They say if you eat enough of all the right foods, you won't need to take any vitamins or supplements. 

While this may be true, let's be honest: nobody's perfect. I mean, I make it a point to eat my greens and all, but we live across the street from a donut shop and an ice cream parlor and sometimes it feels pretty good to hop on the sugar train and ride like the wind!

So if you're like me (human, that is), you may rely on vitamins and supplements to have your back when your sweet tooth turns on you. Luckily for me, I actually really like taking vitamins. I like the idea of it, and I like ritualistic habits.

At one point in my early 20s, I had one of those seven-day pill organizers. . . .yeah, like the one your grandma uses. After getting an above-the-shoulders haircut, I was pulling out all the stops to get my hair to grow back ASAP. I pored over Amazon reviews for products that people swore made their hair grow fast and began taking biotin, MSM, folic acid, and these suspiciously expensive little brown pills called PHYTO Phytophanère (among others). 

I'm not entirely sure how well any of these supplements worked for hair growth, but they did cause me to break out a bit. What I learned is that some vitamins are water-soluble (Vitamin C, some B vitamins, and folate) meaning that if you take too much, you'll just pee them out. However, other vitamins are fat-soluble (Vitamins A, D, and E) meaning if you take too much, your body can only get rid of the excess by burning fat. And if you don't burn enough fat, it will come out through your skin. In the end, switching to dandruff shampoo was the thing that made my hair start growing faster and thicker.

Anyway, I've since whittled my my supplement routine down to just the following few staples.

Ritual Vitamins

You've probably read through some of my previous ramblings about Ritual. I've taken multi-vitamins on and off throughout my adult life but this is the first kind I've actually taken religiously. I started taking them about a year ago and am still going strong! They're made for women, by women. And the ladies behind them are vitamin skeptics (like me!) who break down all the science and ingredient sourcing. I actually totally think my skin has improved since starting Ritual, but it took a few months to see results, as things like this tend to go.  

Vital Proteins Collagen

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that collagen peptides are wicked hot right now. I've been putting collagen powder in my coffee for the past few months and am liking the results so far! After trying out a few brands, Vital Proteins is my favorite as far as taste, consistency, and bang for your buck. I've been using their Vanilla Collagen Creamer for coffee which has real vanilla bean, hella protein, and no sugar or dairy. Even if the whole "collagen is the answer to all things hair, skin, and nails" thing is a hoax, at the very least, it's high-quality grass-fed protein powder and I'm gonna continue to use it. 

OLLY Omega-3 Gummies

The Ritual vitamins do have some algae oil in them which is a good vegan source of Omega-3s, but I keep hearing that the best source is from the fishies. I've been taking Mega Omega-3 Gummy Supplements by OLLY because fish oil pills sometimes gross me out and, let's be real: who doesn't like an adult gummy vitamin? The flavor is "sweet clementine" and they aren't fishy at all. OLLY also makes a bedtime gummy (for grownups) called Restful Sleep which I am also partial to. The sleepy gummies by OLLY have melatonin, L-theanine, and a little chamomile which made me feel not only sleepy, but a little high. 

Natrol Melatonin 

Speaking of bedtime, sometimes I just take straight melatonin to help me wind down. I prioritize sleep more than I prioritize a lot of things because getting to bed helps me do all the other things I need to do. Natrol Melatonin Fast Dissolve Tablets do the trick!

GoodSense Allergy Pills

I never had allergies as a kid. I grew into them around age 25 (which is apparently common) and it wasn't until then that I realized how much they suck. I thought allergies were just for sensitive redheads who got sneezy around flowers; I didn't know that having spring allergies was kinda like being 50% sick for four months of the year. Needless to say, I started taking GoodSense All-Day Allergy tablets every day to combat the symptoms. I've heard that the pollen in Oregon is the worst it's ever been. I have super sensitive ears and sinuses in general so I'll do whatever I have to do to keep any and all congestion at bay! And yes, I've tried local bee pollen. Thank you for asking. 

That's all I'm taking at the moment, but I'm interested to know more about cognitive enhancement vitamins and brain supplements. If you have any insight, comment below or email me!

In addition to the collagen coffee, I take my pill supplements twice a day. I have a reminder on my phone to take half my daily dose in the morning and half at night. This probably doesn't matter, but I like doing it. My nighttime reminder also tells me to stretch and layout my workout clothes for the next morning. 

Well, I gotta go dive into a big stack of wedding thank-you cards. Keep poppin' those pills!

-Theresa