Unclotting Vitamin K

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We’re looking at some new multivitamin products at work, and since my last post on Vitamin D, I was wondering what other vitamins I’m missing from my daily diet.  So everyone’s heard of Vitamin A, B, C, D, and E but what’s up with Vitamin K and why did we skip Vitamin F, G, H, and I?  The answer:  a German scientist who discovered this vitamin named it K because of its primary property in blood clotting (or “Koagulation” in German).

Where to Get Vitamin K

Naturally occurring Vitamin K (phylloquinone) comes from foods like green, leafy vegetables and green tea.  Some of my favorite products that are high in Vitamin K are:

  1. Broccoli
  2. Spinach
  3. Kale
  4. Romaine Lettuce
  5. Parsley
  6. Brussel Sprouts (New for me! I just discovered this while at a restaurant last Friday.  I never thought I could like this vegetable.)
  7. Collard Greens (so good!)
  8. Cucumber
  9. Tomato
  10. Blueberry

The other form (menaquinones) comes from bacteria in the gut (yes, healthy bacteria lives in our intestines).  Bacteria in the gut produce a range of vitamin K2 forms, each with side chains composed of a variable number of chemical compounds.  Menaquinones can also be found in food that contains bacteria like cheese and natto, or in animals that also produce the vitamin via their gut bacteria. Continue reading

Hairstyle Trend Photos 2013: How To Get Sideswept Waves, Deep Part – SAG Awards – Jennifer Lawrence, Amanda Seyfried

Hairstyle Trend Photos 2013: How To Get Sideswept Waves, Deep Part - SAG Awards - Jennifer Lawrence, Amanda Seyfried

Last night was not only a big occasion for actors at the 19th Annual Screen Actor’s Guild Awards in Los Angeles, California, but a night for the next big trend in hair: the side swept wave! Hollywood’s hottest leading ladies including Jennifer Lawrence, Amanda Seyfried and Julianne Moore all sported this retro hairstyle with a modern twist.

Read on to see how Julianne Moore‘s hairstylist for the evening, Living Proof‘s Chris McMillan, gave her relaxed, Veronica Lake-type waves.

Hairstyle Trend Photos 2013: How To Get Sideswept Waves, Deep Part - SAG Awards - Jennifer Lawrence, Amanda Seyfried

“First, I applied Living Proof Prime Style Extender to her damp, towel-dried hair and combed it through. Prime Style Extender gave me the sleek, healthy hair I needed for styling. I parted the hair on the left and blow-dried it straight with a large round brush.

Hairstyle Trend Photos 2013: How To Get Sideswept Waves, Deep Part - SAG Awards - Jennifer Lawrence, Amanda Seyfried

On dry hair, I applied the Firm Hold Hair Spray as a heat protector and used a 1 1/2-inch curling iron to create a S-curve with her bang, accentuating her eyes and keeping her hair away from the face. I then used the same iron to bend the ends under, curling the iron in a counter clockwise motion. I wanted the look to be glossy, sleek and simple.”

Are you lovely ladies fans of this Old Hollywood side swept hair trend? Let us know by commenting below, which will automatically be posted to our Community Forum (click here to check it out!) where you can find other beauty related discussions! Don’t forget to also submit a photo to our Photo Of The Day (click here!) feature, where a new photo will be picked daily. Your photo just might be selected, so get going!

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My Fave Vegan Foodie YouTube Channels.

Happy World Vegan Month!

Since becoming vegan I’ve found myself obsessed with food, even more so than I used to be, that is. I love cooking, I love trying new foods and I love experimenting in the kitchen. Being vegan has made me so much more adventurous and my tastes and palette have expanded so much.


Gone are the days where I would binge-watch beauty vloggers, these days I’m all about the vegan YouTubers who inspire me to try new foods, be a little healthier or make me crave cookies like nobodies business.


I thought I would list a selection of my favourites below for you to explore, and hopefully, you find some new YouTubers to watch! I feel like I have a really good mix of wholesome whole food healthy vegans and those who post ice cream taste tests and put plenty of butter in their cookie recipes.

Cam & Nina


I love this Australian duo, they’re so calming to watch and make some of the most beautiful videos. I’ve made a bunch of their recipes and love watching their ‘what we eat in a day’ videos for healthier food inspiration.

A Chill Vegan


Emily posts really great ‘What I eat in a week’ vids and her sense of humour is everything. She’s super chill about veganism and I dig it.




So You’re Dating a Vegan


My favourites!! I freaking love Duncan and Liz and this is the only channel that Mikey and I have watched every single one of their videos TOGETHER! (at first, it was just because I had to show Michael how much he looked like Duncan, but then we got a bit hooked on their fun & unique videos). The pair actually got married this summer and I cried watching the video. I LOVE THEM.

Mary’s Test Kitchen


Mary posts ‘what i ate’ and recipe videos. Her recipes are amazing and so easy to follow. She has everything from homemade vegan cheese and yorkshire puddings, to donuts and bbq ‘pork’ buns. (those are next on my list!)




Ellen Fisher


Ah, that perfect Hawaiian life. Ellen is a ray of sunshine and her videos are becoming more and more beautiful. She definitely inspires me to eat more whole foods, salads and greens whenever I watch her videos. I’ve watched every single video she has uploaded.

Liv B


One of my more recent subs, I like Liv’s easy, comfort food recipes and simple ideas for tasty meals. There’s plenty of easy recipes for mug cakes, waffles, snacks and all the pasta. Plus, have you ever seen someone with such gorgeous blue eyes? ugh.

Sarah Lemkus


Sarah is from New Zealand and is also about to have a baby any day now like meeeeeee! I think I found her channel from searching what vegan toddlers/kids eat videos, (gotta be prepared – also most interesting videos ever!) where she showed her 2yr old daughter Beth’s meals. I fell in love with their happy little fam and have been subbed ever since.

Hot For Food


What vegan isn’t subscribed to Hot For Food?? I think she must have been one of the first all-vegan food channels I found. I’ve made so many of her recipes, the cauliflower buffalo wings are my favourite and I make them once or twice a month at least! Chicken noodle soup, corn and courgette fritters, mac and peas… all staples! I can’t wait for her cook book next year.

Taira


One of only two UK YouTubers I’ve listed – oops! I definitely need to find more. Taira has six children. Yes. Six! and they’re all vegan and amazing. She mostly posts vlogs but I love seeing what they get up to and of course, what they eat – they make me feel totally chill about having a vegan baba with a totally ‘normal’ diet. Nuggets and chips do happen, and that’s totally okay because they’re vegan nuggets 😉

Sarah’s Vegan Kitchen


I subscribed to Sarah 9 months ago when she posted a video of her taste testing two different vegan smoked salmon recipes. It blew my mind! Vegan salmon! (I made the carrot one btw and it was tasty but so much effort). I then binge watched every video she had ever uploaded and have watched every new one since, so much delicious food!

The Viet Vegan


Lisa’s recent recipe for a lemongrass banh mi inspired me to make seitan for the first time! and it was a hit! So I obviously had to subscribe.

Cheap Lazy Vegan


Need inspiration for cooking on a budget, Rose is ya gal. Plus, she’s Korean and posts a lot of noodle recipes, and I love anything with noodles, so that’s great.

Mommytang


Mommytang doesn’t seem to upload anymore, but I had to include her because she fueled my love for all things vegan korean food. I would never have found kimchi without her, I owe the lady a lot.

Avantgardevegan


Gaz is our second UK YouTuber! His recipes are absolutely insane, just one quick look and you’ll understand. Katsu curry, toffee apple brownie, nut roast… yum! It’s no wonder he also has a cookbook coming out soon. His videos are TV standard and really professional, too!

And that’s all I have for you, for now!


Do you have any recommendations for channels I can check out??


Supplements I’m Taking Whilst Vegan & Pregnant.

I can’t believe I’m 29- about to be 30 weeks pregnant, can you? Where is the time going?? I blink and another week has flown right by.


Between working full time, sleeping and trying to organize life to accommodate a soon to be very real baby on the weekends, I have had little to no time at all to blog about anything I’ve really wanted to, let alone keep you updated on preggo life!


As most pregnant women do, however, I’ve been regularly taking vitamins to help support my body whilst it grows another human. I spent hours searching for vegan-friendly prenatal capsules, reading reviews and weighing the cost per capsule before I finally made my choices.

In the end I decided on an algae oil based omega 3 from the brand Testa, and a Prenatal multivitamin from Terra Nova. These seemed like the best value to me for vegan, high-quality vitamins. Some of the prices for vitamins are shocking with 30-60 caps sometimes for over £30! I get that they have everything in them and are organic etc, but seriously, if you have to take two a day that’s not a lot for your money.

The Terra Nova Prenatal Multivitamins are £20.50 for 100 capsules. Taking two capsules a day obviously lasts me 50 days, though with the odd forgotten day here and there a bottle has lasted me two months and works out at 41p per two capsules/day.


What I like about these capsules is that they contain folate instead of folic acid. Folate (Vitamin B9) is the naturally occurring form of synthetically produced Folic Acid. Converting synthetic folic acid into the active form of Vitamin B9 is a much slower and less efficient process for the body, which can lead to un-metabolized folic acid hanging around the bloodstream leading to health problems. The body can handle folate much easier than folic acid, converting it quickly into B9 in the digestive system before it enters the bloodstream.

The capsules also contain the natural, most bio-available version of B12, methylcobalamin, as opposed to commonly used cyanocobalamin, which the body has to convert to methylcobalamin and discard of the cyano-compound (cyanide molecule!) anyway before it can be used. Plus, there’s vegan vitamin D3 and iodine!

Whilst vitamins are no replacement for a healthy diet and lifestyle, I have felt better taking these daily, my energy levels have been good and I haven’t experienced any huge negatives with pregnancy other than the odd ache and pain so far. My skin has been a solid 8/10 and my nails are so strong they’re practically weapons. I also have peace of mind that I’m still getting some good nutrients into my body for the baby whilst I’m eating pizza and ice cream for the second time that week.

TWO VEGETARIAN CAPSULES TYPICALLY PROVIDE:


MAGNIFOOD COMPLEX 350mg PROVIDING:


Kale (fresh freeze dried – ORGANIC) 100mg, Blackberry Fruit (fresh freeze dried) 50mg, Bilberry Fruit (fresh freeze dried) 50mg, Pumpkin Seed 50mg, Stabilized Rice Bran 50mg, Beetroot Juice & Greens (fresh freeze dried – ORGANIC) 25mg, Spinach (fresh freeze dried – ORGANIC)

25mg Calcium (as carbonate, citrate, ascorbate) 100mg


Vitamin C (as Ca, Mg, Zn ascorbate) 60mg


Magnesium (as oxide, citrate, ascorbate) 50mg


Vitamin E (d-alpha tocopheryl succinate – 30iu) 20mg


Citrus Bioflavonoids 20mg


DHA (docosahexaenoic acid – vegetarian) 15mg


Iron (as bisglycinate) 15mg


Niacin (as niacinamide) 15mg


Zinc (as ascorbate) 10mg


Pantothenic Acid (as calcium pantothenate) 5mg


Vitamin B6 (as pyridoxine hydrochloride) 5mg


Choline (as bitartrate) 5mg


Inositol 5mg


Vitamin B1 (as thiamin mononitrate) 3mg


Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) 3mg


Natural Beta Carotene/Mixed Carotenoids 2mg


Copper (as gluconate) 1mg


Manganese (as bisglycinate) 0.5mg


Folate (as calcium L-methylfolate) 400ug


Biotin (as prep.) 150ug


Iodine (as potassium iodide) 100ug


Selenium (as selenomethionine) 25ug


Chromium (as picolinate) 20ug


Vitamin D3 (vegan cholecalciferol [from lichen] – 400iu) 10ug


Vitamin B12 (as methylcobalamin) 5ug

Whilst taking an omega 3 supplement seems to not be a necessity for pregnancy, DHA is important for brain and vision developments, so I wanted to take this as an added extra. Especially as I don’t find myself eating a lot of chia pudding or flax seeds to get lots of omega 3!

The Testa Omega 3 capsules are £16.90 for 60 capsules, but unlike most variations, you only need 1 capsule per day, which works out at 28p per day over the two months. The downside is that the capsules are large (not massive, but pretty chunky!) so if this is an issue for you, you may need to look for other brands where you take two smaller capsules per day for the same dose.

Each capsule contains 250mg DHA and 125mg EPA for healthy heart, eye and brain development, there is no fishy taste or smell at all and I’m sure they’re contributing to my skin improvements and general wellbeing, which isn’t their purpose but an added bonus!

Ingredients:


Algae oil (Schizochytrium sp.), glycerol, modified corn starch*, high oleic sunflower oil, carrageenan, rosemary extract, anti-oxidants (tocopherols and ascorbyl palmitate) and acidity regulator (sodium carbonate). 

Testa Omega-3 uses absolutely no genetically engineered ingredients, no preservatives, and no sweeteners, flavours or colours. *’Modified’ Corn Starch only means the corn starch is ‘modified’, not to confuse with ‘Genetically Modified’. For the corn starch, it means it’s heated so it gets binding properties, which is required for the capsule shell.

For 69p a day, I’m happy with my choices and will continue to take these after pregnancy too, to support breastfeeding and passing on extra nutrients to baby – if all goes well! That’s something I’m very nervous about as I don’t like the idea of cows milk or even a vegan soya formula much. Fingers crossed everything works as it should!


My New Favorite Face Powder

Hello Makeup Geeks, today I have a review for you of my new favorite face powder. I am so excited to share this with you as I love this face powder so much! As many of you know I have very sensitive skin and am prone to break outs quite easily. I have recently found out I am allergic to talc and it is so very hard to find foundations and powders that are talc free. Unfortunately, talc is used as fillers in a lot of cosmetics. It can clog pores and cause breakouts. For me it was essential I find products that did not include talc unfortunately, finding talc fee products is quite hard. I found this at a trade show recently and couldn’t wait to try it and see if worked as good as I had hoped. I was not disappointed.

Emani Pressed Mineral Foundation (Amazon)