Part of having a healthy lifestyle means supplying our body with the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that it needs. While we can get many of these micronutrients that our bodies need from our diet, sometimes supplementation is needed to meet our daily requirements.

When it comes to supplementing dietary needs, there are various types of products available on the market. How do you know which is best to choose? Before we dive into that, let’s review some information about vitamins in general.

What Are Vitamins?

Vitamins are essential nutrients that contribute to your overall health in a variety of ways. They are organic compounds, and there are two types of vitamins – fat-soluble and water-soluble.

Fat-Soluble Vitamins

Fat-soluble vitamins are best absorbed by your body when paired with dietary fat. Water-soluble vitamins are soluble in water, and they do not need to be paired with dietary fats for optimal absorption.

The fat-soluble vitamins are vitamins A, E, D, and K.

• Vitamin A is an antioxidant that plays an important role in maintaining healthy eyesight. It’s found in plenty of plant-based foods, including carrots, peppers, sweet potatoes, and many fruits. Vitamin A deficiencies are rare, but it’s still important to get enough of this important nutrient from dietary sources or supplements.

• Vitamin E is another antioxidant that helps to mitigate the effects of molecules called free radicals on your body. Free radicals can harm your cells if they are produced by your body in excess, and antioxidants like vitamin E help keep free radical production in check. Vitamin E is found in a variety of vegan foods, including many fruits and vegetables. Like Vitamin A, a Vitamin E deficiency is relatively uncommon, and it can be avoided by eating a healthy diet and supplementing gaps with a high-quality multivitamin.

• Vitamin D has two subtypes – D2 and D3. D vitamins are essential for bone health, immune support, and regulation of your moods. Vitamin D deficiency is a problem for some vegans; however, Vitamin D3, the most bioavailable form of vitamin D, can actually be made by the body from its interaction with the sun. It’s also available in our vegan D3 supplements, where it’s sourced from lichen! To avoid a vitamin D deficiency, try to get at least  15 minutes of sunshine on your skin each day, eat plenty of plant-based sources of D2 like mushrooms and fortified grains, and add a vegan D3 supplement as needed.

• Vitamin K helps to prevent excessive bleeding by promoting blood clotting. As a clotting agent, vitamin K can support the natural process of wound healing and keep you from bleeding too easily. You can get vitamin K from a variety of plant-based foods. Your body also produces this nutrient in small quantities.

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Water-Soluble Vitamins

Water-soluble vitamins stay in your system for less time than their fat-soluble counterparts; water-soluble vitamins tend to be washed out of the body relatively quickly.

The water soluble vitamins include all of the B-complex vitamins and vitamin C.

Some of the B-complex vitamins:

• Vitamin B12: Essential for red blood cell formation, vitamin B12 is only found in animal products. For this reason, many vegans take a B12 supplement to avoid a deficiency in this important nutrient.

• Biotin: This B vitamin plays a role in maintaining healthy hair, skin, and nails. If you want to promote a healthy, youthful-looking appearance, supplementing with biotin might be for you. You can also get biotin from plant-based sources, including many whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

Other B-complex vitamins include thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, and vitamin B6. 

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What About Minerals?

Minerals, in contrast to vitamins, are inorganic. There are two primary categories of minerals – major and trace. Your body needs higher amounts of major minerals than trace minerals. However, both categories of minerals are important for your overall health.

You can get minerals from plenty of dietary sources, but you can also take them in multivitamins or multiminerals, or as standalone supplements. If you become deficient in a specific mineral, you may start experiencing symptoms that can range from mild to severe.

Why Take Vitamins?

Taking good care of yourself means a lot of things, but one way to do so is to ensure you’re getting plenty of nutrients from dietary sources and supplementing any gaps as needed.

Dietary sources (food) can give you both macronutrients (such as carbohydrates, fat, and protein) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Supplements, on the other hand, primarily provide you with micronutrients. You need both macro and micronutrients for optimal health, and combining healthy food and high-quality supplements can help you get enough of both.

Here at MaryRuth’s we believe that everyone should try to get their nutrients through the food we eat, water we drink, and natural sunlight on our skin, but we’re also aware that this can sometimes be difficult to do.

While you can get plenty of nutrients from healthy food, taking supplements can help you cover any of the gaps in your daily meals. After all, a busy schedule can make it tough to eat nutrient-dense, unprocessed foods for every meal. If the demands of your everyday life are making it hard to get all the nutrients that you need from food, supplements might be a huge help.

That’s why MaryRuth’s was created, and why we try to formulate the best possible combinations of vitamins and minerals to accommodate people’s specific nutrient needs, all in a variety of forms best suited for different people’s lifestyles and preferences.

What Are The Different Forms of Vitamins?

There are many forms of supplements available such as pills, powders, capsules, liquids, soft gels, chewables, and gummies. With all these options, it may seem overwhelming to choose which form to take for your vitamin(s) and minerals that you’d like to supplement! There are plenty of different types to choose from, and it’s up to you to decide which one is the best fit for you. Some of the most common forms are:

• Gummies: These chewy, yummy supplements are often naturally or artificially flavored. They’re great for kids thanks to their taste and texture, as well as how easy they are to take. Many adults opt to take gummy vitamins, too. Many gummy vitamins use gelatin — which is sourced from animals. But MaryRuth’s gummies are always vegan, and often pectin-based.

• Chewable Tablets: Similar to gummies, these supplements are often sweetened and flavored to make them more pleasant to take. Chewable tablets are a great choice for anyone who has trouble swallowing pills or capsules.

• Liquids: This form of supplement may be the easiest to swallow, and can even be given to infants or small children who are teething. Liquid vitamins are also great for adults, many of whom favor them for their great taste and easy-to-swallow formula. Plus, liquid formulas make it easier to modify dosage if necessary, and can be mixed into other liquids.

• Pills: Possibly the most traditional type of supplement, vitamin pills are more difficult to swallow but typically contain few added ingredients. Pills are primarily intended to be taken by adults.

• Capsules: A variation of pills, capsules often contain vitamins and minerals in powdered form. Capsules can be difficult to swallow for small children, and, like pills, are generally intended for adults. Capsules are more shelf-stable than most liquids, so for people who like to keep their supplements for longer, these may be a great option.

Liquids vs. Pills: Which is Better?

Ultimately, there’s no consensus on which type of supplement is more “effective” than others. The primary determining factor for the quality of a supplement is its ingredients, not the form it comes in. For this reason, it’s mainly a matter of personal preference which form of vitamins you choose to take.

No matter what form of supplement, you’ll want to try to get the best singles or combinations for your health. And there are lots of options of supplements that are sold separately (with only one vitamin or mineral in the supplement) or combined (with two or more in the same product).

Take MaryRuth’s D3 + K2 Spray as an example. Why this combination of vitamins? Well, both vitamins D and K2 work with one another to maintain control over calcium levels in your body. Vitamin D controls the absorption of calcium into the blood, and vitamin K2 controls where that calcium goes. Taking too much vitamin D3 without getting the right amount of vitamin K2 can lead to problems with excess calcium. If calcium isn't properly absorbed, it can cause calcium buildup/deposits in arteries and muscles.

As you can see, these are the types of factors to take into account when choosing the best supplement(s) for your body. And, while we can’t really say that one form is “better” than another, there are some ways you can decide which you prefer.

For example, if you have trouble swallowing pills, taking your vitamins in a liquid form might probably be better suited for you. Or, if you want your supplements to feel like a sweet treat, maybe you’d like gummies or chewable tablets. But, if you’d rather your supplements be flavorless, perhaps swallowing a simple pill or capsule is more to your liking!

Whether pills, liquids, gummies, or something else, you can get nutrients from different types of supplements. What matters is that you choose a supplement you’re comfortable with that has high-quality ingredients.

Below are some of the pros and cons of liquid vitamins and pills. After considering the upsides and downsides of both, you can decide which one you prefer.

• Liquid vitamins usually taste better. Pills may sometimes have a chalky aftertaste, but they’re typically otherwise flavorless. Liquids, on the other hand, can be much tastier. MaryRuth’s liquid multivitamins are naturally flavored and sweetened without the use of any added sugar. And they taste great, which just might make it easier to remember to take your vitamins each day!

• Liquid vitamins generally need to be refrigerated, but pills are shelf-stable. One consideration to make when taking liquid vitamins is that you’ll probably need to keep your bottle in the fridge after each use. Pills, on the other hand, generally do not need to be refrigerated. If you plan on traveling frequently, you may need to bring a lunchbox and ice pack with you to store your daily doses of liquid vitamins. This can sometimes take some extra planning and intentionality, but it’s worth it! (Psst: We do offer travel-size bottles of our raspberry-flavored Liquid Morning Multivitamin, and are working on doing the same for some other liquid products!)

• Pills may be tougher to swallow. If you’re not a fan of taking pills or capsules, liquid vitamins might be a great alternative.

All of MaryRuth's’ supplements are 100% vegan and made with non-GMO ingredients. Our liquid supplements not only taste great, they’re made to support you, too! For those who prefer taking liquid vitamins, they’re a great alternative to traditional pill and capsule vitamins, and your whole family can enjoy them!

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