I finally tried the buzzy vitamin everyone’s talking about—here’s what happened

My kitchen staples include cage-free eggs, farm-grown spinach, and sustainably sourced honey. In short, you can say I’m a mindful shopper. But until recently, I had no clue what was in one thing I consume daily: my vitamins.

Like most people, I suspect, my supplement routine was a total guessing game. I’d pick up a bottle of multivitamins, plus a random assortment of supplements like vitamin E (for healthy skin) and B12 (you need this, right?). But as for the actual quality of those ingredients, and which ones are truly necessary? Cue blank stare here.

That is, until I heard about Ritual, a female-founded company that’s changing the supplement game (and basically blowing up the internet). With Ritual’s monthly subscription service, it’s insanely easy to buy premium multivitamins that leave out questionable additives and synthetic ingredients found in other multis.

But the real kicker? Ritual’s Essential for Women formulation provides the nine vital nutrients that women commonly don’t get enough of in their diets—in high-quality forms that can cost over $250 when purchased individually—all in a single pill. Basically, it’s a daily wellness boost in capsule form, and I took it for a test drive to see what happened.

Keep reading about my 30-day experience with Ritual’s fan-club-status multivitamins.

1. It helped me get a healthy start (no matter what I grabbed for breakfast)

I try to set my alarm to 6:30 a.m. every morning to give myself time to whip up the breakfast of my dreams (scrambled eggs, sautéed spinach, and avocado, sigh). But sometimes, the snooze button is impossible to resist—leaving me with 15 minutes to slurp down coffee with toast.

Since incorporating Ritual multivitamins into my morning routine, I don’t feel nearly as bad missing out on a nutrient-dense breakfast. It’s a small habit that puts me on the right track for the rest of the day, meaning I’m more likely to choose a macro-packed for lunch and make it to spin class after work.

Bonus: The minty capsules (the freshness tab in the bottle infuses each dose with pure peppermint oil) were super easy to gulp down with my first glass of water in the a.m. During the 30-day stint, there was no nausea either, which I commonly run into with other supplements. Healthy mornings, made easy.

2. It’s full of vitamins I *actually* need without the stuff I don’t

Sitting in an office for more than 40 hours a week, I wasn’t surprised to find out that I’m slightly deficient in vitamin D during my latest physical.

Taking Ritual multivitamins for a full month has helped me fill in my sunshine gap with one easy step in the morning. Immediately after two weeks of taking the minty capsules, I noticed my mood and energy levels seemed more balanced without the urgent desire for a 3 p.m. nap.

Optimizing my iron and magnesium levels (minerals I can’t get enough of) helped me fight off my usual workday fatigue and lead me to better shut-eye at night. Aside from the short-term benefits, knowing I can pop a multivitamin with nutrients that are top-quality feels like the ultimate wellness hack—and I can get it all in one capsule.

3. It’s totally transparent about ingredients (AKA you can trust it)

Opening the Ritual box and pulling out the bottle of 60 vegan, non-GMO capsules, it’s immediately obvious that it’s not your average vitamin. Each clear capsule displays beadlets floating in oil, which is not only crazy Instagrammable but designed to optimize absorption (the technology keeps dry ingredients like iron away from oily ones, like omega-3s).

Unlike the nausea that I’ve felt from taking other multivitamins in the past, this encapsulation tech also means you can take them on an empty stomach and not feel yuck.

The transparency goes even further. On the website, I could find the source and manufacturer for every essential nutrient in the bottle with a couple clicks. For example, the vitamin D is sourced from vegan lichen (instead of the more common sheep’s wool or fish-liver oil).

One other biggie for me? The plant-based omega-3s come from a fermented microalgae, which offer a vegan alternative to fish oil. Bottom line: I’ll be signing up for that recurring subscription.

Want to try it yourself? You can exclusively order Ritual (only available on ritual.com!) now. And if you don’t totally love it, Ritual will cover the tab.

In partnership with Ritual

Photos: Ritual