None of us are above vanity. And of all the food-adjacent products in all the land, collagen supplements tickle our vanity the very most. The best collagen powders promise positive side effects including strengthening our weak nails, promoting healthy skin, lengthening our limp hair, and amorphously improving our well-being with just a scoop of this meaty powder. (Yes, meaty—collagen is often extracted by boiling cow bones and dehydrating the stock.)
The health benefits of collagen are as alleged as they are numerous, from alleviating joint pain to keeping our connective tissues spry to promoting gut health. But regardless of the veracity of those claims, collagen-slingers are selling a promise of beauty. “Like many things in wellness culture, the marketing for collagen supplements talks about the supposed benefits for other body systems even though the main focus is cosmetic,” says Christy Harrison, author of Anti-Diet and the The Wellness Trap. “The marketing for collagen preys on people’s, especially women’s, societally conditioned fear of ageing. Collagen production slows as we age, and that’s a natural process.”
Ha Nguyen, a registered dietitian in Philadelphia, tells me that many of her clients express enthusiastic interest in all types of collagen. “Unfortunately,” she says, “the many studies regarding the benefits of collagen supplementation have been funded by the cosmetic industry or other industries that may benefit from the sales of supplements.” So while Nguyen doesn’t steer her clients away from collagen, she warns that most studies about it aren’t very scrupulous. The dietary supplement industry is notoriously unregulated, so it’s extremely difficult to ensure whether the ingredients used are high-quality in any case.
So if we’re ingesting a product that may or may not be a shiny placebo, we should absolutely demand that it taste amazing. Off we go into the dusty world of beauty powders to find the best collagen supplements (or at least the most delicious) on the market.
Tasting Notes: A hint of subtle yet creamy brothiness
Nutrition info: 20g of collagen per two scoops; 18g of protein per two scoops; gluten-free
Ancient Nutrition is one of those collagens you’ve likely seen splashed all across the Internet. That was the case for BA staffer Kate Kassin, who decided to give the collagen powder a try. Ranked by Vogue as one of their go-to beauty supplements, Ancient Nutrition Multi Collagen is called “multi” for a reason—and that reason is about ten different kinds of grass-fed and pasture-raised natural collagen sources. We’ve got eggshell membrane and chicken bone broth protein concentrate, bovine hide and hydrolyzed fish collagen peptides, along with Vitamin C that helps maximize absorption. While Ancient Nutrition boasts that you can add it to baked goods, Kassin favors adding it to smoothies and other hot beverages.
Tasting notes: Filtered water
Nutrition info: 20 grams of collagen; 18 grams of protein; gluten-free
