Many sustainable lifestyle strategies are empowering. You might grow vegetables instead of getting them from the grocery store, which teaches lifelong skills while setting aside relaxing time in your garden. You could also enjoy making your own vitamins at home. You’ll know they’re eco-friendly, plant-based and precisely what you need to live your best life.
Why Do People Make Their Own Vitamins?
People make vitamins at home for numerous reasons. Mass-produced products come from industrial plants that consume extensive amounts of electricity due to their size. Carbon emissions also come from each manufacturer’s suppliers, such as the companies providing the plastic bottles or shipping ingredients.
Some components also rely on unsustainable substances. Vitamin C products use petroleum-derived ingredients like acetone in every serving. You can feel confident that your supplements are plant-based and eco-friendly by making them in your kitchen. You’ll reduce your environmental footprint by avoiding harmful production practices.
Examples of Vitamins You Can Create at Home
You can’t see nutrients with the naked eye, but you can still easily find them in whole foods. People create grocery lists to stock up on essentials full of vitamins like D, C and E.
Once you know where to find your desired nutrients, you’ll be much closer to homemade supplements. Figure out which are best for you to make based on the health goals you need to reach, like boosting your antioxidants or absorbing calcium more effectively.
Steps to Make Eco-Friendly, Plant-Based Vitamins
When you’re ready to start making vitamins in your kitchen, follow some simple steps for any homemade supplement recipe.
1. Choose Your Target Vitamin
Although the idea of making a multivitamin is tempting, start with something simpler. Choose a singular nutrient for your new diet, like vitamin B.
The easily found nutrient could improve your energy production by helping your body break down carbohydrates and fats more effectively. You’ll only need to learn where to find it, like in pinto or black beans from your local grocery store. Consider your specific health goals to identify vitamins that support them.
2. Gather Your Ingredients
You’ll need enough sources of your selected nutrient to make supplements. Someone making 30 vitamin B capsules will need far fewer beans than another person making six months’ worth of daily servings.
You can also start small. Buy a bag of beans and see how many you can make from it. Next time, you’ll know how much to get if you want to restock your supply.
3. Arrange Your Containers
Choosing the containers for your supplements may require research. Experts found that gelatin is the most widely used pharmaceutical container for active components after tablets. The same research shows gelatin is a collagen derived from animal bones, skin and connective tissues.
Vegan capsules are available from limited manufacturers. You can also store your vitamin servings in miniature glass vials, which double as a reusable resource.
4. Prepare the Whole Foods
Some foods must turn into oils to become shelf-stable supplements, while others need drying. Research your chosen food to explore its best long-term storage options.
Dried beans are ready for preparation — pour them in a blender, and run it until they’re a powder. If you think your blender blades missed a few pieces, run the powder through a fine-mesh strainer to catch anything that isn’t dissolvable.
5. Weigh and Store Your Servings
Finding the right serving size of your selected vitamin might take time. Experts recommend that adults get 1.3-1.5 micrograms of vitamin B6 daily. However, there are only 0.119 micrograms of vitamin B6 in one cup of black beans. You can’t fit one or more cups of dried black beans in a capsule, but don’t stress about the numbers when you start your supplement-making journey.
There are two factors to remember at this step — your digestive system and diet. Ten grams of ground black beans might not sit well in your stomach or could over-supplement your vitamin B intake if you eat beans in your meals. Servings depend on each person’s lifestyle and digestive tract, so start small and see how your body reacts as time passes. If you don’t exceed the daily recommended dosages of any given nutrient, you’ll maintain a healthy serving size.
6. Note Any Expiration Signs
Store-bought supplements contain ingredients that make them shelf-stable for months or years. Your homemade servings won’t have those additives. Watch them for signs of expiration, like clumping powder or oil discoloration. You can always make another batch if you’re unsure whether your servings are safe to consume.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Before you leave for the grocery store, note some common mistakes people make when creating homemade vitamins to avoid accidents like:
- Not cleaning your equipment before making supplements.
- Forgetting to label containers.
- Using expired foods as primary ingredients.
Once you know your whole foods are ready to eat and come from brands that align with your values, you’ll be well prepared to make supplements. Keep a list of steps nearby so you don’t forget things like checking your blender for moisture before turning beans or other foods into powders. You’ll avoid the most frequent mistakes and have a better experience.
Revamp Your Nutrition This Year
Eco-friendly, plant-based vitamins are easy to make. Consider which nutrients your diet lacks to choose the most effective homemade supplement recipes. Whether you turn beans into powder or condense foods into oil, you’ll create single servings that don’t compromise your values
