Hero Nutritional's sugar-free gummy multivitamins and 60-percent dark chocolate calcium medallions are welcome innovations in supplement delivery for kids and adults.
Hero Nutritional's sugar-free gummy multivitamins and 60-percent dark chocolate calcium medallions are welcome innovations in supplement delivery for kids and adults.
New Hope editors are seasoned samplers of natural products of all sorts. Most recently, a box of new supplements from Hero Nutritionals had everyone converging around my desk wanting tastes. Since when do people get excited about taking supplements? When they resemble candy, of course.
Inspired by gummy bear candies, Hero founder Jennifer Hodges got the brilliant idea to introduce the first gummy multivitamin for kids back in 1995. Their popular Yummi Bears remain the number-one selling line of kids’ vitamins.
Sugar-free, allergen-free
I was most excited to see sugar-free options for both Yummi Bears Multi and for Slice of Life, Hero’s adult gummy line. Better yet, Hero isn’t using usual-suspect alternative sweeteners, which usually have a slight aftertaste my kids can sniff out in an instant. Instead, natural fruit flavors (strawberry, grape, pineapple) sweeten mildly, along with lo han fruit and chicory root. Colors are also natural: black carrot juice concentrate, turmeric, annatto.
In a nod to the growing special-diet trend with kids, Yummi Bears are also free of gluten, dairy, and other common allergens.
Dark chocolate for the ladies
The other big hit in our office? A reformulation (and upgrade) of Hero’s woman-targeted Healthy Indulgence line. I’ve always steered clear of calcium chews, suspecting inferior nutrient quality, plus extra sugar and calories. Hero’s new calcium and multivitamin supplements up the ante with gourmet, 60 percent cacao dark chocolate discs. (It’s not Godiva, but it’s pretty darn good.)
With 500 mg of calcium citrate (along with cofactors 250 IU vitamin D3 and vitamin K), the medallions are dosed properly, given the body can only absorb this much calcium at once. Women should take one in the morning, one at night. The sugar content is low: 2 to 4 grams per medallion. These supplements should be quite popular with women seeking a more enjoyable way to take their supplements.
