Phenylalanine and Pregnancy: An Overview

Phenylalanine is an amino acid found in many foods and is also used in dietary supplements. While a normal intake of phenylalanine through foods is safe and beneficial for pregnant women, it is not known if phenylalanine supplements are equally safe for use during pregnancy. Therefore, you should not take these supplements during pregnancy without your healthcare provider's approval and supervision.

 

Is Phenylalanine Safe for Pregnant Women?

A normal dietary intake of phenylalanine is safe for almost everyone, including pregnant women, despite what you may read on the Internet (see

 Dangers of Phenylalanine for more information).

 

However, it is not known if phenylalanine supplementation is safe for pregnant women. There are no reliable studies showing that such supplements are either safe or unsafe for use during pregnancy. It might seem logical to assume that phenylalanine supplements would be perfectly safe for pregnant women, since phenylalanine is an amino acid that is found naturally in many foods. But just because a normal dietary intake through food is safe, it cannot be assumed that using supplements medicinally is equally safe. Perhaps the higher levels could cause problems, or perhaps the phenylalanine in supplements is slightly different from the phenylalanine found in foods. Until more information is available, it is best to wait until after pregnancy to try phenylalanine supplements.

 

Women with phenylketonuria (PKU) should not take phenylalanine, especially during pregnancy. This could cause severe birth defects and other problems. PKU is a rare genetic condition in which the body does not process phenylalanine normally.