A Dietitian’s Non-Sponsored Review of Llama Naturals

As cold and flu season comes around, I am a big sucker for immune-boosting ingredients like elderberry, vitamin C, and zinc. Many factors go into staying healthy during the colder months, but I like to play it safe and load up my immune system. In this review of Llama Naturals we’ll see how they stack up.

Llama Naturals offered to send me their Adult Elderberry Immunity Gummies, and of course, I was excited to try them. The products I tried were gifted, and today I am sharing my honest unpaid review with you, i.e., I am NOT getting paid to write this, although how nice it would be for me if I were. 

About The Products

All of the products available on their website at the time of writing are plant-based gummy products. The adult product line includes two flavors of multivitamins (cherry and strawberry), a probiotic, and an elderberry immunity gummy.  

Unlike other gummy products, these are made with all organic fruit and use fruit pectin for the gummy consistency. 

Are Vitamin Gummies Vegan?

Most times, gummy products like gummy bears, rings, and gummy vitamins are not vegan because they have gelatin. Gelatin is a non-vegan product with animal bones, cartilage, and skin. Cow or fish products are used for this, and the end result is clear and gelatinous. 

Gelatin alternatives that are used in plant-based or vegan products include;

Pectin

Agar Agar

Cornstarch

Other gelatin alternatives that I don’t recommend because of their negative impacts on gut health are;

Carrageenan

Xanthan Gum

Guar Gum

Review of Llama Naturals Nutrition

For the nutrition breakdown of the review of Llama Naturals Elderberry Gummies. I am looking for immune-boosting ingredients. These gummies have;

Elderberry Extract: 150mg

One study found elderberry to reduce the frequency of cold and flu-like sicknesses at a ratio of 18:1 (1). The Llama Naturals elderberry gummies have a ratio of 35:1. Another Study found that elderberry can reduce the length of cold-like sickness at 300 mg of elderberry extract (2). 

Zinc Chelate: 2.25mg

Chelating makes zinc more stable and better absorbed in the body. Zinc can reduce the duration and severity of cold symptoms (3). Many studies used higher amounts of zinc for a short period. It is important to note that the RDA for adults for zinc is 8mg for women and 11 mg for men per day, and having more than you need can also cause adverse effects. The amount of zinc in this product is safe for the general population. 

Vitamin C: 27 mg

To best reduce the duration of cold symptoms, take vitamin C before you even get sick! But the amount matters. Small doses less than or equal to 200mg per day didn’t show any decrease in the likelihood of getting sick when exposed to sickness like the cold or flu (4). Most vitamin C supplements for improving immunity have 1,000 mg to 2,000 mg, which may help reduce the length of sickness. 

This is a supplement, it’s not supposed to cover the whole day’s needs for any one vitamin. It should supplement food sources. 

Ingredients List

Organic Apple (juice), Organic Peach (puree), Organic Elderberry Extract (35:1), Organic Vitamin C (Acerola Cherries), Zinc Chelate, Organic Rice Flour (coating), Organic Lemon (juice), Fruit Pectin, Organic Flavor.

This product has no gums or added sugar that doesn’t come from fruit, which is delightful to see and quite rare with vitamin gummies. 

Taste

Overall, the taste of these was like candy, and they are super easy to remember to take because they tasted so good! They didn’t leave any weird aftertaste or other additional negative feelings. 

The flavor is so much like a candy I was surprised to see that the sugar only comes from fruit and that they didn’t use maple syrup or a non-vegan option like honey.

Cost Breakdown 

Compared to other vitamins on the market, these are comparable in price to other elderberry products. The cost per jar is $27.95, or you can subscribe to save 10%, making each jar $25.16. Each jar has 90 gummies, and the serving is 3 per day. 

You would have about a month’s worth of gummies for $27.95. 

Shipping is free on orders over $40, and if you’re buying one jar at a time, you would have to pay shipping of roughly $5 (that is what it costs to ship to Phoenix, but can vary depending on your location) 

If you are interested in trying these after reading my review, you can lessen your shipping cost with code RHYAN at checkout. You will save most, if not all, of the shipping cost. 

My Overall Review of Llama Naturals 

TLDR; if you skimmed and ended up here, this is an overview of what I liked and what I didn’t like about the Llama Naturals Elderberry gummies. 

Pros

• Third-party tested– this means the product has what it says on the label inside. It’s safe and is a rip-off. 
• Sugar comes from fruit.
• No gelatin, and it is all vegan
• Taste: 5/5
• Texture: 5/5
• A high amount of elderberry has shown great benefits for immune system health. 

Cons

• Online only 
• Cost: 4/5 docking for shipping cost, but as mentioned above, you can cover most if not all, the shipping cost with my code RHYAN. 
• Vitamin C amount isn’t close to other immune support products.

As always, if you’re thinking of adding new products to your diet, consult with your healthcare provider.