Last Updated: May 13, 2021
Natural Vitality Calm Gummies are tasty magnesium supplements that support the body’s systems and functions and promote calm and relaxation. Do they work? Grove writer, Kristen Bailey, went head-to-head with Calm Gummies, and here’s how it turned out.
I am not a calm person. I’m super laid-back and flexible deep in my bones, but my brain is a merry-go-round spinning off a constant barrage of thoughts and ideas that land on top of one another and brawl, stumble around like drunken preschoolers, or roll around in pain and agony, making everyone uncomfortable.
As you can tell, it’s very crowded and busy up in there, and while a combination of medication and meditation helps slow down the ride, it would be great if there were something (legal) to take the edge off when things get outta hand.
And that’s why I decided to try Natural Vitality Calm Gummies, a magnesium citrate supplement that purports to relax the body and quell the storm upstairs. Could it really be that simple?
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Magnesium is an all-star player in more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body that influence things like nerve and muscle function, blood pressure regulation, and blood glucose control. According to the National Institutes of Health, around 48 percent of Americans of all ages don’t get enough magnesium in their diet, which can cause a range of symptoms — although a magnesium deficiency is difficult to diagnose. Some studies show magnesium supplements may help reduce depression and anxiety.
Note: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Each Calm Gummy contains 83 milligrams of magnesium citrate. A serving size is one gummy for children ages 4 through 12 and four gummies — 330 milligrams of mag — for ages 13 and up. (I have no idea what happens to the two missing milligrams when you take four gummies.) Check out the recommended daily intake for magnesium if you’re unsure how many gummies you should take.
Calm Gummies are vegan and gluten-free and contain no artificial colors or flavors. Although the bottle doesn’t list any certifications, Natural Vitality’s Calm product line is Certified C.L.E.A.N. and Certified R.A.W. Their parent company, Nutranext, holds QAI organic certification, and is compliant with Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMPs) to ensure pharmaceutical quality.
The gummies themselves are made with 10 ingredients: Organic tapioca syrup, organic cane sugar, water, inulin, vegetable glycerin, agar, citric acid, natural flavors, and locust bean gum, which sounds like the stuff you chew in nightmares. Organic black carrot gives it all an appetizing, candy-pink color.
GROVE Q & A
Yes. Gummy vitamins are just another delivery mode for essential nutrients. Whether you take a vitamin, mineral, or supplement in the form of powder, pill, gummy, capsule, tea, tonic, or tincture, you can rest assured the product contains the dosage it claims on the bottle if it’s a high quality product from a reputable company.
Natural Vitality claims on the bottle that after taking Calm Gummies, “you may notice your muscles relaxing and an overarching sense of calmfulness.” Calmfulness? That really sent the merry-go-round spinning. What the —? Is that a real word? Has that been a word all along?
I Googled it and happened upon Natural Vitality’s core values — and the birthplace of calmfulness, a term invented by the company, who defines it as “a non-stressed and positive approach to life and living [that] includes clarity, focus, and personal energy management so that one brings one’s ‘A’ game to the —” Wait, what did that say? Personal energy management?
My brain shivered to a halt and squeezed out a memory of my better half telling me that when I’m stressed, my vibe is “rusty barbed-wire fence.” I work on managing my emotions every day, but I didn’t know you could work on managing your personal energy! I imagined emitting palpable waves of calmful energy, even when I’m under a lot of stress. “Wow, check out that tranquil vibe,” my S.O. would say as I smash down a pork chop at the dinner table with a deadline standing behind me tapping its toes.
So I turned to Google for more information and some hot tips on managing my personal energy — and quickly realized that what Natural Vitality means by “personal energy management” is that Calm Gummies and their other Calm products will help you better manage and balance your physical and mental energy throughout your busy day. My brain rolled its eyes at me.
Anyway, I could probably use some help managing my physical and mental energy, too, so how about we crack open the Calm Gummies and get on with it?
Note: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease."
GROVE Q & A
Magnesium supplements aren’t suitable for everyone. If you take any medications, including some diuretics, antibiotics, proton pump inhibitors, or heart medication, or if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, check with your doctor before you take Calm Gummies — or any other magnesium supplement.
I opened the child safety cap and held the bottle of Calm Gummies up to my nose. The gummies smell exactly like raspberry Jolly Ranchers taste, which I’ve long associated with John Lennon’s “Watching the Wheels.” I dispensed four of the gumdrop-shaped, sugar-coated pastilles into my hand, smelled them again, and popped one in my mouth.
Yum! Seriously, these things are dangerously, deliciously snackable, with a very un-vitaminy taste and a nice, firm texture. I was about to pop another one when my 11-year-old, my adult niece, and my pardner came into the room and wanted to try them, too. So I doled them out, and they all agreed that they’re super darn tasty.
I went into my office to work while I waited for the overarching sense of calmfulness I had coming to me, but then I got busy and forgot to pay attention. Later, I tried to remember whether I’d noticed anything out of the ordinary (like calmfulness) in my brain or body, but I couldn’t be sure.
I took up to four Calm Gummies every day for the next couple of weeks, but I never noticed my muscles relaxing or an overarching sense of calmfulness sweeping over me. I wondered if maybe my copious coffee habit counteracted the effects — which could very well be the case. Don’t tell anyone, but I even began to wonder if maybe Calm Gummies were, you know, fake news.
And then one day, as I was helping myself to a small fistful of them, the niece came in, and I offered her some. “No thanks,” she said. “Every time I take those, I fall asleep.” And I’m like, whaaa? srsly?
I wondered aloud if I should double my dose, and she told me a cautionary tale about a woman she used to work with at the health food co-op who took four Natural Vitality Calm Packets — the equivalent of 11 Calm Gummies, or 940 mg of magnesium citrate — in an attempt to ease her sore, aching muscles. Oh, it relaxed her muscles, all right, and that’s how she learned that magnesium citrate is also a powerful laxative. Good to know in a pinch!
Just because Calm Gummies didn’t give me an overarching sense of calmfulness doesn’t mean they won’t work for you. Judging by the overwhelmingly positive reviews from all over the internet, these babies are calmifying adults and children alike — and even lulling them into beautiful, blissful sleep.
The outliers in the reviews are mostly folks like me who seem to be destined for calmlessness despite adequate magnesium intake. I’m still chasing the dragon, though, taking Calm Gummies every day — I’m snacking on a couple right now! — because even if my overarching sense of calmfulness never manifests, I know that my body’s getting the magnesium it needs to help keep my heart healthy, my blood pressure low, and reduce my risk of diabetes, depression, and colorectal cancer — among many other benefits.
That, and they’re very, very tasty.
About the author: Kristen Bailey is a writer watchin’ the wheels go round and round in the Midwest. She’s been writing for Grove since 2020.
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