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Ritual
- Ritual, the online health startup that makes a clean multivitamin for women, has added a prenatal vitamin to its offerings.
- Containing 12 essential nutrients, the Essential Prenatal ($35/month) supports a woman during pre-pregnancy and throughout all three trimesters of her pregnancy.
- Features like the use of MTHF folate instead of the less easily processed folic acid, and delayed release capsule technology that reduces nausea, make the Essential Prenatal the smarter vitamin choice for any woman who is considering pregnancy.
Since 2016, online vitamin startup Ritual has only sold one product, the Essential for Women multivitamin. The conception of this better-for-you vitamin, which fills in the gaps of women's diets and costs $30 for a 30-day supply, was inspired by founder Katerina Schneider's own experience of shopping for vitamins while she was pregnant.
The lack of transparency in the industry about what was actually going in her body and thus, her baby's body, led her on the mission to create a vitamin that women can trust. Now, Ritual is digging deeper into its original prenatal health roots with the launch of its second product, the Essential Prenatal.
Developed by Ritual's in-house scientific team along with guidance from a scientific advisory board of medical doctors, scientists, and nutritionists, the Essential Prenatal addresses the multiple ways that current prenatal vitamins are failing expecting mothers, including the use of artificial ingredients, ineffective formulations, and uncomfortable absorption.
It contains essential nutrients (12 in total) like vegan omega-3s, DHA, and Choline, the last two of which work together to build cell membranes in the nervous system and brain. Many current prenatals contain folic acid, even though approximately 40% of women can't fully process folic acid, so the Ritual's prenatal instead uses MTHF, the most bio-available form of folate, so women's bodies can access the nutrients. MTHF folate is especially important to take at the beginning stages because it supports neural tube development during the first 28 days of pregnancy.
An important feature of the Essential Prenatal is what Ritual calls delayed-release nested capsule technology. It combines nutrients in their most easily absorptive forms, and they're not released until the capsule passes the stomach, resulting in better absorption and reduced nausea. Only two capsules are taken once daily, further helping women avoid the problem of an upset stomach.
An additional thoughtful touch is the flavor. Because many women crave citrus while pregnant, the citrus tab in each bottle adds a lemon essence to the capsules.
As with Ritual's signature multivitamin, the company takes careful steps to ensure clean ingredients - non-artificial, free of GMOs, and organic whenever possible.
The convenient subscription and delivery model employed by Ritual makes it that much easier for women to take active control of their prenatal health. With the new vitamin, the company aims to demystify a confusing sphere of women's health and encourage women to plan for their futures as soon as possible.
Shop the Essential Prenatal for $35/month at Ritual here
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