Best personalized vitamins and supplements, per experts and our reviews

Remember the days of browsing the drugstore shelves for fruit-flavored gummies packed with every vitamin you can imagine?

Well, the health and wellness movement has evolved. When it comes to everyday vitamin needs, personalization is now and increasingly popular option. Nowadays, you can have your vitamins and supplements delivered right to your doorstep, and expertly tailored to fit your health goals, lifestyle needs, allergies, and more. Enter the world of personalized vitamins and supplements.

Many companies offer unique services such as quizzes and one-on-one consultations to generate a formula that works the best for your body and needs. We’ve rounded up some of our top picks for personalized supplements and vitamin brands and highlighted the key differences, so you can find a brand that works best for you.

Expert Recommendations

In addition to testing some of these brands firsthand, The Post has also consulted an iPEC-certified nutrition coach, Regan La Testa, and holistic wellness influencer Steph Robinson for expert input and recommendations.

What are personalized vitamins and supplements?

“Personalized vitamins and supplements are vitamins and/or supplements that are designed for an individual. In most cases, they are selected for someone based on gender, age, activity level, lifestyle, and any health conditions the person may have, as well as other factors,” explained La Testa.

As a nutritionist, La Testa specializes in coaching women over 40. She notes that none of her clients have the exact same nutritional supplementation requirements: “The needs of two women of the same age, same activity level, may vary based on whether they are menopausal versus continuing to menstruate.”

This is where customization can become useful.

Are personalized vitamins and supplements better than generic ones?

Robinson firmly believes that the wellness industry is inundated with subpar ingredients and inadequately tested products, which is why she has encouraged her followers to seek more tailored supplementation plans.

“Personalized supplements tailored to a person’s allergies and health needs can potentially offer significant advantages over ordinary supplements,” Robinson said. “By customizing formulations based on individual health needs and allergies, these personalized supplements can address specific deficiencies and avoid potential allergens, thereby reducing the risk of adverse reactions.”

Robison added that this tailored approach should help individuals receive the necessary nutrients in forms that are well-tolerated by their bodies, potentially leading to improved efficacy and overall health outcomes. 

How should you decide to add vitamins or supplements to your diet?

“In making the decision to add supplements, whether it is protein powder, pre-workout, vitamins, minerals, or adaptogens, individuals should consider their personal needs,” La Testa advised.

“They should also look at the ingredients and determine if the product contains any fillers, what testing has been done on the product, and, most importantly, whether there are any reasons not to take something — like a contraindication or interaction with a drug.”

La Testa noted that eating a whole food diet, with minimally processed foods and focusing on protein, fruits, and vegetables can also help to reduce the need for supplements.

Best for People with Allergies and Sensitivities: Persona

Subscription: The subscription service is delivered every 28 days. 

Persona’s five-minute quiz asks about your health goals, lifestyle, diet allergies — even your medications — to build a wellness profile that maps your unique needs. With help from their expert nutritionists, the company has developed a database of more than 3,000 drugs that may interact with the nutrients you take. This data is built into their algorithm, which provides extra assurance to individuals with other health concerns.

For people with certain sensitivities or allergies, La Testa recommended Persona. “Hands down Persona is my favorite. The assessment starts with a quiz which includes specific health questions and asks for medications you are taking so that any drug interactions can be considered before making your recommendations,” she explained.

After taking the quiz herself, La Testa found that the recommendations were quite accurate and she understood why her “prescription” was a good fit. “I also felt that all of the recommendations made sense given my answers. I also liked that a brief explanation as to why the product was recommended was provided as well as any potential drug interactions. This is key in taking any supplement and something many people don’t consider.”

Editor’s Note: While Persona has not done third-party testing, all their products are FDA-cGMP compliant at all stages of production. Customers can even take a virtual tour of the packaging facility and watch their process from start to finish.

Best for Variety: Care/of

Subscription: The subscription service is delivered every 30 days. 

Care/of’s five-minute quiz asks some generic health questions, in addition to more specific ones like “Do you take public transportation regularly?”, “How often do you eat fruits and veggies?”, and “Do you find that your lips get chapped year-round?”. If you’re curious why they’re asking, you can easily find out by hovering over the “Why we ask?” button on the bottom of the screen. The brand clearly takes an all-encompassing approach to find out what sort of vitamins will best serve your needs. Users can select between a vitamin pack, vitamin bottle, or powders and personalized subscriptions that can be edited at any time. According to their site, over 98% of customers say their vitamins and supplements work — and we think those are some pretty impressive stats.

Robinson loves that Care/of offers single-form supplements made up of one ingredient. “This presents a clearer pathway to address specific deficiencies compared to multivitamins with multiple ingredients. The quiz is also beneficial as it helps analyze what your symptoms might indicate about any deficiencies you may have,” she explained.

While Robinson likes much of what the brand has to offer she does point out that symptom-based online quizzes are not always accurate, and the results “may not address the root cause of what you are experiencing.”

Editor’s Note: The Care/Of team has spent over a thousand hours researching the quality, safety, and efficacy of their vitamins and supplements and only 5% of the ingredients they test make the cut. I also love that the brand has taken its services digital. Users can download their free app to get activity recommendations for their goals, earn rewards for consistency, and reflect on progress. This is a great way to keep yourself in check as you work on your health goals.

Best for Athletes: Gainful

Subscription: The subscription service is delivered every 21 days. 

Gainful uses a quiz to determine which of their products meet their customer’s needs — based on their activity level, fitness goals, and flavor preferences. The brand is best for active individuals or athletes looking to improve performance, slim down, and boost overall health with a range of products, from protein powders and collagen to creatine and pre-workout supplements. All Gainful products are formulated by on-staff registered dietitians.

“The products are reasonably priced and coupon codes are available which makes them even more reasonable. Gainful is geared towards athletes, active individuals, and those looking to gain or lose weight or muscle,” noted La Testa. She recommends many of Gainful’s products, like collagen and hydration, to her own clients.

“While they claim to be personalized based on the quiz results, the products themselves are not customized. The recommended products are what are customized. While not a true customization, I like that suggestions are made based on goals and lifestyle. Although, I do think it is pretty generic in terms of what is recommended.”

Editor’s Note: By far, my favorite part about Gainful is that the subscription comes with free one-on-one access to a registered dietitian who can also provide you with diet recommendations to supplement your lifestyle. You’re not left alone in the dark to navigate what is best for you. This hands-on service is really what makes the brand stand out against competitors.

Best for Women’s Health: Hum

Subscription: The subscription service is delivered every 30 days. 

Whether you’re looking to improve your gut health, boost your skin, or get better sleep — Hum has something for you. Take their quick quiz and get paired up with one of their registered dietitians. They will analyze your results, recommend the best nutrients, and provide you with advice along your health journey. Plans are flexible and products can easily be swapped at any time. Hum also likes to throw in some goodies — like free samples in each order so you can test out new products and see what you like best.

In addition to providing a “great interactive quiz that assesses lifestyle factors, relationships, stress levels, diet, exercise, and symptoms,” Robinson likes the fact that Hum provides a human-first approach to health, “I appreciate that they offer customized support, pairing you with your very own RD nutritionist to better analyze what is occurring.”

Robinson says there is one downside that is worth mentioning. “The supplement offerings may not have the most effective ingredients. They are all made up of blends, which may not necessarily target specific deficiencies and needs,” she shared.

Editor’s Note: The “Women’s Section” from Hum is fantastic — there is a “Hormone Balance” section for PMS relief and mood support, as well as the “Womb Service” for an OBGYN-formulated prenatal and postnatal vitamin. Having this all in one place really simplifies the search for women who are looking to hit all their supplementation needs throughout their monthly cycle, and cycle of life.

Best for Men’s Health: Ritual

Subscription: “Subscription shows up monthly.”

Ritual may not technically fall under the category of “personalized” supplements since there is no quiz to take or personalized recommendations made. However, the brand does offer uniquely formulated supplements for different sexes and life stages — men, women, over 50, under 18, etc. It’s worth mentioning that very few supplement brands offer custom packs for teenagers. Ritual also rigorously tests its products and is very transparent in its sourcing. Customers can read about each ingredient and see exactly where they came from on the map.

La Testa says that another thing that makes Ritual a decent product is what they don’t include in their vitamins. “Ritual recognizes that their products are supplements and should be taken to fill in the gaps of a healthy, well-rounded diet. Therefore, nutrients that an individual can easily meet through a healthy diet are not included in their multivitamin. Most vitamin companies include them anyway. In this way, Ritual is encouraging a healthy diet and lifestyle, which I love!” shared La Testa.

“Ritual also has protein shake supplements to meet the needs of 18+ and over 50 and recognizes the loss of muscle mass after the age of 50 and seeks to combat that. Ritual also sells products to aid sleep, gut health, and more,” she added.

Editor’s Note: From my own research in this area, I’ve discovered that many personalized nutrition brands have detailed sections for women and pregnancy, but their men’s sections are a bit lacking. Ritual stands out in that it offer a wide array of products just for men — from essential proteins to multivitamins.

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