Are you in the market for a new vitamin?
I highly recommend you give these ones a shot.
I actually started taking Mary Ruth’s Vitamins before I embarked upon my vegan journey, because I wasn’t feeling too hot. We discovered I was deficient in quite a few markers on my labs (go figure, using my body as a graveyard and all 🙄 ), so I did quite a bit of research before I settled on this brand. I did try a variety of brands first (even pharmaceutical grade with a prescription), but I never felt like I believed I should. I never felt like they told me I should. And, something was always exacerbating one problem or the other (i.e. gluten in the vitamins upsetting my belly, dairy in the vitamins causing me to swell and retain water, etc.).
Why Not Other Brands?
It doesn’t take a degree in biochemistry to do some sound investigating of the vitamin industry. It’s quite simple actually, and I found a great deal of credible information very quickly and easily just doing a few Google searches. One resource I found did a comparison of over 40 brands of vitamins and found that almost half of them have discrepancies in doses, bioavailability (how much of the vitamin actually gets into, and used by your system)(1), and other issues that make you feel super good about your ‘bargain-basement’ deal.
You Don’t Get What You Pay For AND You Get What You’d Pay For to NOT Have in Your Body
So, if not even getting what you’re paying for isn’t enough, then consider what your hard-earned money is actually going toward. In the majority of these ‘vitamins’ that would be dyes, chemicals, and a bunch of 5-syllable words of which have absolutely nothing to do with nutrition or health. What sense does it make to spend the money and effort to nourish your body with vitamins when virtually all have an issue of decreased absorption or efficiency, and/or have something toxic in them that negatively impacts your health status anyway?
I personally couldn’t wrap my head around it, so back to Google I went. Some of the initial things I looked for in a vitamin were the omission of chemicals, preservatives, and colorants. Food dyes have been known to contribute to the development of some very unsavory, preventable conditions such as learning disabilities, hyperkinesis, kidney damage, tumors, skin rashes, migraines, asthma, sleep disturbances, and gastric upset just to name a few (2).
Some other things I wanted to avoid were:
*Magnesium stearate and stearic acid – used in 90% of nutritional supplements to speed up the manufacturing process and keep costs down. It can be derived from animal or vegetable, it has no nutritional benefit and could potentially cause harm.
*Sodium selenite and selenite – toxic, inorganic chemical sources of selenium.
*Gelatin – an animal protein that is not vegan-friendly and is likely to be sourced from low quality, factory farmed animals fed GMO grain.
*Lactose – a sugar from milk, likely to be sourced from cows treated with medications and fed grains. It is also a common allergen.
*Titanium dioxide – a colourant used to make tablets and capsules bright white. It is not an ingredient found in any natural food.
*Dicalcium phosphate – a cheap and inorganic form of calcium, which helps to bulk out tablets. It is not well absorbed and used by the body.
This certainly was not an exhaustive list of things I was avoiding in my vitamin search, but this does kind of demonstrate how tainted so many vitamins truly are, and how difficult it can be to navigate yourself toward a genuinely healthy option. Well, I finally found one; Mary Ruth’s.
Why are Mary Ruth’s Vitamins so bad ass? Oh, let me count the ways…
1. They have something for every body in your family; Mom, Dad, Kids, Teens, Preggers, and even CATS and DOGS!
2. They have ZERO bullshit in them. Absolutely nothing. No dyes, no preservatives, no chemicals, no Franken-gredients.
3. They are completely organic and non-GMO.
4. Absolutely no added sugars.
5. They are gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, corn-free, and basically hypoallergenic.
6. They are keto-friendly (if you care about that)
7. They care. They are a small and intimate company, who cares. If you can’t afford the vitamins you need, you simply contact them and tell them your story. They’ll work with you. The insert in every box states that. I mean, who does that? People who GAF do that.
So, what does this awesome company offer? Well, a lot. This certainly isn’t all they have, but here are a few fantastic finds.
Mary Ruth Vitamin Products:
Bath & Body Products
Cooking and Protein
Fur Baby Vitamins
So, hop on over to their site and see what they have. There’s something for everyone, at every stage of life (dog years included 😉 ). Drop us a comment and let us know what you found and how you liked it!
Resources
1. https://www.consumerlab.com/reviews/multivitamin_review_comparisons/multivitamins/
2. Muthusamy Ramesh, Arunachalam Muthuraman, Chapter 1 – Flavoring and Coloring Agents: Health Risks and Potential Problems, Editor(s): Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu, Alina Maria Holban, In Handbook of Food Bioengineering, Natural and Artificial Flavoring Agents and Food Dyes, Academic Press, 2018, Pages 1-28, ISBN 9780128115183, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-811518-3.00001-6.
Mary Ruth Vitamins did not ask us to review their product, nor do we receive any compensation for doing so. These are our own unique thoughts and opinions. As with any post, there is a possibility of affiliate compensation should you purchase anything through the links we provide. This does not impact the amount you pay for your products, but may help to compensate for the time and effort taken to compile resources for the post. Please see the policy/disclosure page for additional information.
