What Makes a Multivitamin Plant-Based?

A plant-based vitamin will contain vitamins and nutrients extracted from plants. It's really that simple! Manufacturers should ideally be sourcing from a variety of different plants to exact different vitamins and minerals that have different functions throughout the body. Some common ingredients include vegetables, fruits, leaves, flowers, spices, seeds, nuts, botanical oils, and bark.

What to Look for in a Women's Plant-Based Vitamin

I know it can be hard to know what to look for on labels when shopping for a new vitamin. I'll go through some of the "quality points" to keep in mind as you browse different options.

Transparent Ingredients

Simply saying that a product contains plant-based ingredients and "botanicals" isn't enough. Only trust brands that put their ingredients on their packaging or website. It's far too easy to make claims about containing plant-based ingredients. The truth is that not every "plant" ingredient is nutritionally potent.

Trustworthy Brand

Something I combat a lot as a nutritionist is that there are so many "overnight" brands that pop up to sell the latest health craze. Don't just choose brands based on the fact that they have fancy marketing campaigns. Do the deep dive to make sure that a company has the credibility needed to produce quality products.

High Average Customer Rating

Social proof is always important with any type of supplement. Always take a glance at the reviews to get an idea of what your expectations should be.

The Best Plant Based Multivitamins for Women

I spent some time investigating plant-based multivitamins that have been generating tons of buzz lately because I routinely get questions from my clients about these products. Did I like what I saw? I'll let you see for yourself. I'm packing the information I uncovered into some short reviews for you because I think that having this knowledge can help you to make better decisions when choosing your own daily vitamin.

#1. Ritual Essential Women's Multivitamin

Ritual does a great job of creating a vitamin that's focused on foundational health. The ingredients in this plant-based women's multivitamin are focused on brain health, blood health, and bone health.

There are two really neat things about the capsules that I want to share. The first is that the capsule is actually a "beadlet" that combines wet and dry ingredients. This creates a delayed-release effect that allows the capsule to dissolve in the small intestine for maximum nutrient absorption. Second, there's a mint tab in every bottle to keep a fresh scent!

Key Ingredients

Ritual is beyond transparent when it comes to its ingredients. The Essential Women's Multivitamin contains folate, omega-3 DHA, vitamin B12, vitamin d, iron, vitamin K, vitamin E, boron, and magnesium.

Claimed Benefits

Ritual claims that a combination of omega-3 DHA from microalgae and methylated B12 can support brain health. In addition, the blend's chelated iron and methylated folate are designed to promote red blood cell formation for better health. In addition, this blend's vitamin E infusion is intended to help increase antioxidants to fight damaging free radicals. Overall, it all comes together to help your body fight off stress while staying fortified for vitality.

Pros:

• Top-tier ingredients.
• Doesn't add anything extra that isn't necessary. There's a real focus on "quality" instead of "quantity" with the amount of vitamins and minerals used.
• This brand uses a visible supply chain to let you know exactly what's going into your body. Ritual is highly transparent!
• Developed and tested by leading scientists and physicians.
• High customer ratings.
• This is a non-GMO, cruelty-free, gluten-free, and vegan blend.

Cons:

• This formula does not contain any vitamin C or calcium to avoid nutrient overflow. While most people get enough vitamin C and calcium from diet alone, this might be a downside if your diet isn't very diverse.

#2: Opositiv DISCO Women's Multivitamin Gummy

I'll call this one the "yummy" option. OPositiv DISCO is a great pick if you're looking for a healthy plant-based gummy vitamin. This is also a great anti-stress formula because it contains adaptogens like ashwaghanda and rhodiola that have been used for stress relief and cognitive function for centuries.

Key Ingredients

Opositiv does a great job of getting all of the essentials in there! I love that it covers vitamins A, C, D3, E, B1, B2, B3, B6, and B12. You're also getting iodine, zinc, and selenium as your minerals. DHA, folate, and biotin are also in there. However, it's the adaptogens of ashwagandha and rhodiola that really impress me because they can help you to enjoy sharpness and balance.

Claimed Benefits

Opositiv claims that these vitamins provide daily support in the form of 15 important vitamins & minerals that are combined with special adaptogens. The big claim to fame with these vitamins is that they can provide stress relief while fulfilling your daily vitamin requirement.

Pros:

• Great taste and texture.
• This is a very complete formula.
• I love those adaptogens for stress relief.
• Subscribing is such a breeze!
• The brand also offers tons of specialty supplements that you can take with these vitamins if you need extra support in other areas of your health.

Cons:

• The fact that this is a newer brand means that I wasn't able to get as much customer feedback as I might like. However, these vitamins have a nearly perfect score based on real custom reviews.

#3. First Day Women's Multivitamin

First Day Multivitamins are gaining massive popularity. They started with focusing on kids, and now they have a product for the entire family.

This is a German-made gummy that gets its power from organic fruits and vegetables. Something really neat about the way this company handles packaging is that your refills come in a pouch when you sign up for a subscription to help cut down on waste. These gummy vitamins earn points right away for their sweet, juicy flavor.

Key Ingredients

This vitamin does a great job of packing in all the essentials that you want from a daily vitamin. It has vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B9, B12, C, D3, and K2. You're also getting magnesium, zinc, and biotin. First Day is completely transparent about the fact that it derives its nutrients from apple, kale, broccoli, spinach, carrot, parsley, beet, green cabbage, blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, and tomato.

Claimed Benefits

This vitamin offers the benefit of basic nutritional support. First Day claims that this vitamin is better than other vitamins because it uses the latest science to source the most absorbable ingredients from around the world.

Pros:

• Amazing flavor.
• This is a gluten-free, non-GMO, gelatin-free, and vegan product.
• A great basic vitamin for someone who doesn't need extra nutritional support.
• Easy subscription.
• Has a perfect five-star score from customers.

Cons:

• There's nothing in this vitamin that you can't get from other brands. However, I think that the way First Day sources its ingredients allows for a cleaner, more potent blend.

#4. Future Kind Multivitamin

This is my pick if you're looking for a powerhouse because you're in need of support through a health transformation. Why do I say that? This vitamin delivers enzymes and probiotics designed to help you rebuild your immune system.

Key Ingredients

This vitamin boasts an impressive 42 GMO-free fruits, vegetables, enzymes, and probiotics. This is one of the rare plant-based vitamins to actually support gut health through the addition of probiotics. You're getting 30 million CFUs of Lactobacillus acidophilus. It's a significant addition to a vitamin because you'd normally have to buy a separate supplement for the same effect. This can help with mood, digestion, your immune system, and many other facets of health.

Future Kind's multivitamin features vitamin B12, vitamin D, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, calcium, biotin, zinc, selenium, and a variety of other vitamins and minerals.

Claimed Benefits

This multivitamin definitely makes the boldest claims of all compared to the other four vitamins on my review list. Future Kind claims that this multivitamin can support healthy digestion, promote colon health, restore your intestinal microbiome, and create optimal nutrient absorption. Future Kind also boasts a blend of organic whole foods designed to enhance bioavailability for boosted antioxidant performance. The result equals greater levels of energy and vitality. Future Kind also claims that its blend can improve everything from sleep quality to skin health simply by helping your body to access the nutrients needed to thrive.

Pros:

• Contains powerful probiotics and enzymes for digestive and gut health.
• Great bioavailability.
• Developed using 42 raw fruits and vegetables.
• Vegan and GMO-free product.
• Easy subscription.
• Capsules are small and easy to swallow. They even have a nice scent.
• Nearly every customer review gives this vitamin five stars.

Cons:

• Might not be necessary if you're already supplementing with a probiotic.
• Price is on the higher end.

#5. Mary Ruth's Women's Multivitamin Gummies

Mary Ruth's Organics (read review) is a brand you can trust. The classic strawberry-flavored gummies really represent everything you could want from a standard multivitamin. You're getting a really great base if you just want a reliable vitamin to fill in any gaps left by your diet on any given day.

Key Ingredients

The organic fruit blend used to create these vitamins includes strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, tart cherry, pomegranate, and cranberry. You're getting vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin C, vitamin D3, vitamin E, folate, biotin, pantothenic acid, iodine, inositol, and zinc.

Claimed Benefits

This multivitamin is marketed as an everyday vitamin to help support metabolism, immune system, and skin health. Overall, it's a very complete blend that offers the vitamins minerals most people need for overall health and vitality.

Pros:

• Very tasty!
• Easy subscription.
• This is a non-GMO, vegan, gelatin-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, wheat-free, nut-free, soy-free, corn-free, and sugar-free product.
• Mary Ruth's is a well-known company with great customer support.
• You can easily pair this basic vitamin with specialty vitamins and minerals from the Mary Ruth's lineup.

Cons:

• Contains stevia and xylitol. This does add a very minimal amount of sugar alcohol.

Who Should Consider Taking a Plant-Based Vitamin?

Plant-based vitamins aren't just for people who stick to plant-based diets. Anyone looking for a solid daily vitamin should consider tapping into the nutrition and energy provided by plants.

For those of you who are vegan, you should know that higher risks for vitamin B12 deficiency make supplementing with a daily vitamin so important! If you're someone on any kind of diet who is suffering from digestive issues, the natural prebiotic properties of plant-based supplements can help you to feed the good bacteria in your gut for a strong gut microbiome.

The Bottom Line

Plant-based vitamins are great! Something you'll notice is that plant-based vitamins tend to also be free of GMOs, additives, sugars, dyes, artificial flavors, and other additives that are sometimes more common with "regular" vitamins.

Focusing on plant-based vitamins if you simply want to quickly find a high-quality vitamin without hidden "junk" is a great life hack. I really tried my best to provide you with a good range of vitamin options to fit the needs of anyone looking for both basic and "intensive" vitamins.

Tips for Success from the Nutritionist

I started this off by saying that a good vitamin is never enough. Multivitamins are intended to enhance your whole, balanced diet consisting of natural sources of protein, vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

The best way to get the most from your vitamin is to eat as though you're not even taking a vitamin! What I mean by that is that you should view every meal or snack as an opportunity to get a good assortment of vitamins and minerals without assuming that your vitamin will do the heavy lifting for you.

The truth is that nutritional gaps will happen naturally on their own based simply on the fact that most of us are only able to eat "so many different foods" during every meal. That's when your vitamin will be doing the hard work in the background.

I'm a big supporter of multivitamins because I see the way they help my clients enjoy more energy and vitality by optimizing their nutritional choices. I think a good multivitamin can be a good buffer against illness.

The added benefit is that taking a daily multivitamin can also help you to look and feel better by supporting things like metabolism, the growth of hair and nails, glowing skin, and much more!