Collagen Schmollagen

Collagen. What in the world is it?

Collagen [kol-uh-juh n]
noun, Biochemistry.
any of a class of extracellular proteins abundant in higher animals,especially in the skin, bone, cartilage, tendon, and teeth, forming strong insoluble fibers and serving as connective tissue between cells, yielding gelatin when denatured by boiling.

Sounds kind of icky doesn’t it? But, it’s not.

I stumbled across a blog post from Predominantly Paleo in my blog reading one night about it. She mentions it in relation to thyroid health and hair health and I certainly have a problem with both of those. I’ve had thyroid cancer twice and have had my entire thyroid removed. I take thyroid supplements daily. In addition to that, I lost most of my beautiful long auburn curls when my hair fell out after a hysterectomy gone bad 2 years ago. My hair has not recovered in texture or color. But, that is a whole other blog post I intend to write soon.

At her suggestion I bought this one from Vital Proteins on Amazon:

Vital Proteins Pasture-Raised, Grass-Fed Collagen Peptides (10 oz)

It is an odorless and tasteless powder. I especially like that it is from grass fed and pasture raised cows. Vital Proteins says this about it:

Collagen peptides are short chain amino acids naturally derived from pasture-raised, grass-fed collagen protein. Unlike gelatin, these peptides are soluble in cold liquids as well as hot. Collagen peptides contain the same amino acids as gelatin which are identical to the protein found in skin, nails, hair, bones, cartilage, and joints. Gluten Free, rBGH Free, Non GMO. Uses: Stir into water, fruit juice, or other beverages; Add to smoothies as protein booster; Mix with oatmeal, soups, or sauces

I mix a scoop of it every morning in my turmeric OJ / pineapple juice mixture. Shake it up. I never know it’s in there. I’m sure it would be great in a smoothie but I don’t have time for that at 5 a.m. I wonder how it would be in just water? I don’t really drink coffee. I do drink decaffeinated iced tea in the summer but I’m not sure I would mix it in that. . . . . . . or Coca-Cola (a definite vice of mine).

My only complaint about the collagen powder is the packaging. The tub that it comes in is so wide that it is hard to get my hands around the top of it to turn it to open/close the lid. I can’t imagine what someone with arthritis would do. After day 3 of trying this I finally got smart and just poured the entire thing into a big mason jar. Problem solved.

I’ve been doing this for about 3 weeks now and my nails sure are growing faster. My main goal in this is to see if it will help my horribly bad knees and help make my fine hair grow thicker and faster. I’ve had numerous knee surgeries and really need a knee replacement on my right knee but I’m fighting that for as long as I can since I’m only 44.

Does anyone else take supplements such as this or tried it? What were your results?

PS – No one paid me in any capacity to post this. All opinions are my own.