Best Vegan Multivitamins – Plant Based Supplements That Actually Work

With the rise in popularity of veganism and plant-based living in general, we’ve seen an increase in effective vegan supplements over the past few years, especially multivitamins.

The big difference between a vegan multivitamin and an ordinary one is that the vegan varieties derive their vitamins and minerals from plant-based, natural sources. This means that not only are they OK for vegans to eat as they contain no animal products, they are also extremely healthy in general, as all of their nutrient content comes from actual plants rather than synthetic chemicals in a lab.

It should be noted that nothing can properly substitute the nutritional content found in real food: fresh fruits and vegetables, roots, tubers, seeds, leaves, and herbs.

The stuff of the Earth that we are biologically designed to derive fuel from. Too many people mistake “supplements” for “replacements,” and think that just because they are taking a vitamin, this means they can eat all the McDonald’s and Oreo’s they want and be healthy.

The best way to use a supplement is, well, as a supplement. Use it alongside a balanced, plant-based diet for best results.

That being said, a good plant-based multivitamin can mean the difference between getting enough of a certain hard to find nutrient and going without it when certain fruits and veggies are out of season.

Also, for some vegans, vitamins like B12 aren’t always the easiest to get the required amount of, which makes vegan multivitamins ideal for anyone looking for a healthy, easy way to get these kinds of nutrients without resorting to fitting nutritional yeast and spirulina in every meal.

NATURELO Whole Food Multivitamin

Comes in a variety for men and women, this premium plant-based supplement is one of the best on the market. It goes out of its way to include nutrient compounds you don’t often have access to, such as rutin, iodine from kelp, lycopene, and even compounds found in marigold flowers that are good for your eyesight.

Cultivated specifically for vegans and includes no allergens like gluten or soy, Naturelo is definitely one of the best vitamins on the market for anyone concerned about their health.

It should be noted that even their mineral sources are plant-based, which is one of the reasons why the cost of this vitamin is higher than average.

Their calcium is derived right from algae, not rocks / mineral deposits, for instance. This means that your body has a much higher chance of absorbing the vitamins and minerals, because it’s in a form that it recognizes.

Deva Vegan Multivitamin

What stands out about this popular entry from Deva is that it has a high mineral concentration. It includes all the essentials for vegans, such as iron and B12, with plenty of other essential nutrients packed in, which could easily compare to an average “regular” vitamin in terms of potency.

The benefit is that this is a plant-based vitamin, which means you’re going to be absorbing more nutrition from this than you would a comparable vitamin of similar quality that is all synthetic chemicals or derived from animal products. It is also gluten and soy free, which is a plus for anyone who is intolerant.

If you’re looking for a bare bones “vegan essential” vitamin, this one is a strong contender. It focuses primarily on iron, the B-complex, and Vitamin D, which are the nutrients most new vegans have trouble with getting enough of in their diet. Not many fancy antioxidants or phyto-nutrients in this vitamin, just the essentials.

VEGAN LIQUID MORNING MULTIVITAMIN

This is an interesting entry, a pure liquid vitamin that has absolutely exploded in popularity over the past couple of years, becoming one of the hottest vitamin supplement products on Amazon.

What makes it so special? Well, simply put, this “multivitamin” is technically what we would call a health tonic, or vitamin tonic. It does not have a high mineral content at all. Instead, it is a water-based purely liquid concoction derived from plants for concentrated vitamin nutrition.

Why liquid? Because in this state, our bodies can more readily absorb the nutrient contents. Even the best pills are still something of a chore for our bodies to work on and digest fully. Because there is so little need to digest this liquid vitamin tonic, the nutrients are almost immediately and easily absorbed, meaning your body reaps the full benefits of the vitamins in question.

Another important aspect of this supplement is that it contains not just vitamins and minerals, but amino acids, something you rarely find in multivitamins. Because it is derived right from plant sources, this product includes a ton of phyto-nutrients and amino acids, including L-Arginine,  L-Cystine, L-Glutamic Acid, L-Glutamine, Glycine, L-Leucine, L-Lysine, L-Methionine, L-Phenylalanine, Taurine, L-Threanine, L-Tyrosine, and L-Valine.

This basically means that it will supercharge your body. Concentrated nutrition of this level can really only be found elsewhere in muscle-gain plant-based protein powders, and even then, those products are more difficult to digest than a liquid tonic such as this. It’s one of the best selling vitamin products on Amazon for a reason!

It should be noted that this same brand has a very powerful “multimineral” tonic as well, in case you feel like you need to focus more on minerals rather than vitamins.

Garden of Life Multivitamin

This multivitamin comes from one of the most reputable brands of vegan supplements in the industry, Garden of Life. Their focus is on organic, non-GMO plant-based nutrition at a relatively affordable cost. Their vitamins come in men and women’s varieties, as well as other special varieties, such as prenatal.

One interesting part of Garden of Life vitamins is that they contain probiotics, which makes them especially good for women. Probiotics are an underrated but important part of a balanced diet.

Another important benefit of Garden of Life vitamins is that they contain perhaps the greatest variety of pure vegetables and plant extracts I have seen in a vegan vitamin. Their multivitamin contains everything from kale, to cucumber, cherry, apple, beet, asparagus flowers, and carrots.

They truly pack their product with a quality selection of fruits and vegetables, which means you are getting a ton of phyto-nutrients and other compounds that you won’t see listed on the box, that are just as important as Vitamin A and Zinc. Because it also has blueberry and garlic extracts, among others, this vitamin packs an antioxidant punch. For overall quality and the sheer variety of vitamins, minerals, and compounds you get from these, you can’t go wrong with Garden of Life.

Pure Vegan Advanced Multi-Vitamin

This is another solid contender on the market, known for the energy it usually gives to the people who take it. This vegan nutrient blend actually focuses on improving systems such as your immune system and cardiovascular system, rather than focusing on “recommended” levels of certain vitamins.

That being said, it does provide a hefty 19 different vitamins and minerals, all derived from plant-based sources. If you’re looking for a simple, “basic” vegan vitamin, this is a decent choice.

One strong benefit of the Pure Vegan Multivitamin is that it also contains antioxidants, making it a great supplement to take when warding off a cold, or just for a general pick-me-up. This is probably the cheapest vegan vitamin on the market that contains antioxidants, so that’s a huge plus.

Nature’s Nutri-Care Adult Gummy Vitamins

Are gummies your thing? You don’t have to be a kid to enjoy a good gummy vitamin, and with Nature’s Nutri-Care, they’re even vegan. These vitamins are actually solid contenders for the best multivitamin in this list, being packed with the core vitamins, essential minerals, and even some antioxidant support. They focused on making a very tasty, easily chewable vitamin that’s perfect for when you’re feeling under the weather or have the flu. The last thing you want to do when you’re sick is chug down a huge, unwieldy pill. This little “gum drop” vitamin is the answer.

While they don’t pack quite the nutrient-packed punch of some of the other entries on this list, they are still plant-based and have many nutrient compounds you’re just not going to find in a typical synthetic vitamin.

The Best Vegan Multivitamin Winner

While there are certainly a lot of great contenders, we looked at the overall nutritional content, quality of plant-based sources, and affordability when analyzing these products and making a decision. We also took a hard look at the potential for the product providing unlisted benefits, such as the amount of phyto-nutrients, and whether or not the supplement would be good for energy or immune support.

After weighing in all these factors together, we had to go with the Deva Vegan Multivitamin as the best vegan multivitamin on the list.

In terms of a solid, certified vegan product that is both affordable and provides a wide range of essential nutrients and compounds, it really has to take its rightful spot at the top. It’s in the Amazon best seller list and is one of the best selling vegan supplements on the market.

We’ve never met anyone who wasn’t satisfied with this product, it really is a quality vitamin.

That being said, if you are looking for something a bit more exotic, with more concentrated plant-based nutrition that is ahead of the curve in terms of supplements, you might want to think about spending the extra money and going with the Liquid Multivitamin from MaryRuth Organics.

This nutritionist’s entire business revolves around plant-based nutritional supplements in a liquid form, and this kind of concentrated readily absorbable nutrition is far superior to anything in pill form. We highly recommend this product if you are looking to radically improve your health.

A Word About Plant-Based Nutrition

Whether you are a vegan, vegetarian, or are just simply looking for a decent vitamin and happened to stumble upon this page, I want to point out that there is a huge difference between typical vitamins and plant-based, or vegan vitamins.

Regardless of what you eat everyday, if you are taking your heath seriously and are interested in a supplement that is actually going to make a difference and improve your health, you’re going to want to educate yourself on this.

Regular vitamins are typically giant, synthetically created slabs of useless substances crammed together in a pill and marketed like they are a boon to your health.

While some ordinary vitamins work better than others, one thing is for sure: if the components of the vitamin did not come from natural sources, there is a high likelihood that the vast bulk of everything in that pill is not going to be used by your body.

Often, these vitamin pills cram high, unnecessarily large percentages of the “daily recommended values” of vitamins and minerals, which makes them seem like healthy, good choices.

The truth is, however, that many vitamins and minerals are useless for us if they are in synthetic and isolated forms. Just because a pill might contain “50% of the iron you need in a day” or “300% vitamin A” doesn’t mean your body can extract and absorb that nutrient.

In nature, vitamins and minerals are connected to many plant-based compounds and enzymes, grouped under the umbrella of “phyto-nutrients.” These natural compounds aid in the assimilation of the vitamins and minerals in question.

In a natural source, such as a fruit, vitamins and minerals are not isolated compounds. They are interwoven and connected to a litany of antioxidants, amino acids, phyto-nutrients, and alkaline water, creating a cohesive substance that your body knows how to digest and extract nutrition from.

Most ordinary vitamins just take specific milligrams of raw minerals (often from cheap sources) and chemically-created vitamins (artificial versions that are meant to mimic the chemical composition of the vitamins in nature) and stuff them together in a giant “pill.” Nothing is connected to anything else like it is in nature. It’s just a mass of base chemicals.

Can your body make use of such chemicals? Yes, depending on how well your body is absorbing nutrients, the quality and source of the vitamins and minerals, how hydrated your body is at the time, and if your body is desperate enough for a certain compound.

Overall though, most of the contents of ordinary vitamins simply get passed out in the urine, or build up in the liver. Some vitamin companies, knowing full well that this happens, even try to circumvent this problem by simply cramming more of the vitamins and minerals into the pill, hence you come out with pills that taste like metal or even worse.

This is because the pills are quite literally hunks of base minerals. There’s nothing alive or plant-based or natural in it, it’s just a chemically-crafted, unnatural hunk of rock that just happens to have chemical isolates inside it that match a few common vitamins and minerals. That’s it.

Here’s what makes plant-based, or vegan vitamins so special. Their ingredients are derived directly from plant sources. Often, the plant itself is liquefied or ground up into a powder, meaning that you are getting a certain ratio of vitamins and minerals because you are ingesting a concentrated form of the actual plant as you would in a natural setting.

This is extremely important. We evolved to be able to get our nutrition from fruits and vegetables, and in order to properly extract the nutrients, our bodies rely on the plant-based compounds that are connected to the vitamins and minerals.

In other words, there are dozens of obscure plant-based compounds in every fruit and vegetable that are not listed on “Nutrition labels,” yet are essential for the proper digestion and assimilation of the nutrition.

Vegan vitamin supplements contain many of these essential plant-based compounds, as well as antioxidants and other extremely beneficial compounds in their natural state, ready to be absorbed. This makes even the worst vegan vitamins better than 99% of all typical mainstream vitamin products.

It doesn’t matter if you go out and buy a $60 vitamin that’s the size of your thumb, if all your body can do with it is extract about 1% of about 5 or 6 different minerals and maybe a bit of Vitamin C, before passing the rest of it out and overburdening your liver and the rest of your digestive system.

There is no substitute for plant-based nutrition.

This is what makes vegan vitamins a powerful tool in your health arsenal. Your body is actually going to know what to do with the plant-based substances, you’re going to absorb more of the nutrients, and you’re going to get a whole pile of plant-based compounds you would never ordinarily get by taking a regular vitamin.

Do yourself a favor and ditch your regular “horse-pill” multivitamin and make the switch to something plant-based. At least your body will actually be able to make use of it instead of you wasting money on a glorified rock that tastes like a tin can and just ends up in your toilet anyway. Always remember: we evolved to get our nutrition from plants. Why should your vitamins be any different?