I’ve talked about collagen before on the blog, but it’s something I get questions about constantly because, well, I promote the crap out of it. I’m obsessed with it. And I’m not one to talk about supplements very often. I don’t take any pills or drink protein shakes after a workout. I just like to eat real food. But when I found out about all the benefits from collagen…mostly the beauty benefits…I gave it a try and was quickly hooked after a few months.
It’s been about a year since I started adding collagen to my diet every single day and my skin, hair, and nails have never been better. Before I started taking collagen, my hair NEVER grew. It stayed the same length and even though I didn’t know it at the time, it was pretty unhealthy. But once I started adding collagen, a few months later my hair began to grow and become thicker. And the same goes with my nails. They grow SO FAST! But one of the main reasons I started to take collagen is because it helps out your skin as you age. And as you may know, I am ALL ABOUT doing whatever I need to do to help my skin age well. We naturally produce collagen but often not enough, especially as well get older. Which is why I do so many laser treatments on my skin to help rebuild and restore new collagen. And adding the collagen to my diet is just another added bonus to help with my skin’s moisture and elasticity…aka dat plump baby face.
But if you’re not as vain as me, I promise you, collagen is still for you! Collagen helps with joint health, bone strength, healthy cartilage, it improves gut health and digestion and it can even help with sleep! So even if you’re not obsessed with the beauty benefits, how can you not be obsessed with the health benefits? And since it’s insanely easy to add into your daily routine, there is really no excuse to not try it out and see the benefits!
Vital Proteins is a brand that you can rely on and trust to add into your daily routine. They source their collagen peptides from grass-fed, pasture-raised bovine hides from Brazil and their marine collagen is sourced from wild-caught, non-GMO Red Snapper off the coast of Hawaii! They use cattle from Brazil because the cattle industry in Brazil is still based on grass systems, where the cattle are pasture raised. Brazil also has a law which prohibits the addition of hormones to the feed. The hormone rBGH is typically injected into dairy cows to make them produce more milk, but the Nelore breed is not a dairy producing cow and is strictly used as a beef breed. And Vital Proteins makes sure that the cattle are taken care of and in alignment with the Global Animal Partnership 5-step animal welfare rating standards. So you know you are getting the best quality whenever you are purchasing a Vital Proteins product!
You’ve probably seen me talk about Vital Protein Unflavored Collagen Peptides on my instagram, blog and instagram stories because it’s my favorite product of theirs, but they have SO many different products to choose from nowadays! The Beef Collagen Peptides as well as the Marine Collagen Peptides are both unflavored and can be added to anything. Since I drink coffee every morning, I add a scoop or two of the Beef Collagen Peptides to my coffee, mix, then add a little heavy cream and stevia and it tastes exactly like my normal coffee! Now they even have Coconut Collagen Creamer now but I much prefer the unflavored Beef Collagen Peptides so I can make my coffee taste exactly how I want it to!
And Vital Proteins has added a ton of different products to their brand, so if you don’t drink coffee, not to worry! There are still a ton of different ways to get your collagen! Here are some of my favorites:
- Melon Mint Beauty Water – Add to water or juice
- Beauty Greens – Add into smoothies or soups
- Matcha Collagen – Even though I don’t like Matcha, I know tons of people are drinking that instead of coffee nowadays
- Vanilla Whey – Use in water or milk for your post workout drink
- Beauty Boost Capsules – If you don’t want to drink your collagen, just have it in pill form instead!
Collagen has seriously been life changing for me. I even pack it with me on vacations to make sure it’s still part of my daily routine. And I’ll be packing it with me on my upcoming trip to the Caribbean on my catamaran vacation! Last time I went on that vacation, I was the first one up every morning to make my collagen coffee before I worked out and soaked up every bit of sunshine. If you haven’t tried Vital Proteins yet, I highly recommend it! You’re going to love some of the changes you experience both inside and out!
Coconut Cake Collagen Shake
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 1x
Ingredients
- 1 frozen banana
- 2 scoops Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides
- 1 heaping tablespoon honey
- 3/4 cup coconut or almond milk
- 1/4 cup coconut cream
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut (+extra for garnish)
- 1/2 teaspoon organic coconut extract
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and completely combined.
Notes
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More Ways To Get Your Collagen In:
Treat Yo’ Self Cookies & Cream Collagen Shake (+ cooking video)
Orange Creamsicle Collagen Smoothie (+ cooking video!)
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This post is brought to you by Vital Proteins, a product I regularly use in my household and love! I may be compensated through my affiliate links in this post, but all opinions are my own. This compensation helps with expenses to keep this blog up and running!
I went out in a blizzard to pick up some collagen because of you! I cannot wait to see the benefits that collagen does to my body!
I bought this collagen just because I noticed how long your hair got! Getting married in a year and I can’t wait to see a difference!
Does this replace a protein powder? I drink a shake daily with greens, protein powder, almond milk and typically a 1/2 banana. I wanted to add this to the shake, but not sure if that is ok. Thanks.
yes, it can!
This was delicious! I didn’t have vanilla collagen so I used plain and just added a little extra vanilla extract. I also used a non-frozen banana and just added a little ice. Yummers!
I LOVE Vital Proteins as well! I recently bought the Marine one though and when I added it to my coffee, it def tasted fishy…yuck. So now I have a huge container of it. Do you have any recommendations of how to use it besides in coffee or a smoothie? Those are my tried and true ways, but wondering if there’s another use/recipe since I can taste the fish too much. Thanks Juli!
i found that the marine had even less taste than the beef so that’s surprise to me! you can also add it to soups, baked goods, other hot drinks, etc!
This is my ALL time favourite smoothie. Love it sooo much its like a coconutty ice cream milkshake. Super rich and satisfying. Love your work! And I don’t use the coconut extract just cos I don’t have any and it’s already super coconutty flavour.
so happy to hear you love it, brenda!