Collagen is something I get asked about a LOT. People wanna know whether they should take it, and what the benefits are.
There’s a lot of research coming out that supports the benefits of high-quality collagen.
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body. It’s been shown to support joints, hair, skin, nails, and even gut health.
You can get it from collagen powders, collagen pills, bone broth, and eating high-quality animal protein.
But I don’t run around recommending collagen, and here’s why.
On the Code Red Lifestyle™, my promise to you is that you can lose all the weight you want without shakes, diet pills, diet foods, and weight loss powders.
Collagen isn’t a weight loss powder, but in today’s “magic pill and powder” society, people treat it like a weight loss product. It’s often marketed that way, too.
What I also find, after 26+ years in the weight loss and fitness industry, is that when I give people an inch, they take a mile.
For example: If I were to say collagen powder’s okay, not only would people accuse me of going against my “no powders needed for weight loss,” they’d start thinking, “Well if collagen’s okay, then this magic weight loss powder’s okay. If my weight loss powder’s okay, my magic detox powder’s okay.” And on and on.
Pretty soon they’d be spending $2,000 a month on magic powders!
Meanwhile, they’re still drinking soda, gorging on Little Debbies, and inhaling endless bags of potato chips instead of eating real food, drinking water, and sleeping.
Look, I don’t care how “magical” a powder’s marketing claims it is. Maybe it does help in some way, maybe it doesn’t.
Either way, no pill or powder will come close to the results you’ll get from real food, water, sleep, and a few simple rules.
So back to the original question: Should you be taking collagen powder?
No, I wouldn’t worry about it right now. Instead, focus on real food, water, sleep, and following 100% of the rules 100% of the time. Again, that’ll get you more results than any powder.
If you feel like you NEED collagen for some reason, get it from bone broth and high-quality meat.
When you get to maintenance and still wanna try some collagen powder, hey, go for it and see what happens.
Do not go down the magic powder rabbit hole. Just like you cannot out-train a bad diet, you cannot out-powder or out-pill a bad diet.