Dr.Vegan: Vitamin D3

Does anyone get enough sunlight these days? Having been stuck inside for months, for us at The Amazing Blog, we certainly don’t! So, we were itching to try Dr.Vegan’s Vitamin D3, especially as it’s 100% plant-based and with the added bonus of multiple health benefits. We also like that their slogan says, Dr.Vegan products make a “Better Me. Better Planet.” 

Dr.Vegan  is for every kind of diet, all products are vegan or vegetarian, non-GMO and free of lactose, gluten, dairy, allergens, starch, and sugar. The company was founded in summer 2020 with the mission “to bring clarity, simplicity and ethics to your nutrition and supplements.” Dr.Vegan supplements are formulated by expert nutritionists and made in the UK. Their products are shipped worldwide and delivered for free in the UK. Dr.Vegan is all about protecting the planet, so their naturally sourced, plant-based supplements come in a refillable pill tin and are shipped in biodegradable and recyclable packaging. Since their ingredients are in a more bioavailable form, they are more absorbable and effective. And since their supplements come as capsules instead of tablets, they are free of binders and additives. Gordon Lott, the co-founder of Dr. Vegan, has been in e-commerce for 20 years and “is passionate about using technology to simplify the world of nutrition and supplements, empowering customers with easily accessible information to improve their understanding and control over their daily wellbeing.” On Dr.Vegan’s website, you can create a diet profile that shows you what nutrients your diet is missing and what supplements their nutritionists recommend for you. This was impressive, and creating a diet profile took us around five minutes, and all of the supplements they recommended made complete sense. 

Dr.Vegan’s Vitamin D3 is good for your bones, muscles, and immunity. Vitamin D also helps your body absorb calcium, keeping your bones and teeth healthy. It is good for your muscles, and specifically your heart, because it supports healthy muscle function. Did you know that low levels of vitamin D can cause heart disease? And lastly, vitamin D is good for your immune system because and keeps it in balance, so it’s not over or under-functioning. We get this vitamin from the sun, but most of us (especially in the UK) don’t get enough sunlight to be vitamin D sufficient, and that’s where this vitamin D3 supplement comes in. Being plant-based, Dr.Vegan’s Vitamin D3 is primarily sourced from the cholecalciferol in Lichen, which is a green algae.The only other ingredients this supplement contains besides vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol from lichen) are brown rice flour and capsule shell (HPMC, vegetable cellulose). Dr.Vegan’s Vitamin D3 comes with 30 capsules, where they advise to take one a day with food. Each capsule contains 2500IU, which is the ideal support for any diet. Public Health England recommends all adults take vitamin D supplements, specifically during the autumn and winter. And during the pandemic, many experts have recommended taking this D supplement to help protect themselves against COVID-19. Our conclusion is that vitamin D is always beneficial, especially right now — and Dr. Vegan has now made it easy for us all to access, with this their ethically sourced vitamin D3 supplements. If you’re lacking sunlight or looking to protect your health, you can buy Dr.Vegan’s Vitamin D3 here for 30 capsules it is £6.75 for a one-off or you can subscribe monthly, saving 15% and pay £5.74. 

Holistic Highland Hemp: Organic Acacia Hemp Honey

On The Amazing Blog, we love to search out lots of new and different products that incorporate CBD, due to all the good benefits that it offers.  Today we’d like to introduce Organic Acacia Honey here which has been blended with a full-spectrum hemp paste extract, which has cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids from Holistic Highland Hemp.

Holistic Highland Hemp is one of Scotland's leading suppliers of full-spectrum CBD oils, capsules, pastes, chocolates and honey. Founded by Kyle Esplin in 2012, Holistic Highland Hemp is a member of the Scottish Hemp Association (where Esplin in chairman), their aim is to work with all hemp and CBD providers, to help support the growth and development of the industry. Esplin started Holistic Highland Hemp after an illness caused him to turn to natural alternatives when conventional medications failed to treat and bring relief to his condition. Esplin now works with clients looking to optimise their health and wellbeing through natural methods, such as CBD. Esplin is passionate about sharing his knowledge and experience to help others take a more holistic approach to self-care and self-improvement. Holistic Highland Hemp prides itself on the integrity of their CBD which they put into their products. Esplin said, "All of our CBD products are regularly tested to the highest quality laboratory standards, allowing us to make sure we offer only the highest-grade CBD." This is an award-winning brand where in 2019 they won a Silver in the category of ‘Best Edibles’ at the Hemp & CBD Expo. All products compliant with the UK regulations and contain less than 0.01% of THC. 

Organic Acacia CBD Honey is blended with Holistic Highland's hemp paste, where both ingredients are sourced from the EU, but all blending, branding and packaging is done in Scotland. The mixing of the raw honey and the 8% full-spectrum (CBD) hemp extract is combined at low temperatures in order to help preserve the benefits of both the CBD and raw honey.  Full-spectrum CBD, we often talked about previously, with all for all it’s glorious cannabinoids that not only help to alleviate anxiety but can offer pain relief too. Honey itself is antibacterial and anti-fungal agent, a powerful prebiotic rich in antioxidants, and can even help to reduce bad LDL cholesterol. We tried the Hemp Honey with 250g of CBD (which has 1mg of CBD per gram of honey). The choice of an acacia honey here stems from its light and sweet taste, which complements the strong savoury hemp extract flavour. This Hemp Honey is intended to be taken straight and is particularly good for those who find the hemp extract's flavour alone too strong and earthy. It's versatile and easy to use, where you can simply spoon it straight from the jar. However, during this hot weather, we found it blended beautifully with vinegar, olive oil, and mustard as a simple salad dressing, or it paired rather well with toasted dark rye bread with lashings of butter! Watch this space, as Holistic Highland Hemp tells us that they hope to introduce Scottish honey soon to help reduce their carbon footprint. The 250ml Hemp Honey is available to purchase here in two CBD strengths: 25mg for £10.99, and a 250mg option available for £29.99. 

Hempura: Hemp Tea in Natural Raspberry

As regular readers will know, at The Amazing Blog, we’re big fans of CBD (see here) mainly because of the numerous benefits it provides, especially the calming effect, which is much needed during these uncertain times. We always try to seek out new and more unusual CBD products to introduce you to, and today we’re featuring another CBD infused tea, but this time it’s Hempura’s Hemp Tea in Natural Raspberry, which has no THC and a more summery and fruitier flavour. 

Hempura is a British brand launched in 2016 by Lewis Hadaway.  Passionate about CBD, he quit his job in nuclear project management to set up this CBD brand, Hempura, where even today, he is still very much hands-on. In this over-crowded and confusing world of CBD, Lewis wants to help inform and educate the consumer, providing us with high-quality authentic hemp extract CBD products, which are 100% traceable from seed to shelf. Hempura imports their raw cannabidiol from organic farms in Eastern Europe, where they use an advanced ethanol extraction method, for Hempura, they feel that this ensures the preservation of the naturally occurring terpenes, flavonoids, cannabinoids, nutrients and minerals present. Every batch produced is automatically sent to an approved third-party laboratory for complete analysis. Lewis recently commented, “We build relationships with our customers because CBD is a lifelong product.” He went on to say, “We empower our customers to make informed decisions. This reduces concerns and fears, especially for seniors.” The Hempura range consists of vapes, topicals, edibles and CBD Oils. The Original (full-spectrum) and the Refined (broad-spectrum) CBD oils contain the same amount of CBD. However, the Original contains all the natural hemp components (including the accepted amount of less than 0.05% THC) without the refinement of the broad-spectrum. There 10ml CBD Oil bottles with approximately 200 drops in each, and a strength starting from 250ml (2.5%) cannabidiol up to 1000mg (10%). The brand has been members of the Vegan Society since July 2019 (except the chocolates due to dairy) and all products are GMO free.

We originally wanted to try their CBD infused chocolate but, alas, these were out of stock. So, as it’s now summer, we thought trying this Hemp Tea in Natural Raspberry instead. Although THC-free, it’s still rich in natural terpenes and all-natural ingredients found in hemp and has 5% or 5mg of CBD (we think…from lab report) per tea bag. Let’s look at the ingredients. This has 100% organically grown hemp made with hemp leaves with no herbicides or pesticides. They say it’s free of additives (or not as the case may be!) We couldn’t quite understand why there is a ‘trace of propylene glycol’ here?! There are also dried raspberries with the addition of natural raspberry flavouring. Raspberries, themselves provide vitamin C with a small amount of vitamin A, thiamine (B1) and riboflavin (B2). Moving onto the potent terpenes found in this hemp CBD tea. With limonene, A-pinene, B-pinene and citral these have a hugely beneficial effect on the gut, intestine and also help to regulate blood pressure, see here. These combined are also known to help sleep and inflammation and studies have also shown that these terpenes can produce an antidepressant-like effect. We prepared the tea using one tea bag in the cup, and let it steep for about 5 minutes, until the tea was a glorious berry colour (see above photo). What we liked was that this had a robust and fruity taste, a far more complex and in-depth flavour than that of a regular fruit tea or plain hemp CBD tea. We think it’s ideal for the caffeine sensitive, or for those wanting a warming and fruity drink at night to help them relax and sleep. With 20 tea bags, weighing in at 11g, you can purchase the Hempura Hemp Tea in Natural Raspberry here for £9.99.

1CBD: CBD Infused Chocolates

Finding delicious CBD infused chocolates has had us all at The Amazing Blog on a bit of a mission. Much as we love CBD, sometimes, when it’s infused in chocolates or gummies, it can have a bit of an earthy or bitter aftertaste. This is where 1CBD have succeeded, where others have failed, as they have very shrewdly invited a master chocolatier to help them create their range of 1CBD CBD Infused Chocolates – and they are delicious!

1CBD launched in 2018 and are based in the North East of England. Started by marketeers and business partners Oman and Oliver, their journey of CBD discovery all began when they were commissioned to develop and work with another CBD brand. From here, they saw opportunities to bring their own CBD related products to market, and so, 1CBD was born. Keeping a high-quality control on the cannabidiols (CBD) that they use, is paramount for the brand, which is why they only source their broad-spectrum CBD oils from Colorado. They feel that the USA has more advanced manufacture and unique C02 extraction techniques, than that of the rest of Europe. Plus, the hemp plants are grown outside in the sunshine with no exposure to artificial UV lights, harmful chemicals or pesticides. All CBD oils are prepared in small batches, always freshly prepared, ensuring consistency, taste and potency. The broad-spectrum here means that there’s zero THC, and all raw extracts are vigorously tested and HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography) analysed by independent laboratories across the USA. Products range from CBD oils, capsules, balms to edibles. However, what piqued our interest, was their handmade, ethically sourced CBD Infused Chocolates, that they commissioned with the award-winning master chocolatier Paul Williams from Chocamor of ‘fiendishly good chocolates’ fame, to create on their behalf. The brand said, “What Choc Amor offered that the other chocolatiers didn’t, was the combination of premium quality cocoa in the chocolate, multi award-winning chocolate flavours and the unavoidable fact that their chocolate really does taste amazing!” And we couldn’t wait to try… 

Who doesn’t love chocolate? And with a whopping 20-25g of broad-spectrum (THC-free) 10% phytocannabinoid pure hemp CBD oil in each piece, it made us love them even more! These CBD Infused Chocolates come in 100g bags and contain a total of 300mg of the broad-spectrum CBD. They also tick our sustainability box, with how these stylish cardboard boxes are completely compostable, together with the cellophane bags. With three mouth-watering flavours, it was hard to choose a favourite, chocolatier Paul Williams said, “We decided to launch the range with three of our best-selling flavours, Raspberry Burst, Salt Caramel and Twisted Latte. These flavours combine really well with the CBD oil so that the consumer can enjoy a chocolate sensation, one mouthful at a time.”  What makes this pairing of chocolate and CBD so interesting is they both contain cannabinoids. Together these activate the endocannabinoid receptors, which in turn boost the anandamide levels (aka ‘the chemical of happiness’), and right now, who doesn’t need that? 

All these ingredients have a health benefit. The hemp extract has antioxidants and healthy omega fatty acids, making it great for hair and skin or just stress relief. The cocoa mass not only gives it its flavour but in moderation, it can help keep the heart-healthy. Like the hemp extract, cocoa butter is high in fatty acids, which can help hydrate and nourish the skin. Soya lecithin can raise good cholesterol (HDL) while lowering bad cholesterol (LDL). Natural vanilla flavouring brings a flavour, but it’s also rich in antioxidants. Sugar gives sweetness to the chocolate, and also, according to some scientists is can be beneficial for brain health. The whole milk powder found here is a good source of minerals such as magnesium, calcium, zinc, potassium as well vitamins A, D, E and K.

Let’s get back to these chocolates, each one has its own merits.  We loved the dark rich Raspberry Burst for its floral and fruity notes combined with the 60% cocoa solids. There is even a touch of balsamic vinegar and tiny pieces of dried raspberry in each square.  The Salt Caramel Blonde is a 50/50 unique blend of milk and white chocolate. It also has the smallest crunchy salty caramel flakes buried in the chocolate chunks, as well as rich double cream and butter; we savoured every delicious mouthful, especially as a midday pick-me-up. Last but not least, was the Milk White this is white chocolate at its very best… with the simple ingredients of single-origin cocoa butter, sugar, milk, soya lecithin and vanilla extract (and of course the CBD) it’s moreish, creamy and not too sweet. I’m not normally a fan of white chocolate, but this was my favourite. I’m ashamed to say, that keeping an eye on the CBD dosage (70g a day), went out the window, as I found myself greedily reaching for yet another square… For CBD novices and aficionados, I would heartily recommend these chocolate treats. They say, “Great for improving cognitive function, feeling energised and absorbing CBD with a fantastically moreish taste.” We say, “Please give us more…” To purchase any of the three CBD Infused Chocolates see here. They are currently on special offer for a limited time only at £9.99 

Great Lakes Gellatin® Co - Collagen Hydrolysate (10 x single servings)

With this damp and chilly start to May, we find that this sort of weather plays havoc with our over exercised and achy joints. However, this is where at The Amazing Blog we’ve learnt that taking a good collagen supplement comes into its own, as it reduces joint inflammation and stimulates the collagen synthesis in the body. Meet Collagen Hydrolysate, from the Great Lakes Gellatin® Company, which has 20 different amino acids that help to heal and repair the connective tissue. 

The Great Lakes Gellatin® Company is the pioneer of collagen hydrolysate technology. Founded in 1988, it was initially known as Grayslake Gelatin Co (which started production in 1922). They were the first company to research and develop the collagen and gelatin benefits, and ever since has been a market leader in this sector. Great Lakes Gellatin® Co are a family-run business, and was created from the founder’s promise to help and educate others into having a healthier lifestyle. Numerous scientific studies have shown to how collagen hydrolysate supports tendons and ligaments through strengthening the connective tissues, thereby helping to prevent injury and speed up recovery. It also helps muscle mass and strength through promoting lean muscle The cattle from which the collagen is sourced, are grass fed and pastured-raised in Argentina and Brazil, and animal welfare is one of this company’s main priorities. The brand’s products are kosher and free from gluten, MSG, GMO, and verified glyphosate, and easily fit into both the keto and paleo diets. It is also free of allergens and sensitisers: peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, seeds, fish/shellfish, dairy, eggs, soy, wheat, gluten, corn, mustard, celery stalk/leaf, yeast or yeast derivatives. This ground-breaking company also offers a wide range of other flavoured collagen hydrolysates, gelatin and keto products. 

We tried the Collagen Hydrolysate (unflavoured) in 10 x sachets a box. This has one ingredient only: 100% bovine hydrolysed collagen powder, which is a derived protein found naturally in bones, skin, and cartilage. This contains amino acids, glycine, proline and hydroxyproline which are responsible for the growth and repair of the body. In addition, collagen represents almost a third of the natural proteins found in our bodies. However, as time goes by, the production of collagen declines, which where a hydrolysed collagen supplement comes into play. It supports the digestive tract, increases joint health, improves bones density, tightens and hydrates skin, and strengthens hair and nails. It also has the added bonus of aiding sleep and concentration. The effects of bovine hydrolysed collagen on joints and bones have been scientifically proven to act as a kind of ‘intracellular glue’ giving support, shape and bulk to the blood vessels which feed bones and joints as well as vital organs such as the heart, kidneys and liver – and yet it’s not a medicine. This low molecular weight protein is easily digested just a few minutes after eating. It will not congeal because it has been hydrolyzed for quick assimilation and improved hydration to the connective tissue. We found that these Great Lakes Gellatin® Co Hydrolysed Collagen unflavoured powders to be colourless and odourless; they dissolve quickly in cold or hot beverages, which means you can put them in your coffee, tea or smoothie (see our berry smoothie above). It is also possible to dissolve them into soups or mix into yoghurt. One sachet (6 grams) or two (12grams) a day are enough. We stirred one sachet into our smoothie until the collagen powder dissolved - about 10-20 seconds - it’ll be quicker in hot liquids. If you need a little inspiration, you can take a look at their Recipes Page here for more ideas. To purchase Great Lakes Gellatin® Co Collagen Hydrolysate 10 x Single Servings, go to Amazon UK here  at £5.99.