Lately, I’ve been exploring the world of vitamins and supplements. Between long days at the office, intense workouts and various social commitments, I’ve been feeling run down. I’ve always been skeptical of supplements but after doing some research (and writing about it) I figured out what could help me feel better and stay healthy. The only downfall was taking several pills a day got daunting, not to mention expensive. It started to become a chore figuring out what to take and when. I guess I could’ve enlisted my grandma’s pill box to help out, but I wanted to avoid that … for now.

Enter Ritual. My friend Daryn introduced me to these vitamins and raved about how she felt after taking them for a few months. I went to their website and poked around a bit. Ritual was created under the guiding principal that they wanted something “simple, effective and backed by science.” I liked the idea, so I tried out – two vitamins a day for one month. After about a week, I noticed more energy and better sleep. Curious to find out more about these vitamins, I reached out to the founder Katerina Schneider.

aSweatLife: What exactly is Ritual?

Katerina Schneider: Ritual is a new kind of health brand that believes in simplicity, traceability and ingredients that work best in the body. With our launch product, Essential for Women, we have simplified the daily vitamin to its nine most essential nutrients and deliver them in their most effective, vegan, non-GMO, gluten, soy and dairy-free forms. Ritual fills the gaps in a woman’s diet—helping round it out to reach total nutrition- with nothing more, nothing less. We source these nutrients straight from suppliers to combine the highest quality ingredients at a fair price, ordered direct-to-consumer at www.ritual.com.

aSL: What makes it different than other multi-vitamins?

KS: We’re the only vitamin brand with a completely transparent and traceable supply chain. Lack of transparency and regulation in the supplement industry has left consumers skeptical about taking vitamins. Ritual is completely flipping this idea on its head. Through Ritual’s ingredient database, consumers are able to trace every ingredient back to its original source. We’re proud of the labs we work with and clear about how and where we source our ingredients. Traditional multivitamins have not been redesigned in over half a century and contain well over 30 ingredients, most of which aren’t even necessary, as we already get enough through the foods we eat. Ritual has taken the extra ingredients and the guess work out of your daily vitamin.

aSL: What ingredients are in Ritual?

KS: Ritual has identified essential nutrients based on the latest scientific government-funded data of what the average American woman is not getting enough of out of her diet alone. These nutrients include:

• Vitamin D3 for bones, brain, heart and immune health. Ritual uses lichen instead of Sheep’s Wool Lanolin D3.
• Vitamin B12 and the right kind of folate (MTHF) for bones, heart, brain health. We use Methylcobalamin instead of Cyanocobalamin.
• Vitamin K2 MK7 for bone and heart health nothing else can replace. We use Pure non-soy MK7 instead of Vitamin K1 (Phylloquinone).
• Omega-3s for heart, brain, joints, immune health and more. We use Algal Oil vs. Fish Oil.
• Vitamin E for heart, brain, muscle, skin health. Iron for energy levels, brain and immune health. We use Mixed Tocopherols instead of dl-alpha-tocopheryl succinate.
• Magnesium for everything, especially heart, mood, muscles, bone, immune health. We use Sucrosomial Magnesium instead of Magnesium Oxide.
• Boron helps reduce need for calcium for bone, joint and heart health. We use Calcium Fructoborate instead of Sodium Borate.

aSL: How was Ritual started? What was the main goal?

KS: When I was pregnant, I turned my house upside down to get rid of products with ingredients I couldn’t get behind. I replaced everything from my cleaning supplies to my deodorant. But, in my search for the perfect prenatal vitamin, I found many of those same questionable ingredients. I couldn’t find a brand that I trusted, so I decided to build my own. I founded Ritual with the belief that better health begins with better ingredients.

The Essential for Women vitamins are available for $30 a month and they are delivered straight to your door. It’s that easy. I experienced the Essential for Women vitamins’ benefits after a month of using, but can’t wait to see how I feel over time.