what I’m loving this week: SmartyPants

One of my best friends will only consume vitamins in yummy + candy form and I used to make fun of her incessantly for this. Until, that is, I discovered recently the yumminess that is SmartPants. Seriously, these things are delicious.

While, unlike my friend, I’m not one to have issues with taking vitamins in non-gummy form — even the horse-pill sized variety — I decided to give SmartyPants a try after doing some research for a new multivitamin. I was originally drawn to the products after reading reviews on a few natural foods websites (top-notch + organic ingredients and no artificial sweeteners, colors, flavors or preservatives) and became even more enticed after learning the adult version combines a multi, Omega 3s Vitamin D and B12 in one. Their reasoning for the additions is that they focused on the nutrients hardest to take in via foods.

After a bit more scouring the internets, I decided to pull the trigger and, after arriving home with my new purchase, was pretty pumped to find out they are not only nutritious but naturally delicious (Isn’t that cereal slogan? Oh wait, I think it’s magically delicious . . . ).

As one who doesn’t love + crave sweet stuff, the six gummies I take daily are just enough to provide a bit of that sweet but not be too overwhelming. And, yes, they do have a few more calories than the multi-vitamin I had been taking (50 vs. 10) and 8 grams of sugar, but I consider it a good tradeoff for something that takes so good + is good for you + doesn’t cause fish burps. (You know what I’m talking about, right?)

Finally, and of very much importance to me, not only do the products themselves rock, the SmartyPants company has a pretty kick-ass philosophy. With each purchase of a SmartyPants product, they make a 1-for-1 matching nutrient grant to a child in need through their partnership with Vitamin Angels. Pretty cool stuff.

They also have kiddo versions, as well as a fiber variety (less sugar) and, recently launched, prenatals. Of course I’m not one to provide any official type of nutritional advice and I know there are all sorts of debates about the effectiveness of vitamins and I do believe in getting as many nutrients as possible from actual food. But, with that being said, my personal choice is to include vitamins and other supplements in my diet and I’m loving SmartyPants and would highly recommend the product based on my experience.

Oh, and the founders totally stole my heart with their product fact list. I seriously can’t say no to a good list. That basically sealed the deal for me.