Like fine wine and fromage or just peas and carrots, our Mineral Formulas were designed to complement our other daily supplements. But you know what they say, timing is everything – even when it comes to your multivitamins.

Our Adult Mineral Formula and Kids Mineral Formula can be taken with or without food, as the label says.

However, to get the most from your minerals, we recommend taking them at a different time than our formulas that contain fiber or when eating a high-fiber meal. This is because fiber can interfere with mineral absorption. We like taking these chews separately from our gummies, like in the evening. Some customers even say that the magnesium helps them relax, but we’ll let you decide.

When it comes to texture and flavor, our Mineral Formulas are slightly different from our gummies due to the natural characteristics of minerals. They’re more chewy, similar to Starburst.

Taste masking is a little trickier with minerals than with gummies. So, we carefully-select each ingredient to ensure the taste of our chews, while different from our gummies, is still delicious (especially when compared to other mineral chews on the market). Call us chew-sy.

Great question! We designed our Adult Mineral Formula and Kids Mineral Formula to complement many of our other multivitamin supplements.† Just as our vitamin products contain essential vitamins that are difficult for some people to get consistently from diet alone, our mineral products include essential minerals to help fill in common dietary gaps. Vitamins and minerals often work together to help the body perform many critical metabolic functions. Additionally, our products are meant to complement the average American diet, so the amount of each vitamin and mineral in each of our products is well below the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL).

Our mineral and vitamin products can also be taken with either SmartyPants Adult Prebiotic and Probiotic Formula or Kids Prebiotic and Probiotic Formula.

That being said, we always recommend that you consult your health care provider before taking any of our products or before adding any new products to your daily regimen. They can help determine whether our products are right for you.

†We do not recommend taking our mineral formulas at the same time as either our Adult Formula and Fiber or Kids Formula and Fiber.

Everyone knows calcium is critical for strong bones and teeth, but did you know that magnesium plays an important role as well?*

Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium, but before it can do that, it must be converted to its active form. Magnesium is one compound that helps convert vitamin D to its active form. A balanced ratio of magnesium to calcium is key to proper calcium uptake and metabolism. Magnesium helps regulate the amount of calcium in our blood.

Magnesium also supports proper muscle function.* Currently, approximately 60% of Americans’ diets are deficient in magnesium, so we’ve included 250 mg of highly absorbable magnesium citrate to our Adult and Kids Mineral Formulas.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Elemental magnesium must be bonded to another molecule – it cannot exist stably on its own. The difference between magnesium citrate and magnesium oxide all comes down to what molecule magnesium is bonded to. Two common bonding agents are citric acid (magnesium citrate) and oxygen (magnesium oxide). In general, magnesium is a poorly absorbed mineral (usually between 35-45% absorption from dietary sources), and is best absorbed on an empty stomach. Oxygen is a smaller molecule than citric acid, so magnesium oxide has a higher percentage of elemental magnesium per unit when compared to magnesium citrate. Magnesium citrate, however, is the best absorbed form of magnesium when taken orally [1,2,3,4]. We include 250 mg of magnesium citrate in our Adult and Kids Mineral Complete for optimal absorption so you can reap all the amazing benefits of this powerhouse mineral.

Some minerals are already consumed at adequate levels in the Western diet and are not a concern for most Americans. So, our formulas focus on the nutrients that are the hardest to get from diet alone. They're designed to complement a well-balanced diet by helping to fill in nutritional gaps.

Minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, zinc, selenium, copper, manganese, chromium and molybdenum, are often consumed at levels below the Estimated Average Requirements in the American diet. Some minerals, when consumed in large quantities, may inhibit the absorption of other minerals, so we, along with our scientific advisory board, think it’s better to take smaller doses regularly to optimize absorption and efficacy.

As for potassium and iron? Well, it’s complicated.

Potassium is one major-mineral that most Americans are deficient in, but we don’t include potassium in our Mineral formulas because it can cause stomach irritation when taken in supplemental form. High blood levels of potassium can also cause major side effects. As a result, it's best to consume this mineral in your diet and over the course of the day so your kidneys can keep your blood levels regulated. Nutrient-dense foods like avocados, sweet potatoes, potatoes, spinach, black beans, beets, and, of course, bananas are all sources of potassium.

To learn more about why we don't include iron in all of our gummy products, click here.

Yes, and we still are!

The stevia leaf extract used to help sweeten our Mineral Complete chews (in addition to organic cane sugar and organic rice syrup) is a high-intensity, natural sweetener derived from the Stevia rebaudiana plant. Our stevia leaf extract comes in the form of high-purity steviol glycosides, the sweet compounds insolated and purified from stevia leaves. Our stevia leaf extract has not undergone chemical alteration.

At SmartyPants, we are always mindful of the amount of sugar in our products and are always looking for ways to lower the sugar content without affecting the taste or stability of our gummies. Any new ingredient we introduce to our products must be subjected to the same level of rigorous testing and evidence that we require for all our ingredients. We will only include a new ingredient in our products if it presents a meaningful, evidenced-based nutritional advantage. We’re proud to add stevia leaf extract to our family of SmartyPants-approved sweeteners.