Review: Rootine Vitamins — Are They Worth it

Basic information about Rootine
Rootine is one of a new wave of D2C supplement and nutritional companies that has emerged in recent years. Rootine differentiates itself from other multivitamin companies by using optional DNA tests, blood tests, and lifestyle analysis, as well as highly customizable formulations through microbead technology.
So, is Rootine worth it?
We’ll give a full overview of them with pros + cons, questionnaires, ordering process, and more. You can jump to any section by clicking the table of contents on the right.
Rootine is a vitamin company that provides single-use nutritional solutions.
The company was formed to combat the use of generic multivitamins that people have been blindly consuming for years.
Rootine argues that mainstream vitamin companies have failed to supplement customers with more personalized solutions.
After an in-depth lifestyle assessment as well as DNA and blood tests (you can provide your own or receive theirs), Rootine breaks down exactly what you need and why.
This highly customized process takes the guesswork out of taking random multivitamins and Rootines.
My favorite part?
transparency. Rootine shows you everything, from what you need or don’t need to nutrients you should actively avoid.
You may be asking how online companies physically test you, but the answer is simple.
How does Rootine know what’s right for you?
If you’re tired of taking daily supplements with extra minerals and vitamins that your body doesn’t even need, then Rootine is for you. After completing the DNA test, Rootine designs a daily pack specifically for you and your organism. But the folks at Rootine don’t just use your internal biology to create your packaging. It also takes into account your blood data and lifestyle data.
Each pack contains your customized dose of 18 nutrients, minerals and vitamins. Unlike many other supplements, Rootine consists of a packet of microbeads instead of large, bulky, chalky horse pills. These extended-release microbeads are designed for maximum absorption, accurate dosing, and are absolutely free of fillers and additional ingredients. They’re 100% vegetarian friendly, made with raw nutrients, and non-disgusting.
Start Your Rootine Journey
Since Rootine offers fully customized personalized vitamins to suit each person’s unique situation, we had to do some upfront work before we started our journey.
Rootine’s approach follows an actually very simple two-step process.
This vitamin pairing process makes our formulas the best possible. However, they also provide a third step to make our nutritional profile better.
Let’s go through all three steps.
Step 1: Take the Lifestyle Quiz
The first step in creating our own unique vitamin formula is establishing a nutritional baseline. That meant we had to take the Rootine’s lifestyle quiz. The quiz is free, confidential and only takes a few minutes to complete. Let’s look at a few questions we were asked:
Do you follow any specific diet?
Our options are vegetarian, vegan, paleo and omnivorous. Dietary preferences can affect how the body absorbs certain nutrients. These options lack two dietary lifestyles: the ketogenic diet and the carnivore diet. These diets are high in protein and fat, with little to no carbohydrates. We’re not ketogenic or carnivores, but they do exist.
Can we ask what gender you were born with?
This allows for gender-specific (male or female) adjustments to our nutritional profile.
How would you rate your daily stress level?
Answers range from low, medium, high and extreme. Stress affects certain hormones in the body, some of which interact with nutrients.
They also asked us to provide our height and weight to calculate our body mass index (BMI), which is a measure of health.
quiz results
Once we have completed the questionnaire, our results will be emailed to us. At the end of the process, a Rootline dashboard is created for us where we can view our results.
Our preliminary report provided us with a sample of personalized nutrients based on our questionnaire. This includes recommended nutrients, each with specific dosage recommendations and detailed instructions.
The following nutrients are given:
Vitamins: B2, B6, B9 (Folic Acid), B12, D3, C, E
Minerals: Magnesium, Calcium, Zinc, Manganese, Copper, Iron, Selenium
Specialties: Phytosterols, Lipoic Acid, MSM, CoQ10, Omega 3 Fatty Acids
cost
The monthly prescription cost is $69.00 – billed in three installments. They need a three-month commitment. This 90-day supply isn’t accidental either — according to Rootine, it usually takes 90 days to change. The good news is that every time we add new data to the dashboard, Rootine reframes our vitamin profile to better support our journey.
Reorders are also available for 90 days and paid in three installments. They offer free shipping and we can cancel or suspend subscriptions by contacting them directly.
Step 2: DNA Test
The next step is completely optional. However, in order to better personalize our nutritional content, we think this is definitely a worthwhile step to take. A DNA nutritional test normally costs $125, but it was $99 because we ordered it and vitamins.
However, if you have Ancestry or 23AndMe genetic data, you can skip this step entirely and just put this information into your Rootine dashboard. Rootie geneticists only need 1 to 2 days to analyze it.
Rootine still recommends using their own DNA Nutrition Test as it analyzes more than 50 different genetic variants to provide key insights into your unique nutrient profile to help determine nutrient dosage. It has a simple at-home cheek swab. These data are completely confidential and we will receive results within 2 to 4 weeks.
Here’s what one customer said about the optional DNA test:
I went to 23andMe and also took this Rootine test. Both are about $100, but I find this test more useful. It doesn’t feel like a guessing game when I choose supplements and end up using their personalized micronutrient solutions.
Step 3: Blood Vitamin Test
This third and final step is also optional. Again, we decided to try this option because it helps to pinpoint specific indicators in your nutritional profile. The blood vitamin test measures our vitamin D, vitamin B6, B9 and B12 levels. This option is useful because we want to gain insight into our nutritional health.
Rootine recommends a blood vitamin test every three to four months to see how well these doses work in getting your vitamins to optimal levels. The test kits cost $125, or $99 if ordered with vitamins, and we got a simple finger prick at home.
This client seems happy with the results:
I love the idea that these vitamins are tailored to my unique needs. I don’t know of any other company that uses blood and DNA to determine your vitamin ratios – cool!
But at what cost?
Rootine didn’t hide the fact that there was an additional add-on fee initially associated with its subscription. DNA testing is not without cost. Before you start your subscription, you’ll need a DNA test for $199. However, if you already have a DNA test from a service like 23andMe or Ancestry, you can simply send it in and opt out of the DNA test altogether. After that, the 90-day supply costs $2.33 per day. For those without a calculator handy, the three-month supply is $69.99.
pros and cons
advantage:
The only company to customize complete, personalized vitamin regimens using lifestyle data, DNA and blood vitamin data.
The Nutrient Delivery System is optimal for optimal nutrient absorption, and its slow-release microbeads are free of fillers and artificial ingredients.
It offers complete convenience and the entire process from start to finish can be done online from the comfort of your home.
The company relies on scientifically and clinically proven, research-based approaches to nutritional supplementation.
All nutritional doses are individualized for you and yourself and contain all the important vitamins, minerals and essential nutrients.
shortcoming:
Three months can cost as much as $69 a month, not including the extra cost of DNA or blood vitamin tests.
They don’t have a monthly option.
Testing can be a lengthy process, taking 2 to 4 weeks to receive results.
Microbeads, while better than traditional capsules, take time to get used to.
bottom line
At the end of the day, there are several supplement companies that offer the same personalization approach as Rootine. Do these DNA-based vitamins help? The short answer is yes.
We are all unique, so our nutritional supplements should make sense too. If anything, the broad-net approach used by most nutritional supplement companies falls short of this ideal.
But Rootine isn’t built on a broad-net approach. They’re ready to make nutritional profiles one person at a time.