Ritual Essential for Women Review

Ritual is vitamin supplement company that created a women’s daily vitamin called Essential for Women. The product claims to take the confusion and unknown ingredients out of women’s daily vitamins and replace it with traceability, affordability, and simplicity.

 

We decided to take a closer look.

Ingredients

According to Ritual’s research, most women are lacking in nine specific nutrients, but they wanted to deliver those nutrients in a single pill. The resulting pill is a lineup of vitamins K2, D3, B12, and E, plus boron, iron, magnesium, folate, and omega-3.

On the website, Ritual provides where in the world each of the 9 ingredient is from, an explanation of ‘why’ the ingredient is essential, and the research that explains why each ingredient is in the form it’s in.

Vitamin D3 2000 IU  

Ritual uses Vitashine, the world’s only Certified vegan D3 ingredient made from UK-sourced lichen, different than sheep’s wool or fish liver oil – which means that Ritual can be taken by vegans, too. Plus, Vitamin D3 has been shown to help with bone health, immune strength, cognition, and calcium absorption.

Vitamin E 10 IU  

Sourced from Argentina, Ritual claims their Vitamin E is delivered to the body in the same form found in antioxidant foods. 

Vitamin K2 MK7 90 mcg


K2 is known for contributing to healthy skin, bone health, and heart health, and Ritual says they use a pure, non-soy, Norway-originating form of it.

Folate 600 mcg  

The brand’s research suggests close to 40% of women’s bodies are not efficient at absorbing the synthetic folate, folic acid, so instead Ritual uses it’s natural form from Italy, which is supposed to make it easier for our bodies to unlock its supposed health benefits of folate like better mood, DYN synthesis, and brain health.

Vitamin B12 8 mcg


Ritual’s B12 comes in the form of methylcobalamin.

Iron 8 mg


Ritual employs an American form of the mineral that they say has been shown to be more easily digested. Which means you you’ll get some of the benefits of iron like increased energy, better brain function, and healthy red blood cells, without the gas.

Magnesium 50 mg  

When it’s comes to vitamins and minerals, magnesium is the ultimate overachiever. To name some of it’s benefits: curbed anxiety, stronger immune system, and healthier heart and bones. Ritual delivers magnesium in a form that protects it from interacting with other, more oily vitamins, which means better absorption.

Boron 1 mg  

Naturally found in prunes, almonds, and raisins. But instead of prune juice, Ritual says they’ve included a food-form of boron in the pill that is preferred by the body (and less harsh on the stomach) for bone, heart, and joint health.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids DHA & EPA 320 mg

You already try to seek out healthy fatty acids in your food (cue: avocado toast and salmon sushi)—but according to Ritual’s research, more than 70 percent of women don’t get enough omega-3s in their diet. So Ritual went vegan by sourcing omega-3s from American algal oil rather than fish.

[Find the best price on Ritual Essential from the manufacturer here.]

What’s Missing?

Vitamin-enthusiasts may be surprised to find that a few of the go-to multi vitamins like calcium and Vitamin C are missing from the ingredient list. That’s because Ritual’s research team says most women get enough Vitamin C from our daily diets. And instead of calcium, the capsules have vitamin D3, K2, boron, which supposedly work together to change how our bodies utilize calcium in and from the foods we eat.

Rituals Benefits and Effectiveness

Before Ritual, my health and wellness routine was completely void of vitamin supplements. 

When I unscrewed the cap the first time, I immediately noticed that the vitamin doesn’t smell the way I expect a vitamin containing omega-3 to smell: like fish. Instead, the the vitamins smell and taste like mint. Each bottle contains a food-grade insert infused with pure peppermint to keep your vitamins smelling minty fresh. That means that even though one of our heart-helping ingredients (algal oil) has an oceanic aroma, the vitamins don’t smell like seaweed.  

The minty taste and smell means I can (and did) take my two Ritual pulls after I brush my teeth without worrying about a funky after-taste.

What stands out to me the most about Ritual is that I never got a stomach ache from the pill, and that’s saying something because my stomach has reacted poorly to supplements containing iron in the past. Ritual uses a vegan, delayed-release capsule that helps bypasses the stomach to prevent nausea.

But Ritual is a daily multivitamin, not pre-workout or a cup of coffee, so neither immediately after taking nor after a month, do I feel any different. According to the website, while some people will feel a difference within 1-2 weeks, many, like me, don’t notice anything at all. But while I don’t feel better-than-ever, I certainly don’t feel worse.

The biggest drawback about the vitamin is that it’s a pill. While the pill is size-0 (or about the size of a chiclet of gum), that’s not negligible, and you have to take two, so if you have a hard time swallowing pills, these probably aren’t for you.

Ritual Price

Ritual follows a pricing plan millennials are used to, and is currently offered only on a subscription basis. For $30 a month (one dollar a day), you’ll receive a monthly shipment of the product delivered right to your door. However, Ritual is surprising easy to cancel if you move or simply aren’t feeling it.

And if you aren’t happy after your first bottle, Ritual picks up the tab. They have a happiness guarantee, so they’ll refund your first bottle no questions asked.

The Takeaway

I enjoyed Ritual Essential. It has nine ingredients research shows women are lacking, some pretty solid potential benefits, and only costs $1 a day. Plus, it has a minty taste and didn’t upset my stomach.

If you have a tendency to forget to cancel a subscription services, have a hard time swallowing pills, or want to see immediate benefits, this may not be the vitamin for you.

But otherwise, I see few drawbacks and some potential upside in incorporating this vitamin into your wellness routine.

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