While having a balanced diet, exercising regularly, and getting adequate sleep are the best ways to stay healthy, taking multivitamins is one way to fill nutritional gaps in your diet. 

For example, one common nutrient that is often missing from American diets is magnesium. It’s responsible for hundreds of chemical reactions (like producing energy and protein formation) in your body. Another one is Vitamin E which is an antioxidant that helps prevent cell damage. [1, 2, 3]

But finding the best multivitamin in the market can be challenging because there are just so many options. Worse still, some multivitamin brands don’t fully disclose their ingredients or include nasty colorants or fillers. 

In this review, I’ll be giving an in-depth look at Ritual — a brand that promotes radical transparency in its vitamin ingredients. Not only do they provide you with research on the benefits of each nutrient, but they also offer information about where they source it from with the actual manufacturers and location. 

I first stumbled across this brand on Instagram after seeing influencers promoting it and showcasing its beautiful packaging. But is Ritual worth the hype?

Here I take a close look at Ritual’s Essential for Women (18+ and 50+) and Essential for Men (18+ and 50+) to help you decide whether this multivitamin brand is the right choice for you.

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What is Ritual?

Ritual is a multivitamin brand that started in 2016. It produces a range of supplements customized for different age groups and genders. 

As a female-founded company, Ritual first started offering prenatal vitamins. Since then, they’ve expanded their range to include vitamins for both men and women of all ages (even kids).

The unique thing about Ritual is its commitment to bringing a new level of transparency about vitamins to consumers. 

Their website has a wealth of information about everything from what exactly goes into each pill, where their ingredients are sourced, and their reasons behind the inclusion of each nutrient in their products. 

Ritual Vitamins for Men and Women

Ritual Essential for Women 18+ is catered for women between 18-49 years old, while Essential for Women 50+ is specially formulated for those aged 50 years old and above.

Both have similar health benefits, but 18+ is focused on building a good health foundation, while 50+ supports the changing nutritional needs of older women.

Ritual Essential for Men 18+ is for males between 18-49 years old, while Essential for Men 50+ is specially formulated for those aged 50 years old and above.

They have the exact same ingredients but in different quantities to cater to the different needs of the age groups.

Other Ritual Products

Ritual is comprehensive with their vitamin range and caters to these other groups as well:

• Essential Prenatal: This prenatal multivitamin is one of their most popular products. It has 12 essential nutrients to support your body before and during pregnancy. Some of the key benefits include neural tube support, bone health, and blood cell-building. You can see more on this range in our review: Ritual Prenatal.
• Essential Postnatal: This postnatal multivitamin with 15 nutrients helps mothers meet their rapidly changing nutritional needs six months post-birth and throughout breastfeeding. Key benefits include increased Omega-3 DHA for fatty acids in breastmilk and other immunity-boosting vitamins.
• Essential for Kids 4+: This sugar-free gummy multivitamin for kids contains 15 key nutrients which support immunity, brain and bone health, along with promoting healthy digestion.
• Essential for Teens (His and Hers): Their multivitamins for teens come in forms for boys and girls, to suit the nutritional needs of each gender. They both support immunity, bone and brain health. But girls have iron included to support red blood cell formation.

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Ritual Essential Vitamins

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Why Are Ritual Vitamins Better?

What makes Ritual better than other companies is its commitment to transparency.

This was the first thing that immediately stood out to me the moment I entered their website.

I could easily find their ingredients as well as where each one came from.

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Special Capsule Design for Better Absorption and Gentler on the Gut 

All Ritual Vitamins are designed for delayed-release, which means that they will dissolve in the less sensitive areas of the gut for better absorption and allows users to consume the vitamins without taking food.

They also use a beadlet-in-oil technology, where beads of the nutrients are suspended in an oil. This separates the dry and oily nutrients and keeps them in their original forms similar to how you can find them in the food you eat. 

This allows the nutrients to be absorbed more easily and effectively in your body. 

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Minty Taste

The Essential for Men and Women Vitamins (18+ and 50+) have a fresh minty taste which makes it easier to swallow.

Vegan-Friendly Vitamins 

The founder and CEO of Ritual is vegan, which is why she made it a point to find vegan sources for all of Ritual’s vitamins and minerals.

For example, their Vitamin B12 comes from nutritional yeast instead of fish, meat, eggs, or milk. And their Omega-3 DHA is sourced from algae oil instead of fish oil.

No Nasty Ingredients

Their products are also gluten-free and major-allergen-free, and they also don’t contain artificial colorants, synthetic fillers, or GMOs. 

Ritual’s In-House Scientists and Expert Council

Ritual has an in-house Scientific Leadership Team composed of a Harvard-trained biochemist, physiologist, and dietician.

They also have a Scientific Advisory Board comprised of nutritionists, scientists, and medical doctors.

Ritual Vitamins Pros and Cons

Here is a summary of the pros and cons of Ritual Essential Vitamins (for Men and Women):

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Ritual Essential Vitamins

How Does Ritual Work?

Ritual works on a subscription basis, and you can easily sign up through their website. You’ll conveniently receive your vitamins on a monthly basis and won’t have to keep remembering to head to the shop to buy your next bottle. 

They’ll remind you of each month’s subscription and will send you an email before your credit card is charged and delivery is shipped.

You can also rush or delay your order, or cancel your subscription through your account page.

How Much do Ritual Vitamins Cost?

Ritual Offer

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Ritual Essential for Women Review

Essential for Women 18+ and 50+

Ritual Essential for Women 18+ is for women between 18-49 years old, while Essential for Women 50+ is for women ages 50 years old and above. They both contain most of the same nutrients; just the amount of each is adjusted to suit the needs of each group. 

The only ingredient that’s in the Essential for Women 18+ that’s not present in the Essential for Women 50+ is iron. This is because the iron needs of postmenopausal women aren’t as high as those pre-menopause, and consuming too much iron can lead to iron toxicity. [4, 5]

What are the Benefits of Ritual Essential for Women (18+ and 50+)?

The effects of both vitamins are largely the same as both contain the same ingredients (with the exception of iron which is only present in the 18+ vitamin). 

However, because the amount of each ingredient is different, there are some subtle differences in the main benefits that each provides. 

Essential for Women 18+ is more focused on building a good foundation for women’s health earlier on in their lives through brain health and bone strengthening. 

Essential for Women 50+ is more focused on healthy aging with continued emphasis on bone strengthening as well as boosting immunity.

Here’s a quick look at how the 2 vitamins compare: 

Ritual also provides a great breakdown of what happens to your body as you take the vitamins for the long term:

First three months – The vitamins resolve nutrient deficiencies, help to maintain energy, increase immunity, and improve skin.

Six months – The vitamins support red blood cell production and vital internal organ health.

One year – The vitamins strengthen bone integrity as they promote calcium utilization.

On-going – The vitamins help the body age well by combating free radicals and maintaining tissue structures.

Ritual Vitamins Essential for Women Customer Reviews

The only reviews available are on Ritual’s website, and they are verified purchases.

Essential for Women 18+ received an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars based on 327 reviews, and Essential for Women 50+ received 4.3 out of 5 stars based on 58 reviews. 

Overall, most customers were happy with their Ritual vitamins. Several reviews mentioned: 

• They liked that only essential vitamins are included.
• They appreciate the company’s transparent approach to where their vitamins were sourced and the wealth of information on each nutrient on the website.
• Minty taste is mild and pleasing.
• Gentle on the stomach.
• The auto-shipments were convenient.

A few reviewers mentioned that they didn’t like the taste (but this was a small portion of the group). 

Some also commented that Ritual is generally more expensive than other multivitamin brands. However, when you consider its premium quality (gentle on the stomach with no coloring or unessential vitamins), you do get a lot of value from each pill!

Here are some samples of comments left by customers:

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Ritual Vitamins for Men Review

Essential for Men 18+ and 50+

Ritual offers two types of vitamins for men — Essential for Men 18+ (for men 18 to 49 years old) and Essential for Men 50+ (for men 50 years old and above).

They both contain the same ingredients but are formulated in different amounts to address the varying needs of the two age groups.

What are the Benefits of Ritual Vitamins Essential for Men?

Ritual vitamins Essential for Men are carefully formulated to fill the nutritional gaps that are known to exist in our current diets. Below is a breakdown of how the vitamins support men’s health in key areas. 

There are many overlapping benefits for both Essential for Men 18+ and 50+ as the only difference between the 2 formulations is the quantities of each individual ingredient.

Essential for Men 50+ contains more vitamins E, B12, K2, Magnesium, and Folate. This is because men older than 50 require more of these nutrients to promote bone health.

Ritual Vitamins Essential for Men Customer Reviews

The only reviews available are on Ritual’s website, and they are verified purchases. As a newer addition to their line of products, the number of reviews is still scarce.

Essential for Men 50+ received an average of 4.8 out of 5 stars based on 3 reviews, and there were no reviews found yet for Essential for Men 18+.

Overall, the reviews were positive with 1 reviewer saying that it helped them feel great and another mentioning that it was gentle on the stomach.

Why Essential for Men and Women Don’t Have Calcium and Vitamin C

Ritual adopts a “less is more” approach to their vitamins and advocates for people to get most of their nutrients through a balanced diet.

This means that their multivitamins only include what is necessary to compensate for nutrients that are trickier to obtain through food. 

They found that most adults in the US actually already have enough Calcium and Vitamin C in their diets.

So instead, they focused on supplementing it with Calcium-helper-nutrients such as Magnesium and Vitamin D3. And Vitamin C is only included in their other ranges for kids and pregnant women who have greater daily requirements. 

Including only the essential vitamins doesn’t just maximize the benefits of each Ritual supplement. It also prevents the harmful effects of nutrient overloading. For example, too much Vitamin C can negatively affect the absorption of other nutrients like B12. [7]

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Is Ritual a Good Multivitamin Brand?

Overall, I think Ritual’s Essential for Men and Women (18+ and 50+) range is a good multivitamin for addressing the core health needs of each group. 

They’ve specially formulated each product to suit the nutritional gaps in both genders and for different age groups.

So you can expect to see a range of benefits from taking the vitamins, including promoting heart and brain health while strengthening bones and muscles.

Their overall reviews from hundreds of customers are also positive, with many mentioning that they liked how gentle it was on their stomachs. The mild minty taste was also a bonus for some who find vitamins from other brands hard to swallow.

It should also be mentioned that Ritual was named our Top Pick in our roundup of the Best Vegan Multivitamins to take.

If you’re looking for a transparent brand that provides all the information you may need about the vitamins, Ritual is a good multivitamin to try. 

You can easily see the complete list of all the ingredients in their vitamins, along with the sources of nutrients and the manufacturing locations.

They also publish clinical studies, interviews, blogs, and unfiltered customer reviews, which can help you assess whether the vitamins are ideal for you or not.

The best way to be sure though is by trying it out. They offer a 30-day money-back guarantee which I really like.

So if you don’t see the results you want, you can always just contact their customer service for a refund. It’s a risk-free way to test out this up-and-coming vitamin brand.

FAQs on Ritual Vitamins Essential for Women and Men

Are Ritual vitamins FDA approved?

No, the FDA does not approve dietary supplements, including Ritual vitamins. 

However, all Ritual vitamins are manufactured according to the FDA’s Good Manufacturing Practices. This is to ensure that all products follow quality and safety standards.

Are Ritual vitamins USP verified?

Yes, Ritual Essential for Women 18+ is now USP (United States Pharmacopeia) verified, and they’re working on getting their other products verified too.

Do ritual vitamins have probiotics?

No, they do not contain probiotics. But they include a range of vitamins that have multiple health benefits like promoting heart health, bone strengthening, and more.

Do ritual vitamins help you lose weight?

Ritual vitamins are not specifically formulated to help with weight loss. But they can be used to supplement balanced weight-loss diets to ensure that you do not encounter any nutritional deficiencies.    

Does Essential for Women 50+ treat menopause symptoms?

No, it is not meant to treat symptoms of menopause. However, it does support menopausal women’s health by boosting your nutritional needs.

How long will it take for me to start seeing results?

Vitamins have a cumulative effect, which means it can take a while before you start feeling and direct benefits. But do bear in mind that these effects also take place at a cellular level inside the body and may not be visible to the user’s eyes.

Improvements in the cells and blood may take longer, and it may take up to four months before your body reaches a new equilibrium.

When should I take my ritual vitamins?

Ritual recommends that you take two capsules together in the AM or PM. These dietary supplements are safe to take on an empty stomach because of their delayed-release formulation.

What payment methods are supported by Ritual support?

Ritual accepts major credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal. 

At present, Ritual doesn’t provide payment options with FSA, HSA, and/or health insurance. This is because the IRS believes that vitamins are not a medical expense, so they can’t be eligible under FSA or HSA.