as gospel by masses of people, regardless of truth.
Poison is poison. I’m over every health nut claiming everything is poison. Prenatals can be esstential for women who can’t eat due to hypermesis, or can’t afford to eat well due to poverty. Claiming that they are poison is dangerous if they lead women who need them from taking them.
Barring illness, most people are still exercising normally and not gaining much weight the first few months of pregnancy, so it’s not really 9 months of weight. I gain 90% of it in the last trimester, so 9 months to lose it would be an incredibly generous timeframe.
Most pre-natal vitamins are filled with crap, or contain a dangerous amount of the good stuff. Yes, you need folic acid, but too much folic acid is terrible for you. And it is bothersome that many doctors will push fertility drugs on women who do not need them. I’m in a same sex relationship too, and when we started trying doctors kept trying to push Clomid on me even though I was ovulating normally and tests showed I was extremely fertile (to the point fertility drugs would have messed me up badly). Each time we’ve tried I’ve gotten pregnant within a few months, yet OB’s still try and get me to take fertility drugs. It’s weird.
I swear by Source of Life vitamins. Nothing artificial. They have EVERYTHING. B12. Spirulina, bee pollen, ginseng. Hypo-allergenic. Vegan (very important to me). No fillers, sulfates, nor dyes. Made from whole foods.
All synthetic vitamins are toxic. Most prenatal given by OB are synthetic. You are better off not even taking them. Whole food sources only for all my?to and pre natal vitamins. Garden of Life makes a fantastic pre natal.
Meh. Took them for the first pregnancy – healthy baby. My second pregnancy, they made me sick so I didn’t take them and just went for changing my diet for the better (which I was able to afford to do – as pointed out above, not every woman has that option) – healthy baby. Personally, I think the most important aspect to a healthy pregnancy – in my experience – was early and often medical care and checkups, not prenatal vitamins or lack thereof. Jillian, hush, take a seat. They’re prenatal vitamins, not cocaine.
I’m mostly concerned with her linking gestational diabetes with body weight. I have two close friends who are predisposed to gestational diabetes despite being slender and having healthy (even enviable) weights. Meanwhile I routinely carry 10-15 lbs over my “recommended” weight, and have had three pregnancies with no gd.
Okay, that headline is misleading.