Which format should I choose: capsule, powder, liquid or tincture?

It depends on the dose you need and how you prefer to take it. Format Best suited to Practical note Capsule Daily vitamins and minerals Easy to dose up or down Powder Larger amounts, greens Mix into food or drink Liquid Children, small doses Drops, no swallowing Tincture Herbal extracts Alcohol based, strong taste Capsules suit most routines. Choose liquid if swallowing is an issue.

How much vitamin D is recommended in the UK, and how do the doses compare?

UK guidance sets a modest baseline, while supplements often go higher. Knowing both numbers helps you read a label. Group Daily amount Do not exceed Adults and 11+ 10 mcg (400 IU) 100 mcg (4,000 IU) Children 1 to 10 10 mcg (400 IU) 50 mcg (2,000 IU) Babies under 1 8.5 to 10 mcg 25 mcg (1,000 IU) Everyone in the UK is advised to consider a daily supplement in autumn and winter. Compare strengths across our vitamin D3 range . Source: NHS

Viridian Supplements: Vitamins, Minerals and Herbs

A UK brand built around what is not in the capsule

Viridian Nutrition has made supplements in Northamptonshire since 1999 and is still family owned. The range runs from vitamins and minerals to herbs, nutritional oils, tinctures and balms. Products come in amber glass jars, which keep light and moisture away from the contents better than plastic does. Everything is made in the UK, and a large part of the range carries Soil Association organic certification. You will find this name next to the other labels in our brand overview, and the difference shows up on the ingredient list.

The detail that defines the brand is the base. Active ingredients rarely fill a capsule on their own. Where many makers top up the space with a bulking agent such as maltodextrin, Viridian uses a wholefood mix of alfalfa, spirulina and bilberry. The capsule shells are plant based, so nearly the whole range suits a plant-based diet. If that matters to you, our vegan selection shows what else fits.

Forms, doses and where the range is strongest

Most products are vegan capsules, with powders, liquids and alcohol-based herbal tinctures alongside them. Doses sit per capsule rather than in one large tablet, so you can step up or down without splitting anything. Three parts of the range stand out:

Multivitamins: High Five, Essential Vegan and the ViridiKid line for children.
Magnesium: bisglycinate, taurate and other forms, each with a different feel and dose.
Herbs and organics: tinctures and extracts, many of them certified organic.

It is worth comparing a Viridian formula against the wider daily multivitamin range before you settle on one.

Why we stock Viridian

We judge a brand on three things: the form of the nutrient, the dose, and whether the combinations make sense. This range holds up on all three. Magnesium bisglycinate rather than cheap oxide, vitamin D3 paired with K2 in one bottle, B vitamins in a full complex instead of a single lonely B12. We buy directly from the brand, so what reaches you is authentic, and our compliance team checks every product before it goes live. We test in house and independent labs spot-check batches. You can read how we select brands and products.

Who it suits, and the honest nuance

This range suits you if you read labels and want to know what shares the capsule with the active ingredient. It costs more than supermarket vitamins. That comes from glass packaging, organic raw materials and slower production, so it is worth paying for when sourcing and the base matter to you. If you only need a basic daily dose, a simpler product will do the job.

One point competitors leave out: in 2025 the UK advertising regulator upheld complaints about the brand's "no junk" and "100% active ingredients" campaign, partly because a capsule shell is not a nutrient. The formulas themselves did not change, the advertising wording did. The clean base is real, the absolute claim was not. For a single daily mineral, our magnesium options are a practical place to compare forms and prices side by side.

Viridian Nutrition is a family-owned British supplement company, founded in 1999 in Northamptonshire and manufacturing in the UK. The range covers vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs, nutritional oils, tinctures and balms, several hundred products in total. Most are vegan and a large share is certified organic by the Soil Association. Products are sold in amber glass jars rather than plastic, because glass is inert and shields the contents from light and moisture.

It means no flow agents, bulking agents, artificial colours or flavours. When the active ingredients do not fill the capsule, the remaining space is topped up with a wholefood base of alfalfa, spirulina and bilberry instead of something like maltodextrin.

Be aware of the limit of that claim. In 2025 the UK advertising regulator ruled that describing the products as containing only 100% active ingredients went too far, since the capsule shell itself is not a nutrient. The base is still cleaner than most, the wording was simply too absolute.

Nearly all of the range is vegan: the capsule shells are plant based rather than gelatine. A small number of products use animal-derived ingredients, so check the individual label if you are strict about it.

Organic is a smaller subset. Around eighty products carry Soil Association organic certification, mostly the herbs, oils and green blends. A vitamin or mineral formula can be vegan without being organic, so the two labels do not always appear together on the same jar.

It depends on the dose you need and how you prefer to take it.

Format	Best suited to	Practical note
Capsule	Daily vitamins and minerals	Easy to dose up or down
Powder	Larger amounts, greens	Mix into food or drink
Liquid	Children, small doses	Drops, no swallowing
Tincture	Herbal extracts	Alcohol based, strong taste

Capsules suit most routines. Choose liquid if swallowing is an issue.

UK guidance sets a modest baseline, while supplements often go higher. Knowing both numbers helps you read a label.

Group	Daily amount	Do not exceed
Adults and 11+	10 mcg (400 IU)	100 mcg (4,000 IU)
Children 1 to 10	10 mcg (400 IU)	50 mcg (2,000 IU)
Babies under 1	8.5 to 10 mcg	25 mcg (1,000 IU)

Everyone in the UK is advised to consider a daily supplement in autumn and winter. Compare strengths across our vitamin D3 range.

Source: NHS

Give it two to three weeks of consistent daily use before you judge. Most nutrients work by topping up what your diet does not cover, and blood levels move slowly. Vitamin D and iron in particular can take longer, often two to three months, because the body rebuilds stores gradually.

Take it at the same point each day so you do not forget. Fat-soluble vitamins such as D, A, E and K absorb better with a meal that contains some fat.

Three things drive the price. Amber glass jars cost more than plastic tubs. A large part of the range uses certified organic raw materials, which are more expensive per kilo. And the slower, semi-automatic filling method avoids processing aids such as magnesium stearate, so output per hour is lower.

Whether that is worth it depends on you. If the base and the sourcing matter, the extra cost buys something real. If you only need a basic daily top-up, a simpler product does the same job.

Many Viridian labels state that the product is not to be used during pregnancy or breastfeeding unless a healthcare practitioner advises it, especially the herbal formulas. Always read the individual jar.

Pregnancy has one firm UK rule: avoid supplements containing vitamin A as retinol, and avoid liver, because too much can harm the baby. Choose a product made for pregnancy instead. For children, the ViridiKid line is formulated with age-appropriate doses rather than adult amounts split in half.