My vegan prenatal supplement

There have been four things I've been told to supplement with a vitamin -- two recommendations from my doctor, and two due to being vegan. My doctor recommends any sexually active woman of childbearing age to take a prenatal vitamin, regardless of whether or not they're trying to get pregnant because folic acid can help prevent birth defects that occur early on in a pregnancy if you do happen to accidentally get pregnant. She also supports and promotes the FDA recommendation of taking a vitamin D supplement, especially for people like me that spend 8-9 hours working in a basement with no natural light. The other two recommendations - B12 and Omega-3 - are hard to get in a vegan diet, at least without eating a lot of dirt and bacteria (B12) or algae (Omega-3). No thanks.

Previously, I had been taking four different vitamins. One prenatal vitamin from Target, one Omega-3 supplement from iWi and one vitamin D spray from Garden of Life, and one B12 supplement from Whole Foods. These were all fine, but having to take four different things every day was certainly a little obnoxious. Not to mention that each product was packaged in its own plastic package, so I felt really bad about that much plastic being added to the world every month.

Sometimes Instagram ads seem to pop at exactly the right moment and introduce me to a product that slots perfectly into my life and solves or streamlines a real problem I already have, rather than just providing something new to want just for the sake of wanting. Ritual vitamins fall under this category 100%. 

Normally I am very, very wary of monthly subscriptions. There are so many these days and it's easy for all your money to slip away quite quickly it small little automatic withdrawals for things you don't actually need or want. This service passed my skepticism test though, because I was already spending a lot of time finding, buying, opening millions of plastic bottles every day and still didn't feel totally in love with the whole situation. I decided to try them out about a month and a half ago, and I am very glad I did.

I signed up for the Prenatal vitamin which contains the following vitamins:

Folate 1000 mcg ✅

Omega-3 350 mg (vegan)  ✅

Vitamin B12 8 mcg ✅

Choline 55 mg

Iodine 150 mcg (another thing that's hard to get on a vegan diet if you don't used iodized salt)

Biotin 300 mcg (great for your hair and nails)

Vitamin D3 2000 IU (vegan) ✅

Iron 18 mg
Boron 1 mg

Vitamin E 10 IU

Vitamin K2 90 mcg
Magnesium 30 mg

As you can see, all four checkmarks in one vitamin! Plus, the CEO of Ritual is vegan, so she made sure the whole vitamin is vegan and cruelty-free! It's seriously an answer to all my vitamin prayers. 

I've been taking them for a month and a half now. I was a little worried that they'd make my stomach hurt like several other vitamins I've taken that have Biotin have done, but so far they haven't at all! I take them at night anyway in case they did have that effect, but one or two days where I forgot the night before and had to take them in the morning hasn't caused me any issues at all. I absolutely love how it's only one bottle to mess around with and the pills themselves (2 per day) are pretty easy to swallow. 

As for the packaging, for the first month it's packaged in a box, with some additional info about the supplement. The subsequent months come in just a little mailer rather than a full box. The mailer and the first month cardboard box (obviously) are both recyclable and the pill bottle is made of BPA-free recyclable plastic. I even emailed their team to ask about any industrial recycling or reuse programs, and while they don't have any currently, they did say they were considering things like return mailers for used bottles or other similar programs. Fingers crossed.

So, if you're in the market for a supplement for any reason, definitely take a look at Ritual. I've enjoyed them so far and plan to continue using them for the foreseeable future!