Navigating a keto diet can be a little intimidating at first. Plenty of first-time keto believers have their Google search history filled with questions like “Are avocados keto?” or “Is barley keto-friendly?” This doesn’t only extend to the foods that you eat but also the supplements that you take.
Today, we’re going to discuss keto collagen and everything that you need to know about it. We’ll start by going over what it is and then we’ll explain some of the main ingredients you’ll find in it. After that, we’ll discuss what you need to know about buying the perfect keto collagen powder, including what you should watch out for.
We’ll even break down some of the premier studies on the effects of keto collagen and discuss some of the rarely-mentioned benefits of this supplement. Finally, we’ll cap off this guide by going over who collagen keto is for and whether it’s appropriate to use for all age groups.
What is Keto Collagen?
Like the name suggests, keto collagen is a collagen supplement that has been formulated for everyone but with keto diet followers in mind. Collagen is considered an excellent supplement for keto diets because collagen itself is a protein, and it is one of the hardest substances in the human body.
Keto collagen is a supplement that is composed of exogenous collagen, meaning that it’s not naturally produced by the human body but rather taken as a supplement. Compare this to endogenous collagen, which is a natural collagen that is created by your body to compose skin, tendons and ligaments, and bones.
Normally, collagen is found in fish and meat, since their tissue contains collagen to keep it connected, much like ours.
Keto collagen powder is obtained through hydrolysis, which is what makes it an exogenous collagen source. There are about 12 different forms of collagen, but the vast majority of them fall under Type I, Type II, or Type III. In most cases, you’ll find keto collagen available in either Type I or Type III forms.
Hydrolysis allows the producers of keto collagen to break the proteins down so that they’re smaller and easier to turn into a powder. This allows the user to choose how they’re going to consume their collagen instead of forcing them to purchase an otherwise bulky or premade product.
Why Powder?
This brings us to the reason why keto collagen powder comes in powdered form in the first place. As we’ve mentioned, powder allows you to come up with your own recipes for your keto collagen, allowing you to choose how you consume it. It’s also pretty easy to consistently measure powder to make sure that you’re always consuming the right amount of keto collagen.
If you want to create a meal that contains collagen powder, like a soup, you can simply throw a scoop of your powder into it just before you eat it. On the other hand, if you want to make yourself a healthy shake that you can finish off right after you’re done at the gym, the powdered form of collagen keto lets you do that too.
Keep in mind that powder isn’t the only form that you may find keto collagen in.
Keto Collagen Capsules
Keto collagen also comes available in capsule form. One of the main issues with collagen capsules is that you’ll have to take a lot of them over the course of the day to get your full collagen intake. Due to the large amount of collagen that most people consume per day, it can take up to ten capsules to get the recommended dosage, which can get a little tiring.
However, there are also a few distinct advantages to opting for collagen capsules, including the fact that they’re a lot easier to travel with than an entire tub of collagen powder, especially if you’re only planning on taking a short trip.
Capsules are also a lot easier to use for beginners who may not exactly have measuring scoops for their collagen powder. If you’re trying out keto collagen for the first time, then it’s not unheard of to start with collagen capsules until you decide that you want to continue, this ensures that an entire tub of powder won’t go to waste if you find that you don’t like it.
Another benefit to capsules is that they allow you to entirely avoid the taste of collagen. Some brands offer collagen keto that has a very distinct flavor, and some users may find themselves repulsed by this flavor. If that’s the case, the best option is to swallow a few capsules.
Liquid Keto Collagen
Finally, you can also opt for liquid keto collagen if you’re looking to combine ease of use with the convenience of not having to swallow ten capsules per day. Liquid keto collagen is also usually easier to purchase over the counter, and some health food stores may have their refrigerators stocked with premade drinks.
There are a few different kinds of keto collagen drinks out there, ranging from shots that exist to get the protein in your system as soon as possible to drinks with added flavors to make the experience a little more enjoyable.
One thing to keep in mind is that liquid keto collagen tends to be a little more expensive than the powdered version. For some, it doesn’t make much sense to purchase a drink at a higher price when they can just make something similar at home using their keto collagen powder.
In the long run, this will make liquid keto collagen a lot more expensive, as the cost can add up for a supplement that you’re consuming daily. If you like to have a large stock of keto collagen available at any time, liquid versions will also take up quite a bit more space when you buy them in bulk.
If you don’t have that extra space, this will have you ordering or purchasing your keto collagen every week. This wastes your time and also means that you’ll take your supplements less often because our busy schedules often don’t allow us to be as consistent when we purchase something weekly compared to buying it in bulk.
Another issue is that the dosage may vary from maker to maker of liquid keto collagen beverages, so if you want to maintain a consistent collagen dosage, you’ll have to stick to one brand and ensure that their concentration lines up with your needs.
Keto Collagen Sources
Collagen keto is typically extracted from animal tissues, as that’s the most readily available source of this protein. In many cases, it’s taken from parts of the animal that aren’t used in food processing because they are typically inedible, such as fish scales, or animal bones and skins.
The best source of keto collagen is from grass-fed bovines like cows. When the source of your keto collagen is grass-fed, you can be sure that there are no harmful hormones or chemicals in the animal’s system. This ensures that you don’t end up consuming them when you take your daily dose of keto collagen.
However, there is only a limited amount of meat that you can eat if you want to remain healthy, so getting a lot of collagen by eating nothing but meat will likely do more harm than good.
Another reason why keto supplements may be a good idea is because there are various factors that reduce the amount of collagen that our bodies produce. For example, aging is one of the main factors that reduces the amount of collagen in your body, and that can be seen in the gradual loosening of skin over time.
This makes keto collagen an even more attractive source of this connective fiber, as research states that it allows the user to replenish their collagen levels.
What Are the Main Ingredients in Keto Collagen Powder?
The ingredients included in keto collagen powder tend to vary based on who you’re getting it from. Some of the main ingredients in the Play For Life Vanilla Keto Collagen formula include the collagen itself, MCT powder, acacia gum fiber, and a range of other ingredients. Here’s a breakdown:
Collagen Protein Sourced from Grass-fed Cows
The main ingredient in the perfect keto collagen powder should always be the collagen protein itself, but keep in mind that not all collagen is created equal. When figuring out the kind of keto collagen powder that will work best for you, it’s always crucial to consider where the collagen is sourced from.
For example, if your collagen is sourced from factory-farmed cows that have been fed artificial hormones over the course of their lives, there’s no guarantee that the collagen itself will be free of those hormones.
The best collagen keto powder tends to be made from grass-fed cows that have lived their lives without being exposed to artificial hormones. These cows are pasture-raised, meaning that they live the natural, comfortable lives that cows are supposed to live. This is less cruel for the animals and results in healthier keto collagen for you.
It’s also a good idea to take a look at the kind of collagen that is included in your keto collagen powder. As we mentioned before, the two most common forms of collagen in the human body are Type I and Type III collagen. These are the two forms of collagen that you’ll find in the Play For Life formula and in most other powders as well.
The collagen itself is sourced from parts of the cow like its hide or its bones and then broken down through hydrolysis.
MCT Powder
MCT (Medium Chain Triglycerides) powder is the powdered form of MCT oil, and this is collected from coconuts. This is a healthy and efficient fat that is used in keto collagen because of its ability to go through the human liver and produce ketones, making it a great energy source.
This makes it unique compared to other forms of fat that end up getting caught in your digestive system and absorbed into your body, contributing to the overall amount of fat that you have in your body. Studies have also demonstrated that MCT oil helps promote healthy brain development.
Yet another advantage of MCT powder is that it helps develop your gut flora, increasing the health of your lower digestive tract in the long run by reducing the prevalence of more harmful bacteria.
Acacia Gum Fiber
Acacia gum fiber is not currently classified as a dietary fiber due to its pending approval by the FDA, but its highly soluble nature means that its fiber is easily transferred. It tends to have a soluble fiber content of about 90%, though numbers can range even higher depending on the sample.
This fiber is harvested from the sap of the Acacia Senegal tree, and it has been shown to provide gut health benefits to those who consume it. This is because it helps further reinforce the user’s gut flora, much like MCT, essentially giving the user a two-pronged approach to keeping their gut healthy.
Natural Flavors
The natural flavors used depend on the flavor of the keto collagen that you’re purchasing. In this case, vanilla extract is used to give the powder its characteristic flavor. In the case of the chocolate flavored keto collagen mix, vanilla extract is replaced with cocoa extract or cocoa powder.
Stevia Leaf Extract
One of the fundamental rules of keto is that you’re not allowed to eat sugar while you’re participating in the diet. However, if you’ve been following the diet for long enough, you likely already know that there are plenty of alternative sweeteners that you can use to keep your smoothies tasting good.
In the case of keto collagen powder, stevia leaf extract is used to ensure that it has the sweet taste that makes it suitable for use in something like a post-workout smoothie.
Stevia leaf extract is a no-calorie sweetener that is derived from the Stevia plant, which was originally found in South America. It is harvested by taking the plant’s leaves, drying them, and then using water extraction to gather the extract before purifying it.
While stevia extract contains glucose molecules, they aren’t processed in the upper digestive tract, meaning that they won’t increase the level of glucose in your blood or produce calories.
Stevia is actually a couple hundred times sweeter than sugar, meaning that only a small amount of stevia extract is needed to make keto collagen powder taste sweet in the first place.
What Makes a Perfect Keto Collagen and What to Watch Out For
If you’ve never shopped for keto collagen before, you may find yourself wondering exactly what you should look for in the perfect keto collagen. The truth is that every formula is different and you may end up having to try a few different options before you find something that you decide works best for you.
However, some of the key aspects to look for when shopping around for a keto collagen powder include the right ingredients, like bovine collagen from healthy cows. You’ll also want to make sure that the mix tastes right to you and that it doesn’t end up clumping up when you mix it all together.
Properly Sourced Bovine Collagen
Out of all of the ingredients that you want to examine closely when you’re shopping around for keto collagen, it’s crucial to ensure that the collagen itself is sourced from the right places. Most collagen keto mixes get their collagen from bovine sources, but cows come with their own risks as a source.
It’s crucial to make sure that the collagen comes from cows that have been grass-fed, as that ensures that they have had a natural diet their whole lives instead of being fed food that is packed full of hormones. This helps ensure that those hormones don’t sneak their way into your diet.
MCT Oil from Sustainable Coconuts
You may have heard a thing or two about coconuts being some of the healthiest and most versatile fruits on planet earth (though a food scientist will tell you that a coconut is technically a drupe). It’s crucial to ensure that the MCT oil in your keto collagen powder is being sourced from them sustainably.
There are plenty of factory farming operations that harvest coconuts and don’t care about the impact that they’re having on the environment around them. Coconuts are technically not endangered, but their seeds are hard to preserve and they are vulnerable to many diseases, so we have to do our part to ensure that they are farmed as sustainably as possible.
No Genetically Modified Ingredients
Depending on the kind of keto collagen powder you’re looking to get your hands on, some of the ingredients may be the kind that can be readily genetically modified. We like to make sure that our keto collagen powder is as pure as possible, and that means screening the ingredients to make sure that nothing falls under the GM umbrella.
Always be on the lookout for the perfect keto collagen. Ideally, the formula will state on the label that it contains nothing but organic ingredients that haven’t been subject to genetic modification. If in doubt, you can always contact the makers of the formula to confirm that it doesn’t contain GM ingredients.
All-natural Ingredients and No Synthetic Flavors
If you’re looking for the healthiest possible keto collagen mix, then you’ll want to be sure that the formula you’re opting for is free of synthetic flavors. These flavoring agents are often unproven in the long run and they may have negative effects on your health if consumed repeatedly.
Always be sure to go through the ingredients list of your keto collagen powder of choice so that you can ensure that the flavors used are natural. While the flavorings themselves may not always be divulged so that companies don’t give away their recipes, they will always be listed as natural flavors.
The Taste
The taste of a collagen keto mix is often the dealbreaker for a lot of people, especially due to the strange flavor that some collagen mixes can have. The key is balancing the amount of zero-calorie sweetener with the natural flavors to help counterbalance the naturally weird flavor of collagen.
The only good way to tell which option tastes best is to try a few different keto collagen mixes so that you can find out which of them is the best option for you.
Keep in mind that there are many different flavors available, with some of the most common including chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. We might be a little biased, but we think that the Play For Life Keto Collagen tastes amazing!
What to Watch Out For: Clumping
One of the main things that you’ll want to avoid when shopping for the perfect keto collagen is a formula that clumps up. Clumping makes it harder for you to create a tasty shake using your keto collagen powder because the mix itself will form up into clumps that will concentrate it in certain parts of the shake that you’re making.
If a formula readily clumps, then you’ll likely want to do your best to avoid it. Keep in mind that external factors can also result in clumping. If you don’t store your mix in a cool and dry place, then you’ll dramatically increase the chances of it clumping up whenever you decide to mix it into a shake.
Some Studies on the Benefits of Keto Collagen
There have been many studies conducted on the potential benefits of some of keto collagen’s constituent ingredients like MCT. We’ve taken a look at some of the most promising studies and broken them down so that you can get a better idea of how this supplement may be able to help.
Increased Muscle Mass and Strength
One study showed that keto collagen intake improved the muscle mass as well as the muscular strength of men who regularly performed resistance training. The study was conducted over the course of a 12-week period, with one group of men consuming 15g of collagen after a training session and the other group consuming a placebo.
After the end of the 12-week period, scientists noticed a substantial improvement in muscle mass development for the group that was consuming keto collagen after their workouts. However, the effects on muscle strength were a little more arguable, according to the study, and further investigation was recommended.
Improved Exercise Performance due to Reduced Lactic Acid Buildup
The next study that we went over covered the potential for MCT to reduce lactic acid buildup in a subject’s muscles, making it easier to continue exercising for longer periods of time. Subjects were tested at 60% of their VO(2) for 40 minutes and then 80% of their VO(2) until they were exhausted.
It was found that subjects who used MCT were able to exercise for longer until they were exhausted at 80% VO(2). After further analysis, the scientists discovered that consuming MCT before a workout has the potential to increase fatty acids used for energy production and to reduce blood lactate concentration.
Reduced Joint Discomfort and Increased Support
Up next, we went over a study that proposed that collagen could help reduce joint discomfort in athletes. These athletes were still physically active and showed no signs of active joint disease, but due to their active lifestyle, they were still experiencing discomfort in their joints.
These athletes were sourced from Penn State University and they were either given collagen hydrolysate or a placebo effect. The measurable subjects came out to 97, and it was found that the athletes who had taken the collagen supplement were less likely to experience joint discomfort over the course of the study.
Improved Skin Elasticity and Nail Growth
The first of these studies was conducted to determine whether or not collagen supplements helped promote healthy skin in the study’s participants. The results showed that the group that had taken the collagen supplements showed a markedly higher level of skin elasticity than the group assigned placebos.
The second study was conducted to determine whether or not collagen supplements would improve the strength of subjects’ nails and the speed of their nail growth. Upon the study’s completion, it was found that collagen made nails grow 12% faster and that nail breakages were 42% less common.
Reduced Weight due to MCT
This study demonstrated that MCTs were able to increase the amount of energy that was expended by overweight men upon administration. A further benefit was a reduction in the level of fat tissues compared to a control group that had only been administered a placebo. This was accomplished by feeding them diets that were rich in MCTs over the course of 28 days.
To determine the effect of MCT, it was compared to the results that a similar diet would have on participants who were using olive oil instead. The scientists capped off the study by stating that MCTs may be agents that can be used to help prevent obesity or to even help promote weight loss.
Potential Neurological Benefits of MCT
The final study that we went over discussed the potential benefits that MCT could provide in terms of neurological health. The best-proven benefit was the potential for MCT coupled with a keto diet to reduce the prevalence of seizures. Epilepsy was another disorder that both of these factors could likely help reduce.
While it hasn’t been proven to quite the same extent, the same mechanisms that make this possible may also make people who consume MCT and follow a keto diet less likely to contract Alzheimer’s as they age. The scientists behind this study seemed to think it was promising and warranted further study.
What’s One Benefit Not Mentioned Much About Keto Collagen Powder?
Most of the articles you’ll find about keto collagen powder will be quick to go over its health benefits, such as the ones mentioned in the studies that we just went over. However, if you’ve already read all about these benefits, then you may be looking for a benefit that’s discussed a little less frequently.
One of the things that we love most about collagen keto powder is that it is readily mixable with nearly anything. This makes it one of the more versatile supplements that you’re able to consume since you won’t have to worry about dramatically impacting the flavor or texture of whatever you add it to.
You can even purchase various kinds of keto collagen powder based on what you’re going to be mixing it with. For example, if you want to add your powder into a soup, we’d recommend opting for a flavorless variety that won’t clash with the savory flavors of the soup you’re making.
However, if you want to make yourself a shake for before or after your workout, then you may wish to opt for one of the flavored collagen powder varieties available. Both vanilla and chocolate are some of the most popular flavors available amongst customers looking to make themselves some collagen shakes at home.
You can even blend your keto collagen powder with other powders that provide additional health benefits. For example, if you’ve picked up some Power Greens powder, you can create yourself a super shake by blending the two of them together, giving you the benefits of both in one delicious shake.
If you don’t have the Power Greens powder, you can accomplish much of this on your own with some vegetables and a juicer. Simply juice your vegetables into a cup containing your collagen keto power and you’ll have a homemade mix filled with the vitamins, minerals, and supplements that you need.
Who is Collagen Keto For?
Collagen keto powder is designed to be used by all ages, and it provides different benefits based on your age when you consume it. For example, if you’re under 40 years old, studies have shown that collagen keto will help increase muscle mass and strength while also cutting down on lactic acid buildup for improved exercise performance.
Those under 40 have also been shown to benefit from increased joint support, a benefit shared with the 40-60 group. Those in their 40s to 60s see additional advantages, including improved body composition, better exercise performance, and healthier skin and stronger nails.
In the over 60 age group, studies have demonstrated that collagen can improve joint density, promote ketosis while improving gut flora, and improve skin elasticity while reducing skin aging.
Play For Life was founded by three fathers with a vision that ties into the name of their company.
They wanted to be able to Play For Life, regardless of how their bodies aged or responded to intense workouts. Their firm belief is that every human being is at their zenith when they are playing.
Play For Life exists to bring back that playful spirit that we all shared when we were children, no matter what age you are.
Whether you’re still in your 20s and you want to maximize your performance or if you’re in your 40s and you want to speed up your recovery so you can cut out the rest days, helping accomplish those goals was the reason that keto collagen powder was developed.
To answer the question in as few words as possible, keto collagen is for everyone.
So why not try out our fantastic Vanilla or Chocolate Keto Collagen. We think you'll love it.
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