The Roaming Rosie Blog

There’s been a barrage of emails in my inbox talking about pregnancy nutrition and eating healthy. Even considering my intense cravings for cookies and baked goods, I’m probably the healthiest I’ve ever been, but there are still things I’ve had trouble incorporating into my diet. For example, I’m not a big fish eater – in fact fish often makes me sick, with a few small exceptions.

But there’s this huge push to consume omega 3s. Sure, I use Smart Balance Omega, but consuming large portions of a butter substitute just to obtain omegas is probably not all that smart. Plus, I mostly only eat fish when there’s the same amount of mayonnaise as tuna fish in my sandwich – again, not the healthiest option.

Fish oils and omega 3s, all the studies (or at least the journalists) proclaim, are super important for pregnant women to get so that the babies will have big, healthy brains. The studies seem genuine, and, at the very least, I’ve heard nothing negative about them.

So I’ve started taking a fish oil supplement. I have pills, but they’re so huge, and I have so much trouble taking normal sized pills already, that I just choke on them and can’t manage to get them down at all. I hate pills. Pills hate me.

So I headed over to the Vitamin Shoppe and browsed the shelves, reviewing the variety of fish oil, omega 3, 6, and/or 9, salmon oil and cod liver oil. I just couldn’t tell how big the pills were in any of the jars, though, so I started looking at alternative options. There was an omega gummy, but they provided only a fraction of the supplement that came in pill form, and they were kind of pricey for the amount of omegas they contained.

Finally, I settled on something called Coromega Omega 3 Squeeze. It’s a box full of little packets of smooth, thick liquid that’s about the consistency of cupcake icing. I bought the orange flavor and I find it to taste just like a hard candy that’s flavored like an orange creamsicle.

I already know, from the years that my parents owned a GNC and I worked with them, that liquids are a better way to absorb your vitamins than pills. According to the Coromega website, this product that was developed in Norway years ago has been clinically proven to have a 300% better absorption of the supplement than softgel pills. Either way, it’s easy to take, it tastes pretty decent, and I’m finally getting more of those omegas that my husband insists I absolutely, without question, need for the health of the baby.

The Omega 3 Squeeze is made with real fish oil, in fact it’s the main ingredient, but I have to say that it doesn’t have a funny taste that reminds me of fish in any way. Which is good, because I just don’t like fish. At all. And whatever I eat has a good chance of repeating on me (just another fun side effect of pregnancy), but I find I don’t mind so much with this supplement because it tastes like candy. Although, when I chase it with one of those little shots of DanActive yogurts, which I often do so that I remember to get in that extra calcium, then there’s definitely no problem of the oil repeating.

Luckily I can manage to swallow those horse pills the doctors call prenatals, so I’m already healthier than my normal self, but I figure those extra boosts of omega supplements and then the yogurt and a daily glass of calcium-fortified orange juice go a long ways toward improving mine and the baby’s health. I’m by no means a nutrition nut, but at least I try to incorporate all the food groups and various nutrients now. At least being pregnant keeps it forefront in my mind. And, at least there are healthy options out there that don’t have to be taken in pill form.

Tags: coromega, fish oil, fish oils pregnancy, nutrition, omega 3s, omegas, pregnancy

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 at 9:42 pm and is filed under Mommy Blogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.