I have shared homemade chewable vitamins for my kids (or adults) in the past. It’s definitely a crowd favorite in our home, but I wanted to share my herbal liquid multivitamin tincture.
This recipe essentially creates a liquid multivitamin with herbal glycerite, made with certain high nutritional herbs. Easy to customize and suitable for kids and adults.
Making herbal multivitamin tinctures is the same as the process used to make herbal glycerates, but these specific herbs are a natural source of nutrients and make excellent vitamins. The overall nutritional content is low, but it is bioavailable.
Why liquid vitamins?
My kids love egg yolk/gummy vitamins. This is also a great source of gelatin. However, this tincture has a high concentration of some vitamins and minerals from herbs. Plus, it’s more concentrated so you don’t have to do that much. You only need a few tsp of this tincture to get plenty of vitamins/minerals. This can lead to difficulties in controlling illness or food (such as early as pregnancy).
It’s much easier to make supplements a regular part of your daily routine and make them easier to take!
Homemade herbal multivitamins are also an inexpensive way to get the necessary vitamins and minerals without the additives and fillers that are common in commercially available vitamins. Minerals come from natural plant sources (herbs), so they are more likely to be balanced than synthetic versions. And their natural synergistic effects help to increase absorption.
When made correctly, herbal multivitamin tinctures taste good and are an easy way to get small ones to take into vitamins! It also uses such vitamin tinctures during pregnancy, breastfeeding of nutrients, and to balance the immune system.
Multivitamin tincture herbs
Before using herbs, be sure to research and use only herbs that are available for long term use. I’ve shared the recipe below, but before you can make it, you need to decide which herb is best for your family. In the past, this recipe has had an alcoholic option to make a true tincture, but vitamins and minerals are not extracted into alcohol. By using glycerin, the recipes still avoid synthetic preservatives, are shelf stable and a better source of certain nutrients.
Make herb vitamin glycerites
Glycerin is popular in several groups due to its sweet taste. It is also an alcohol-free way to store herbs for those who want to avoid alcohol. It’s sweet, but not sugar and most often doesn’t raise insulin levels. It’s also very popular with kids!
Alcohol tinctures are a little stronger than glycerite, so you should take a higher dose with glycerite. However, glycerin does a better job of extracting water-soluble vitamins, aromatics and other ingredients. You don’t actually get fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin D, E, A, and K.
Here are the herbs I use in my recipe:
Why I chose these specific herbs
Alfalfa
Alfalfa is often referred to as a “natural multivitamin” with high concentrations of many vitamins and minerals. Most notably, it contains eight essential amino acids, vitamin K, and has the highest chlorophyll content of any plant. This is also why I use it in my pregnancy tea. Herbal glycerates made with alfalfa include vitamins B and C, some calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.
Red raspberry leaves
This is one of my favorite herbs and I took it later in my pregnancy. It has B-vitamins and vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, and phosphorus. Raspberry Leaf is a favorite for pregnant women for its ability to tone the uterus and facilitate the workforce. Magnesium is very useful to me during pregnancy, so perhaps this is partly due to its magnesium content.
Dandelion leaves
It also has extremely high vitamins and minerals, especially calcium. It’s the same type of dandelion that ramps in your backyard, and its roots, leaves, and even flowers are very convenient! Dandelion roots are said to be ideal for digestive and intestinal health, as well as for liver, pancreas, gallbladder, and circulatory systems.
Not only does dandelion leaves have calcium, but they also find vitamin B, potassium and iron. It is often used as a diuretic to flush out excess waste from the body and support the kidneys (without depleting potassium).
Stevia
I use stevia simply for taste, but it has its own health benefits. This herb is optional, but optional if you don’t have anything or want to skip it. Stevia is rich in phenols, flavonoids, vitamins and minerals. It also has antioxidants, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory properties. You can also find folic acid, micronutrients, essential amino acids, calcium, potassium, iron, and vitamin C.
I’ve also included peppermint leaves in the past for kids, but I prefer not to use this in large quantities during pregnancy or in very small children. I usually remove mint from my multivitamin tincture. Nettle leaves are another common option for multivitamin tinctures. Like alfalfa, it has very high nutrients.
How to make liquid multivitamin tinctures
This liquid multivitamin is technically herbal glycerite, as it uses vegetable glycerin to extract nutrients. You can see step by step instructions on how to make glycerites in this post. The following method uses a sealed boiled extract. Heat helps to extract plant ingredients, and using a jar with a lid prevents volatile vegetable oil from evaporating.
Our herbal multivitamins use:
Mix in the required amount, usually 1 part = 1/4 cup, or 1 part = 1 ounce.
You can scale the recipe up and down depending on how much you want to make. For the following recipes, a pint of jar is sufficient. If you want to put it in a quart jar, double it. Note that if you put it in a pint jar you will get a total of about 1.5 cups of liquid. The exact amount depends on the amount of liquid the herb absorbs and how thoroughly you squeeze it afterwards.
I usually fill a 1/3 to 1/2 jar with dried herbs and don’t stuff it.
Herbal Multivitamin Tincture
This herbal glycerite is a great (and tasty!) way to get extra nutrition.
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Add the dried herbs to the jar. Pour in the glycerin and water and mix.
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Wipe the rims of the jar and cover them.
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Place a laundry cloth or silicone baking mat (to prevent the jar from breaking) at the bottom of the junk pot “keep warm” or at a very low setting. Fill the crockpot with water, cover 3/4 of the jar (don’t cover the lid!) and turn on the lowest setting.
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With this setting, place it in the slow cooker for at least one day and add water if necessary. I did it for up to 3 days.
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If you want to use a stove, place a washing cloth on the bottom of the pot and place the jar on top. Fill the pot so that the water covers about 3/4 of the jar. I use a pot deep enough to do this and cover the pot. Simmer slowly for 2-3 hours.
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Once the mixture is cool, remove the herbs using cheesecloth. Wrinkle the fabric and remove as much liquid as possible.
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Store the glycerites in a clean dropper bottle or jar.
- When properly manufactured and stored, glycerites last 2-3 years.
How much does it cost?
Take up to 1 teaspoon (or 1 tablespoon in the morning) up to three times a day, if necessary. Children usually get 1/2-1 teaspoon per day.
More options
When I didn’t have the time or supplies to make tincture, I used the same herb combination and did the basic infusion instead. Alternatively, add dried herbs to your smoothie.
To make the injection, pour 1 cup of herb mixture, cover and 1/2 gallon of boiling water over a sudden night. For smoothies, add 1 tablespoon of dried herb powder to the smoothie. Herb infusions extract more vitamins than glycerites, but they are not shelf stability or concentrated!
pregnancy
If you are pregnant or are likely to get pregnant, this multivitamin tincture is not sufficient as it requires extra nutrients and trace minerals that the mother needs. This is the prenatal supplement I used during my pregnancy. You can also try this nutritious pregnancy tea recipe.
Have you ever made herbal vitamins? What did you use? Share it below!
