If you’re familiar with the Kardashian brand, it may not come as a surprise that Kourtney Kardashian Barker is wading even deeper into the wellness space.
Kardashian Barker, who founded Poosh in 2019, recently launched Lemme, her own brand of vitamins and supplements.
The goal for her new venture is highlighted in her founder’s note on the website: “Over the last five years, I went on a mission to collaborate with doctors and scientists to create gummy vitamins and supplements that use clinically-backed ingredients and formulations that help you live your best life.”
The Lemme essentials bundle includes three different kinds of gummies: “Lemme Matcha,” for energy, “Lemme Focus,” for concentration and “Lemme Chill,” to de-stress.
Those all seemed intriguing to me, so I purchased a bundle and decided to give the supplements a try.
And for a better understanding of the ingredients and the promises Lemme makes — to improve my focus and decrease my stress, for example — I spoke to Jen Scheinman, registered dietitian nutritionist and senior manager of Nutrition Affairs at Timeline Nutrition.
Did Kourtney Kardashian Barker’s Lemme gummies work for me?
I took all three Lemme supplements consistently for two months, alternating between each vitamin throughout that period. Here’s what I thought:
- Lemme Focus: The focus supplements were very helpful for me. When I took them, I often checked everything off of my to-do list and was extremely productive. I kept a tracker to help determine how the gummies were working for me, and on a day that I had the focus vitamins I noted: “I was able to write two stories today. Maybe there is some truth to this focus thing!”
- Lemme Matcha: The matcha gummies were pretty tasty, but I wasn’t expecting any real change in my energy levels. But after taking them for a few weeks, I finally noticed it having an effect when I attended a four-hour art show. I still had the energy to go out for dinner after, which isn’t very on brand for me. My only qualm with these is how often you need to take them for a continuous boost to your energy. The recommended dosage is two gummies, three times a day, which is much more often than I’d need to take most vitamins.
- Lemme Chill: While I suspected the chill gummies would work well for me, they ended up having the lowest effect. I tried them during high-stress situations like babysitting or busier-than-usual workdays; at times I would feel more relaxed, but it didn’t do much for lowering my stress levels overall.
Kourtney Kardashian Barker launched Lemme in September of 2022.
Renée Onque
Here’s what a nutritionist thinks about Kardashian Barker’s wellness supplements
“I think she did a really nice job of picking ingredients that have sound science behind them,” says Scheinman.
“But one of the things that I’ve noticed is that for many of those ingredients, there’s a lot less of that particular ingredient than what the studies show is beneficial.”
Everyone’s experiences with the vitamins will likely be different, but here’s how Scheinman ranks them based on their ingredients and doses.
1. Lemme Chill, De-stress Gummies
“This one was probably my favorite of the three,” says Scheinman because it includes strong ingredients, and Kardashian Barker was “right on with the doses.”
Key ingredients:
- Ashwagandha (300 milligrams): Scheinman is in favor of ashwagandha, an herb with a lot of research that shows it may reduce stress. “Most people tolerate it really well, and there’s some excellent research around it helping to reduce anxiety,” she notes. “She was right on in this one with the dosage.” Between 200 and 500 milligrams is an effective dose.
- Herbal blend with Passionflower, Lemon Balm and Goji Berry (15 milligrams): Typically, Scheinman tells her clients to steer clear of supplements with proprietary blends because “you don’t know how much of each of those ingredients are in there.” Though, individually, passionflower, lemon balm and goji berry are great for boosting mood and energy, she adds.
2. Lemme Matcha, Energy B12 Gummies
Kardashian Barker’s approach to her energy supplements got some praise from Scheinman: “One of the things that I really appreciated about what they put together here is targeting cellular health and cellular nutrition. If we’re energizing our cells, then we will feel more energetic.”
Key ingredients:
- Vitamin B12 (24 micrograms): “That’s a pretty common vitamin that’s in a lot of energy supplements,” says Scheinman. The matcha vitamins actually exceed the recommended dietary allowance for B12, she says, but this dose is still safe to consume and will likely be helpful for boosting energy.
- COQ10 (20 milligrams): This antioxidant is very important for energy production in the mitochondria, Sheinman notes. While it’s well-researched and can be supportive in increasing energy levels, the dose is far too low in Lemme gummies. “From what studies show, the minimum is about 100 milligrams,” she says, “so, in terms of COQ10, it’s probably not doing much.”
- Organic Matcha Green Tea (50 milligrams): Matcha is one of Scheinman’s favorite things to recommend for energy because it has less caffeine than coffee, and has an amino acid that works well when paired with caffeine. “But again because there’s such a small amount of matcha in this supplement, I just don’t know that there’s enough to be doing anything.”
3. Lemme Focus, Concentration Gummies
The focus gummies landed at the bottom for Scheinman mainly because of the significantly low doses of its core ingredients.
Key ingredients:
- Citicoline (250 milligrams): Citicoline is a precursor to a molecule that is “a really important component of [brain] cells, helping to make them healthy,” says Scheinman, “which if you have a healthier brain, then you’re going to have better focus.” Still, studies she reviewed found that citicoline improved focus with double the dose that’s found in Lemme’s gummies.
- Lion’s mane (25 milligrams): This mushroom is growing in popularity for its ability to help people focus better. “The starting dose is usually, and this is on the low end, about 500 milligrams of Lion’s mane, and she’s only got 25 milligrams. That’s pretty far off from that dose that studies have shown is a little bit more effective.”
- Vitamin B12 (4.8 micrograms): Here, the RDA is doubled, but “unless you’re deficient [in B12], it’s probably not doing too much for generating focus or that increased energy.”
- MCT oil (10 milligrams): “Some people report better focus and energy with MCT oil, but the clinical studies show this benefit is best when people are following a ketogenic diet,” says Scheinman. “For some people, that may be plenty to feel an effect. For others, it might not be enough.”
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