Collagen is one of the hottest, most talked about supplements right now. As many of you know, it’s a staple in my health regimen. THIS is the exact brand/product I use. Today, I want to share my 90 day progress update since starting collagen *regularly.* I’m going to share the exact results/benefits I’ve personally noticed and help you decide if you should try it out.
photo credit: Vital Proteins
First things first, I wanted to include the point that this “test” of mine was done over 90 days using collagen regularly. I think that is important because you can’t take a supplement or do something at random or ever so often and try to draw conclusions from it. You know what I mean? I actually set an alarm in my phone to remember to take my collagen because 1) I really wanted to see the benefits and 2) I’m wanted to stay consistent so I could share what I found with you
Okay… you may recall, I planned on sharing a “60 Day Collagen Update.” Well, ever since I started sharing about my collagen use, so so many of you have talked with me about it and a lot of you said “I really noticed the benefits when I stopped using it.”
I thought to myself: “maybe I should take 3 weeks off of collagen to see if I notice any changes?!” That’s exactly what I did.
MY 90 DAYS ON COLLAGEN
DAY 1-30: 1 scoop/day
DAY 30-60 1-2 scoops/day
DAY 60-80: no collagen
DAY 90-now: 1-2 scoops/day
photo credit: Vital Proteins
MY GO-TO COLLAGEN
THIS is my go-to collagen powder product. You can find it on the brand’s website, on Amazon, at Whole Foods, everywhere! Accessibility is important to me but quality is crucial. When I first started researching collagen, the Vital Proteins brand stood out as the highest quality. This one is grass-fed, pasture raised, flavorless and odorless- making it good to mix into anything. I always add it to smoothies and my water, ACV, lemon mixture. Plus, I LOVE that they have to-go packs for single servings.
Okay, so here are the benefits I actually and truly noticed.
1. BLOATING
This one took me by surprise and I actually looked more into it. When I was on collagen regularly, I felt a lot less bloated. Bloating is just a normal part of my life and being a women; I expect it and I don’t sweat it, so I was taken back when bloating just wasn’t much of a thing for me. I believe this big time benefit has a lot to do with the role collagen plays in gut health. Our digestive tract can “leak” out toxins but one of the many roles of collagen is to “seal and heal” the protective lining of the GI tract. I’m very interested to discover if any of you have noticed this too??
2. SKIN RADIANCE
I heard so much chatter about collagen’s role in skin and nail health. Honestly, I was pretty excited yet super skeptical about this. I was on a walk with my friend and was drinking my collagen. She asked me about it/the benefits after she saw me talking about it on Instagram. I told her what I thought and I recall saying, “I don’t know if it’s in my head, but I do feel like my skin has a little more life and radiance to it.” She replied, “I actually think so.” Collagen makes up 70% of the protein found in skin and it play a structural/support role. As we age, collagen decreases and we don’t make more so taking it in a supplement form can help with skin and I do truly believe it’s helped mine.
3. JOINTS
Hands down this is the biggest benefit that I noticed when I began taking collagen regularly and the greatest thing I noticed when I stopped taking it. I purposely kept up with my running while taking collagen because for me, running causes joint discomfort from time to time so it was a good test. I kid you not when I was taking collagen regularly, joint pain was not on my mind even once. However, after stopping about 15 days in, I was doing sprints and my ankle was irritated the next day. I instantly thought: collagen. This benefit is important to me because it’s one that I feel and has long-term benefits.
4. HAIR GROWTH
This is for real for real too! I’ve always had long, thick hair and hair growth has never been a concern for me. After I had my child, I had a lot of postpartum hair loss, especially near my temples. It was so bad that for a good 3-4 months, I didn’t wear my hair in a pulled back ponytail because you could see patches right to my scalp. Since starting collagen, this hair has totally filled in. I know hair loss and growth can happen naturally but I do feel the collagen use really sped up the process… I am happily back to pony tails lol.
Those are the top 4 benefits I’ve experienced firsthand. I am very interested to hear what benefits you’ve found if you use collagen too.
Also… I’ve written a few posts on collagen, which I’ll link here in case you’re interested!
COLLAGEN POSTS:
ALL ABOUT COLLAGEN – part 1 (read this post for an overview on collagen)
OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIE BREAKFAST BOWL RECIPE (read this for how to cook with collagen)
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