ON NUTRITION || 5 Ways to Integrate Collagen into Your Diet
We all love a good hearty breakfast, so let’s spice up your morning routine with a dash of collagen.
While it may sound like a big beauty secret, collagen is something you can easily include in your diet to reap the benefits. Here are some of the best ways to implement this beauty supplement into your diet, whether in your cappuccino or soup.
It goes without saying that we all crave that ultimate summer glow and luminous skin. Aside from our skincare routines, a boost of collagen is essential to attaining that sun-kissed glow. Before you start including collagen in your daily routine, here are all the things you need to know.
Collagen in powder form.
What is Collagen?
Collagen is a protein the body produces naturally, and it makes up about a third of our body’s protein. Although it is continuously produced, after the age of 25, we lose on average 1.5% of our collagen every year. This results in reduced bone density, slower recovery from exercising, and dull and wrinkled skin.
Types of Collagen
There are 16 types of this important protein, but most of it is type I, II, or III. Type I and III build strong hair, skin, nails and bones. Whereas Type II focuses on joint and cartilage health.
Hydrolyzed collagen (peptides) are the most common supplement to ingest as it is easy for the body to absorb. It comes in two forms - capsules and powder form. The recommended dosage to gradually improve skin hydration and smoothness is a minimum serving of 2.5 grams a day. However, 5 grams per day, along with calcium and vitamin D intake, will improve bone density and 15 grams of collagen per day improves muscle mass and body composition.
Now, let’s take a look at how we can add collagen to our daily diet!
Adding collagen powder into a hot beverage.
1. Add It to Your Morning Beverage
For coffee lovers, unflavoured collagen peptides or marine collagen can easily dissolve in hot or cold water. For tea drinkers, collagen creamers would be most suitable as they tend to be low in sugar and contain 10g of collagen. For other morning beverages like matcha, you may add unflavoured collagen or try the matcha collagen - it tastes amazing when you whisk them altogether!
For smoothie drinkers or those constantly on the go, the simplest way to kickstart your morning is to add the suggested amount of collagen into your smoothie. Think of it as a protein powder smoothie, but with collagen!
2. Mix it in Your Nut Butter
Whether you use almond, peanut, cashew or hazelnut butter, as long as the consistency isn't too clumpy and separated, you can mix the recommended serving into the bowl with the nut butter.
3. Add to a Bowl of Bone Broth
Who doesn’t like a bowl of broth after a long day, especially when it contains fish, beef or chicken. Believe it or not, each type of bone broth carries its own benefits. For instance, fish bone broth has the most bioavailable form of collagen, beef broth targets the skin and gut, and chicken broth is mainly for joint health. Bone broth is made from boiling hormone and chemical-free tendons and ligaments with water, vegetables, fresh herbs and other required seasonings.
4. Mix it in Your Oatmeal
Mix the recommended serving together with your overnight oat. Make sure you mix in the collagen before you add your favourite oatmeal toppings!
5. Mix it in with Your Baked Goods
Unflavoured collagen powder is commonly used in baked goods. The idea here is to not take away the flavouring in our sweet goodies! Try it with brownies, cookies, cake mix, pancakes or even waffles.
Collagen in capsule and powder form.
The last resort is to drink it as it is! Mix in the recommended dosage into a tall glass with room temperature water half way. This should give you the perfect consistency to absorb all the nutrients in one gulp.
