My Collagen Journey

Here we go!  

Day 3 of my 90 Day Collagen Journey.

And what exactly is collagen?   
Collagen is the most plentiful protein found in animal bodies, including us humans!  It's the building block and "binding agent", so to speak, for our bones, joints,  muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, skin, hair, and nails.  It's also known as the body's scaffolding.  You wanna be strong?  Yeah...me too!

So what happens as we age? 
Our bodies' collagen reserves become a bit depleted.  For me, I've been noticing achy knees and wrists.  I was surprised to learn that many of my exercise group ladies were already on to collagen!  They regularly consumed it.

Of course, the variations for sale are enough to make your head spin.  I chose this brand mainly for the price and Amazon reviews.  At the time I'm writing, it shows 4.5 stars out of about 800 ratings. Roughly 3 out of 4 consumers gave this a 5 star review.  It is also available in smaller containers -- see the pics below.

Be careful with the dosage as it may be different for each brand.  I'll start with 2 scoops daily (about 2 T), just to see if this will elicit any change whatsoever in my body over a 3 month period.  

I'm pretty stoked because in my research on collagen, I discovered that collagen seems to help the following:  

1. IMPROVES SKIN HEALTH - slows the wrinkles - that's a bonus!
2. REDUCES JOINT INFLAMATION - helps relieve joint pain - I need this for my knees and wrists
3. INCREASE BONE MASS - strengthens my bones - I want to have strong, healthy bones
4. HELPS MUSCLES FUNCTION PROPERLY - I want to boost my muscle mass
5. HEART SMART -  Heart disease stops with me!  I'm saying goodbye to high cholesterol (read my story here
6. STRONGER NAILS AND HAIR - yep, as we age our hair takes a hit - will this help?!
7. BETTER BRAIN FUNCTION!  Say wha?  Okay, I'm in!

What was important to me when I purchased this brand of collagen?

• PRICE - I really needed something that would work and was also economical
• Kosher - had to be from pasture raised, grass-fed beef only (no other fillers) - this product comes from cattle that are humanely grass-fed and pasture-raised on the world-renowned natural grasslands of Brazil and Argentina
• No added hormones or antibiotics
• No pesticides or insecticides
• Non-GMO and organic compliant (got this from their website!) 
• Hydrolyzed or broken down to extremely small size for ease in consumption (peptides are linked amino acids)
• NO TASTE and completely water soluble (I would be adding to my hot coffee each morning) . In the reviews, a few folks said it had  taste.  For me in my coffee NOPE!  NADA!  All I got was the goodness!  
• NO SMELL  at all.  I was prepared for the worst - something really beefy or barn-ish, I suppose.  But NOPE! NADA!  
• My body had to "like" what it was getting and be able to use/absorb the product efficiently--I didn't want any stomach issues at all!
• I found it meaningful that this product was packaged in the US.
• And it appears there are no known medical risks involved in consuming collagen

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In the links below, I'm highlighting the smaller size of the brand of collagen I bought in case you want to see how it works for you initially (far left), the 3 lb. container that  I actually purchased (center), and Amazon's Favorite (far right - you might want to compare the ingredients as you probably can't go wrong with an Amazon fav!)

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BUT WAIT!  How will I know if I'm actually "stronger" or whether this is some placebo effect?  

1)  I currently have aching wrists -- so much typing every day, I guess.  I've been wearing wrist braces at night for 2 years.  I've been trying to strengthen the muscles and make sure I do flexes daily.  Let's say if 10 is the worst pain and 1 is no pain, I'm about a 3 on my wrists.

2)  Then there are my knees.  I was in an auto accident a few years ago and badly injured my leg and knee.  Then about a year or so after that my other knee took the brunt of a fall onto a concrete garage floor.  So these joints are also a bit achy.  Sometimes I feel sharp pains there when I'm walking or playing tennis.  I will try to track how often I feel the jolts and then see if they are diminishing at all.  As it is now, I feel the knee discomfort at least once daily on each knee.  The "pain" level is not as bad as my wrists plus it's a bit more sporadic-- so I'll say a 2.

3)  I will also ask my hair stylist if she notices any difference to the texture of my hair.  

4)  My nails are already really strong--I think that is from all the nutritional yeast I consume!  

5)  Then I'll be on the look out for compliments about my skin and face. Ha ha.  

I'm really praying that this is just the PROTEIN I need in my diet to make positive changes!  I'm ready!
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Let's goooooooooooooo.   Here's to our health, BRAIN CHANGER!

Want to keep up with my collagen journey?  Be sure to opt in here on my website or visit and like my FB biz page:  @startwithagratefulheart. 

​CHECK OUT THE AMAZING RESULTS ON THIS POST--CLICK HERE!