I like Rootine because the company makes vitamins based on your lifestyle and a test of your DNA, they're delivered to your house once a month, and the microbead design allows for optimal delivery of nutrients.Though it's quite expensive (currently $60 for a 30-day supply), Rootine avoids overloading you with megadoses of vitamins and minerals that could be harmful to you.Before taking supplements, it's always a good idea to check with your healthcare professional first to determine if the supplement is right for you. I've tried dozens of multivitamins over the years: everything from the cheap generic grocery store brands to expensive options designed to aid in achieving specific health goals. For the most part, I haven't noticed much of a difference when taking the vitamins, though I feel sluggish when I don't take any multivitamin.However, when I recently tried Rootine vitamins, it was a bit different. I felt a little sharper mentally and physically. And in the month I tried Rootine, my health was excellent. I didn't experience any noticeable sickness or illness. Whether or not these observations can be attributed to the vitamin, I can't say. But based on my experience, Rootine is a unique multivitamin worth checking out.Before we explore my experiences with this multivitamin, I need to provide a few disclaimers: First, this review is based on my opinion ' this is not a scientific review of the vitamin. Our health editor has looked at the research, and there is a lack of evidence affirming Rootine's claims that a DNA test can provide a beneficial multivitamin.Additionally, before taking supplements, it's always a good idea to check with your healthcare professional first to determine if the supplement is right for you. And lastly, be careful to keep these vitamins out of reach of children.How Rootine worksRootine is different from other multivitamins because the company creates a custom multivitamin based on your lifestyle, health history, and a DNA test.To get my custom-made vitamin pack, I first answered an 18-question lifestyle quiz. This includes questions like:"Do you follow any specific diet'""Do you smoke cigarettes'""How tall and heavy are you'"The quiz takes about 10 minutes. You then enter your contact information so Rootine can send you a DNA test kit. If you already have DNA test results from 23andMe, Ancestry, or similar services, you can simply upload your genetic data, and Rootine will analyze it. This is much faster (one or two days) than doing a DNA test from scratch. You can also upload blood panel results from a health care professional to provide even more data to help Rootine craft a custom multivitamin.I chose to submit my DNA via Rootine's kit. With the kit, you swab out your mouth first thing in the morning. You then send it back to them in the postage-paid box. Collecting the DNA samples takes about 15 minutes.Six weeks after I mailed the DNA test back, I received my first month of vitamins.What you get with a Rootine subscriptionRootine is a subscription service. So after the initial quiz and DNA test, you receive 30 packs of vitamins each month for $60 per month. Each pack is filled with microbeads that you're supposed to take with a meal each morning.Printed on the box containing my packs were the supplement facts and ingredients. Though the numbers will vary based on your personal profile, my packs each had at least 100% of the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of vitamin C, vitamin D3, vitamin E, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, folate, iron, zinc, and selenium. There were also significant amounts of fiber (5g), calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper, alpha-lipoic acid, CoQ10, MSM, and phytosterol.When you access your Rootine account, you can see why your multivitamin contains the nutrients it does. For example, my vitamin has 506 mg calcium, which is higher than most because Rootine determined my lifestyle and genes warranted an elevated dose. My profile also shows me what the vitamins are intended for. For instance, as the most abundant mineral in the body, calcium is needed for strong, healthy, bones.What makes Rootine multivitamins stand outRootine was co-founded by Dr. Daniel Wallerstorfer, who is a leading genetic scientist and has more than a decade of experience building genetics and nutrient labs.I had the opportunity to ask him about Rootine over email, and he gave me a long list of examples for why taking DNA, lifestyle, and blood nutrient levels into consideration is important when choosing a multivitamin. We don't have room to cover all of them in this review, and there's an easy-to-understand explanation here, but here are a few ways a custom-made vitamin could be advantageous for you, according to Dr. Wallerstorfer:If you have the HFE gene, your body stores more iron than needed, a condition called hemochromatosis. If you were to take a supplement with extra iron in it, it could potentially be fatal.Rootine takes your lifestyle into consideration for several reasons. For instance, vegans typically don't get enough B12, gluten-free individuals may not be getting enough selenium, and people who avoid dairy may need extra calcium.The blood panel might be helpful because if your blood has low levels of a certain nutrient, there may be a deficiency in the body that a supplement could help with.I liked that there were no megadoses of any of the vitamins or minerals. At the most extreme, my vitamin C dose was 182% the RDA. Though there is no specific definition of "megadose," it's usually used to describe taking many times the recommended amount.Cons to considerYou need to follow the directions for how to ingest the microbeads. I figured I'd just toss them in a bottle of water and drink them. This was a mistake. I had trouble getting the beads down my gullet. They would stick to the water bottle and the crevasses between my teeth. You need to put them in a thicker substance that doesn't need chewing. A thick smoothie might work okay (add after blending) or you might sprinkle it on top of yogurt. My favorite method for swallowing the beads was to pour a little at a time directly onto my tongue ' this takes some practice ' and take a swig of water.I found the microbeads annoying, but they may be a nice option if you have trouble swallowing large multivitamins. Also, Rootine co-founder Rachel Sanders told me the design "ensures the best quality product and optimal delivery for vitamins and minerals." She added, "The innovative slow-release microbeads deliver a customized dosage of vitamins into your bloodstream throughout the day, which is aligned with how the human body would absorb nutrients from food."The DNA test was a little bit of a pain. You're supposed to swab out your mouth first thing in the morning before you eat or drink anything. I need espresso to exist and down shots almost before I even open my eyes. It took some real trickery to derail my normal routine to do the DNA test.Once I sent the test back, it seemed like there was a huge window ' six weeks ' before I finally got my vitamins. Fortunately, they told me this would be the case ahead of time and sent updates throughout the process. Plus, you only have to do the test once before the vitamins arrive like clockwork. You might also consider skipping the DNA test altogether since the efficacy of it is questionable.The bottom lineAfter the long customization process and once I got the hang of the microbeads, I found Rootine to be an outstanding multivitamin that, based on my opinion, kept my health on track even when my eating was less than exemplary. But is it worth the $2 a day price tag'Most multivitamins take a one-size-fits-all approach, which is great if you've done your research and can determine that the supplement has exactly what you need. If you are in the dark and want to get the vitamins and minerals you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle, it might be worth spending the money to get a supplement designed for you. Also, if you find that you take a cocktail of supplements in the morning, it might be worth it to consolidate into one catch-all pack.What are your alternatives'If after reading all of the above you decide Rootine is not for you, you might consider some of the options in our guides to the best women's multivitamins and men's multivitamins.However, if you can afford it, I strongly recommend trying Rootine. You can't beat a multivitamin that attempts to take your lifestyle and genetics into consideration to keep you healthier.Pros: Customized multivitamins, microbeads may be easier for users to swallow than the usual large pills, vegetarian/vegan, no megadosingCons: Expensive, long lead-up time if doing the DNA test, swallowing the microbeads takes some practiceJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: Behind the scenes with Shepard Smith ' the Fox News star who just announced his resignation from the network
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