Wonderful addition to my diet!
I am in my mid-thirties and was having issues with loose skin after losing a significant amount of weight. The collagen was suggested as a way to help give my body the tools it needs to counteract that. Unfortunately, only a surgical tummy-tuck will actually get rid of loose saggy belly skin, HOWEVER I found that this supplement has helped me so significantly in a number of other ways that I'm going to continue to take it (or something like it) indefinitely. First of all, as anyone ages, your skin doesn't like to heal from minor injuries (cuts, scrapes, etc) as quickly which can be frustrating. I've found that this has made my healing response seem much quicker again. I haven't run any blind tests or anything but qualitatively my skin seems a lot healthier and even my own mom has complimented me on how radiant I look (and I'm a dude, so that's something). Probably the most pronounced effect I've noticed is that my knees don't give me trouble anymore. Even after the weight loss, I was dealing with some very minor pain in my knees during cardio workouts for over a year even at my goal weight. Not anymore! My knees still crackle but they don't hurt at all! I imagine this is also amazing for pushing myself during weight training. I get the unflavored version on auto-ship. I toss it in with my protein shakes after the gym which boosts & diversifies the protein content as well as adding a rich body and texture to the shakes that is quite awesome. I also mix it in with light puddings or other desserts during acute recovery periods for an added dose. Can't taste it at all in anything. I've even used it in some pan sauces during dinnertime to add body and slight thickening (same as you can do with gelatin). That said, don't try to just straight up mix it with water. On its own it has a really musky kind of wet dog jello flavor that is tough to overlook. It also stays really clumpy unless you use a blender. If you're not trying to mix this in to something, get a flavored version. Quality seems very consistent as I have been getting this for over a year and noticed no differences. It does settle, so don't freak out if the can is only half full. That's normal. At least they account for it in packaging. Read more
