Standout Vitamins & Minerals Brands from Expo East 2022

Let’s say two vitamin/mineral supplement brands you’re comparing have the exact same magnesium product—how do you determine which is better?

This is the space we inhabit as supplement reviewers; everyone can stock a certain vitamin or mineral supplement, but it takes a truly innovative brand to add more value to the product on top of what it already provides.

For example, we learned at Expo East 2022 that MaryRuth’s Organics delivers allergen-free, vegan vitamin and mineral supplements to accommodate people of all ages and dietary needs, and Biolyte is six times more potent (speaking of electrolyte content) than most popular sport drinks.

Keeping this spirit of innovation and quality in mind, here’s our list of the best vitamin and mineral supplement brands from Expo East 2022. 

MaryRuth’s Organics: Vegan, Non-GMO Vitamins and Minerals

Not to cheapen the value of their all-vegan catalog of high-quality, organic multivitamins, but we have to say: MaryRuth’s Organics had one of the coolest looking booths in the expo.

Lining those attractively lit shelves are rows of MaryRuth’s many vegan, non-GMO, and organic multivitamin supplements, which are unique for a few reasons other than this rare combination of certifications.

First—and this is an absolute make-or-break item for many parents out there—MaryRuth’s Organics Vitamins are completely peanut-free, making them safe for kids with peanut allergies who are so often boxed in on their multivitamin options.

Speaking of “free statements,” all the MaryRuth’s products we investigated are also wheat, milk, egg, fish, and crustacean free. Some of their kids products are also sugar-free.

MaryRuth herself, the certified health educator who founded MaryRuth Organics in 2014, is a strong proponent of liquid multivitamins, an emphasis that has been clearly reflected in the product catalog.

Liquid, capsule, or otherwise, the MaryRuth’s selection takes a well-balanced approach to multivitamins, multiminerals, and more targeted products singling out nutrients like ionic zinc or collagen, and some products use liposomal delivery for enhanced absorption into the body.

You can shop the MaryRuth’s selection by one of their many focuses, like gut health, immunity, skincare, etc., or by “life stage,” that beautifully diplomatic workaround for “age.” 

Having a complete catalog of multivitamins and multiminerals no longer impresses at this stage in the game, but MaryRuth’s embodies the new standards—clean, vegan, non-GMO, and fun-to-take options for people of all life stages and health situations.

Trace Minerals: Easy-To-Use Micronutrient Drops

Is that guy at the Trace Minerals booth probing a potato?

We were going to drop by the Trace Minerals booth anyway, but an eye-catching display they had going on definitely enticed us a bit more.

Upon closer inspection, we learned that Trace Minerals Manager of Education and Training Dr. Darrin Starkey—a board-certified naturopathic physician—was using the unwitting spud and some other produce items to demonstrate just how lacking our food supply is in trace minerals.

The potato, banana, and other food items Dr. Starkey had on hand would barely illuminate the light at the other end of the probe, which was sensing the electrical energy from the ionized minerals in the foods, but a single drop of trace minerals into a beaker caused the bulb to burn much brighter. 

Like all good doctors, Dr. Starkey was not reticent to lay some inconvenient, but needed truth bombs on us, explaining “We’re only as healthy as our soil is fertile.”

Even if you eat plenty of fresh produce, Dr. Starkey added, you will likely still fall short of your daily trace mineral requirements.

Another inconvenient, but crucial point he shared with us (can you tell we love the science types?) is that humans can’t derive the nutrients we need from filtered, bottled, and/or distilled water—hence the need to replace the nutrient content of the spring or creek water that we dare not drink anymore. 

Thankfully, innovative companies like Trace Minerals have made resolving this issue as simple as adding a few drops to your water.

We’re only as healthy as our soil is fertile.

Dr. Darrin Starkey, Manager of Education and Training at Trace Minerals

Speaking of drops, Trace Minerals has transcended the catch-all option to provide a vast selection of targeted products, including concentration-boosting mineral drops, liquid gut health formulas, ionic biotin and collagen, and several dozen more.

No crazy flavors, no over-hyped marketing claims, just—you know—saving lives and stuff.

And if that last bit about saving lives sounds a bit melodramatic, we’ll close with the final doctor-ism delivered with perfect dryness by Dr. Starkey: “The very definition of death, by the way, is not when our heart stops beating, but when all the electrical impulses in our brains stop.”

Biolyte: Uber Potent Hydration Drinks

Somehow, Biolyte has made the prospect of an IV drip seem a bit more approachable and fun.

Of course, they weren’t literally putting on a clinic at the expo, but rather, showcasing their doctor-formulated hydration drinks made to closely mirror the potency and electrolyte content of an actual IV bag, which is of course loaded with potentially life-saving electrolytes.

If it isn’t apparent yet, these NSF-certified hydration powerhouses aren’t for the casually thirsty; they’re more of a life raft for a nutritionally depleted body.

Whether you’ve overdone it the night before or have had a huge workout the day of, this will get you hydrated.

Brian Grudzinskas, Key Accounts Manager at Biolyte

Affirming this, Biolyte Key Accounts Manager Brian Grudzinskas told our team, “You’d have to drink six of the leading sports drinks to equal what’s in this one bottle.”

Much more than just good old salt and sugar (which, to be fair, are both important to hydration and tissue recovery), Biolyte also contains liver-cleansing milk thistle, L-carnitine, ginger root extract, and plenty of vitamin B, among other savvy additions.

“Whether you’ve overdone it the night before or have had a huge workout the day of, this will get you hydrated,” Brian added, to which we would add that their drinks have created a compelling case for muscle soreness recovery and stress reduction as well.

You definitely won’t want to be kicking back multiple bottles (or even one) of Biolyte a day if you aren’t really “slaying” workouts, as the kids say, but for those who do put their bodies to the test, we can’t deny that Biolyte is bringing far more to the table nutritionally than the vast majority of drinks we’ve seen.

And hey, they were pretty good!

Life Extension: A Complete Library of Multivitamin Supplements

They didn’t know it, but Life Extension was the very first booth we visited at this year’s Natural Products East Expo, and thankfully, they made the visit a fruitful one.

Speaking of fruit, the first sample we tried at the event was Life Extension’s Gummy Science Youthful Collagen gummies, which were very tasty for a sugar-free product or otherwise.

As we chewed, Life Extension Education Scientist Dr. Vanessa Pavey gave us the rundown of the latest developments at the premium vitamin and supplement brand.

“This is the newest addition to our gummy line, a Mediterranean Weight Management product,” she explained while brandishing a container of the gummies. “It has a Moro blood-orange extract that helps to support a healthy weight.”

Far beyond weight loss products, the 40-year-old brand has built a reputation for their considerably wide selection of high-quality vitamins and supplements, including, but not limited to:

• Essential vitamins and nutrients (calcium, vitamins A/B/C, etc.)
• Turmeric
• Digestive Enzymes
• Magnesium
• Multimineral and multivitamin products
• Probiotics
• “But wait, there’s more!” Really—there’s a lot more.

It quickly became clear to our team after our brief conversation with Dr. Pavey that Life Extension is among that highly transparent tier of vitamin and supplement brands that makes an active and ongoing effort to educate their customers—not just sell to them.

In addition to her comments, the site’s education portal and wellness blog are certainly on the more robust side, even for this more technical end of the health and wellness products industry.

The gummies were great and Dr. Pavey’s knowledge bombs were equally enjoyable—thanks for kicking off our expo the right way, Life Extension!