Tresos Natal vs Elevit

Both teams have their gloves on, and the fight of the decade is Tresos Natal vs Elevit. Who will win?

Each product has their advantages, but they don’t tell you their disadvantages, so let’s take a look at each product to help you decide which is best for your fertility journey.

As a reproductive acupuncturist (based in St Leonards, Sydney), I have spent the past 16 years advising women on the best supplements to take for their fertility and pregnancy. In fact, in May 2022 I’ll be speaking at an international conference on this very topic to share my knowledge with my peers! Years ago, I got super nerdy and created a spreadsheet of all the available prenatal vitamins at the time. This helped to really nail down which ones had the most important ingredients needed to support a healthy pregnancy.

Some products, like Elevit, market themselves as the best because they contain large quantities of key nutrients. While others, such as Tresos Natal, market themselves as the best because they contain a wider array of ingredients, and more bioavailable ingredients. There are pros and cons to both. Let’s look at those now.

Elevit

The benefits of large quantities of key nutrients, such as folic acid and iodine, are that if you have a poor diet, you will reach your RDI (recommended daily intake) targets. The downsides are that you can end up taking far more than required, which can have negative health impacts. For example taking too much folic acid can mask a B12 deficiency, which can be extremely dangerous. Taking too much iodine can disrupt your thyroid.

Tresos Natal

The benefits of bioavailable nutrients is that if you have a genetic polymorphism (genetic variation) that results in poor ability to process synthetic vitamins, these products can bypass that genetic issue. Unfortunately, because most studies on neural tube defects used folic acid as the folate source, this sometimes results in doctors suggesting that activated folate (folinic acid and levomefolate calcium – as seen in Tresos Natal) does not provide neural tube defect protection. While the activated version of folic acid, methylfolate, has not been studied in neural tube defect prevention, it has been studied in other capacities to show it’s bioavailability in comparison to folic acid in methylation. Here’s a fascinating recent study on a comparison between folic acid and methylfolate in women with recurrent miscarriages, showing significantly better outcomes in the methylfolate group.

Folic acid is not the only factor to consider when trying to prevent neutral tube defects (which is actually the main reason women take a prenatal vitamin). Studies have also linked choline and B12 as being relevant to preventing neural tube defects. As we discussed before, too much folic acid can mask a B12 deficiency, so you may have too much of one nutrient and not enough of another when it comes to preventing neural tube defects. Tresos Natal is the only supplement out of these two that contains choline.

If trying to figure out the best nutritional supplements to help support your pregnancy/future pregnancy is too complicated, we would love to be part of your health team and get you on the best quality vitamins – and only the ones you need, with no fancy marketing. We are available at our two acupuncture clinics in St Leonards and Dural, as well as online appointments if you live outside of Sydney.

I hope the above helps you with your decision about Tresos Natal vs Elevit. Any questions? Leave us a comment below!