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With a myriad of choices available on the market, it’s not easy to choose a multivitamin that optimally addresses your nutritional needs.
Wholier is one of the new heavyweights that seeks to spread its holistic, plant-based nutrition to a broad range of customers.
They offer a range of products, from wellness shots to protein powders, but their most notable offering is their hyper-popular vegan multivitamin.
So, without further ado, let me provide you with the main takeaways before we dive deep into the makings of this interesting multivitamin.
Main Takeaways
- Wholier is an inspiring brand that brings the vegan ethos to the world of supplements, focusing on plant-based ingredients, eco-conscious manufacturing, and ethics.
- Emphasizing a few nutrients is a big positive in my book, namely nutrients like B12, D3, and Omega-3s (DHA in particular).
- Wholier’s price is quite steep and could potentially cost north of $300 for those considering long-term use.
About Wholier
Wholier is a brand that takes a holistic approach to nutrition, thinking of the body as a whole rather than separating it into individual parts.
Think about the deep connection between our mind and body, and how one cannot function properly without the other.
Wholier thinks about nutrients in this very way and combines ingredients that potentiate benefits for both the mind and body.
Also, if you’re like me and try your best to make environmentally conscious decisions, then you’ll be pleased to know that Wholier takes a sustainable approach to how it manufactures its products, starting from the very beginning in terms of which ingredients should be sourced, and how the packaging is made and delivered.
Needless to say, Wholier is also fully plant-based, so the nutrients are sourced, for their majority, from plants, while a few of them are synthetically made.
Embracing The Big Three
The likelihood of you being interested in this multivitamin for having a plant-based diet is high, so taking that into consideration, I think there’s a compelling argument that makes this multivitamin a powerful candidate.
It doubles down on the nutrients that are known to be less available in a vegan diet— these are B12, D3, and Omega-3 fatty acids, namely EPA and DHA.
The keyword is “less available”, so it doesn’t mean they’re impossible to get, especially if you opt for fortified foods.
However, it’s almost always recommended to supplement one or two of these nutrients, assuming you can’t consume the amount of food it takes to optimally obtain them.
If you’re considering supplementing these nutrients (whether it’s through standalone supplements or a multivitamin like this one), I’d like to tell you about an important subject, and that is… B12 absorption.
The amount of Vitamin B12 absorbed by the body is limited by the quantity of intrinsic factor the stomach produces, a necessary element for the absorption of B12.
Therefore, the body can’t absorb all the Vitamin B12 that a supplement contains. For instance, out of a 500 mcg oral supplement, only about 10 mcg are absorbed, in healthy individuals.
For this reason, the amount of Vitamin B12 to supplement should exceed the daily recommended dose. The more Vitamin B12 we consume at once, the lower the percentage that is actually absorbed.
The recommended daily allowance (RDA) is 2.4 mcg. However, if we supplement with 2.4 mcg all at once, only a portion will be absorbed by the stomach, and thus we will not reach the RDA.
In other words, forget about supplements that only offer 100% of the B12 RDA.
Wholier’s multivitamin provides you with 150 mcg per serving, equivalent to 6250% of the RDA, which is exactly what you should be looking for.
When it comes to Vitamin D(3) and Omega-3 fatty acids, this logic does not apply given their different nature.
In fact, we’ve got to err on the side of caution and stick to the recommended guidelines, which is more or less what Wholier did with this multivitamin.
It contains 20 mcg (800 IU) of vitamin D3, which is 100% of the RDA, and also 225mg of omega-3s (150mg of DHA and 75mg of EPA) which is only slightly below what health bodies like the European Food Safety Authority recommend.
All in all, Wholier is a pretty great brand when it comes to supplying the big vital three!
The Price is Quite Steep
Well, a big concern people have when buying anything is price— I mean, if you’re planning to get a multivitamin every month, the cost at the end of the year can be staggering… and if you’re on a budget, that’s a no-no.
Wholier’s multivitamin is expensive, but the price will be different depending on whether you buy it once or subscribe to the brand’s monthly delivery service.
If you buy it once (without subscribing) the final price is $39, which comes down to $1.3 per serving. Subscribing to the monthly delivery service means you can decrease the overall price by 8%, which comes down to $1.19 per serving.
However, all things considered, that’s still quite expensive for a multivitamin, and it means you’ll be spending over $360 per year.
Frequently Asked Questions
For iron, there are several plant-based sources, including lentils, chickpeas, beans, tofu, cashews, chia seeds, ground linseed, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, kale, dried apricots, and figs, wholegrains such as quinoa, brown rice, fortified breakfast cereals, etc.
Iodine is a bit more tricky, but I would say that using iodized salt is ideal. Seaweeds like kelp, nori, and dulse are high in iodine, but the amounts can vary greatly between batches, which can be dangerous.
This is not my place to answer as I’m not a healthcare professional, but generally, if you have an iron or iodine deficiency, you ought to be supplementing higher amounts than the daily value, so it’s likely that Wholier’s multivitamin is not a good option.
Generally, multivitamins are safe to consume, but considering the fact this multivitamin contains omega-3s, iron, and iodine (among others), you should probably talk to a health professional before you take it.
It’s generally recommended to take multivitamins with a meal to help with absorption, particularly for fat-soluble vitamins like Vitamin D3.
Some people might experience stomach discomfort when taking vitamins on an empty stomach.
The Suggested Alternative
If there’s one supplement I’ve recommended several times, it’s the Essential Multivitamin from Future Kind— which, akin to Wholier, only contains a few nutrients which are B12, D3, and Omega-3s.
However, it’s more affordable, with one bottle costing $29.95. Though, if you intend to take a multivitamin for longer, you can get it for 20% cheaper if you opt for the monthly delivery service— which would bring the price down to $23.96 or $0.79 per serving.
This is not expert advice, so do feel free to do your own research to better understand what’s best for you.
Editor’s note: The content on this website is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. The content of our articles is not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. It’s always best to speak with your doctor or a certified medical professional before making any changes to your lifestyle, diet, or exercise routine, or trying a new supplement.
