Blueberry Collagen Smoothie

A delicious blueberry collagen smoothie packed with goodness to help promote healthy hair, skin, nails, and joints. Kind of like anti-aging in a glass.

If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you know that I’ve been on a little bit of a skin care kick lately. Having had skin cancer on my chest twice over the past two years, I’ve been making taking care of my skin a priority.

Now I know that I can’t take back the countless hours of sunbathing and years of beach travel with limited sunscreen use, but I can make choices TODAY to ensure that my skin is as healthy as it can be,

I shared a bit on the blog about things that I’ve been doing to keep my over 40 skin looking it’s best. I’m learning as I go and have been super happy with the results of the microdermabrasion and microneedling.

But we all know that real beauty and radiance come from the inside out. And this starts with what we put into our bodies. This is where a bit of collagen supplementation comes in.

Incorporating a good quality collagen powder into your diet daily can be an easy way to help support your hair, nails, joints, gut, and skin. And it’s really easy to use. It has no flavor and blends well with just about any beverage that you drink.

What is collagen?

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body and helps give structure to the hair, skin, nails, bones, ligaments and tendons in your body. It’s a protein made up of amino-acids: glycine, proline, hydroxyproline, and arginine. Collagen is what makes your hair shine, your skin glow, and your nails strong. It also is what helps you to move, bend and stretch. As you get older, collagen production slows down, leading to more fragile and less elastic skin, brittle nails, loss of color in hair, loss of bone density, and less flexibility in joints. Supplementing with collagen may help improve the body’s collagen levels.

What’s so great about collagen?

#1 Promotes healthy skin, hair, and nails. Collagen is an important building block for the skin and helps the skin stay toned and supple. Collagen makes up about 30% of the protein in the body and about 70% of the protein in the skin. The dermis, which provides the foundation for the skin, is the main source of collagen in the skin. It is what gives the skin it’s elasticity and flexibility. Getting an adequate amount of collagen can help to ensure your skin looks it’s best. It also supports the growth of hair and nails.

#2 Supports digestion and gut health. The entire gastrointestinal tract is made of skin, which needs a permeable barrier to do its job correctly. These cells must be kept as healthy as possible. Glutamine and glycine, two amino acids found in collagen, are crucial for a healthy gut. Glutamine is essential for cellular reproduction in the gut and for the healing and growth of new cells and tissue that makes up the intestinal tract. Glycine helps with bile production to help digest fats and helps with food breakdown by promoting gastric secretion.

#3 Supports joint and bone health. Bones, ligaments, tendons, and the skeletal muscles are made up of proteins. To a large extent, this protein is collagen. Collagen supplementation can be helpful for maintaining and building cartilage and for supporting bone density as you age.

#4 Detoxification. Glycine is is a precursor to glutathione. Glutathione is an antioxidant that is responsible for effective and reliable detoxification through the liver detox pathways. Many people are deficient in glycine, and it is in abundance in collagen. Hello, happy liver!

How do I use collagen?

Collagen is flavorless powder that can be mixed into any hot or cold beverage. It can simply be added to your morning water or your favorite coffee drink. It can also be baked into your favorite muffins and baked goods. My favorite way to get collagen into my diet is to make a nutrient-dense smoothie that’s both super tasty and filling.

The brand that I use is Vital Proteins. I’ve been really happy with the quality and how it’s sourced. I mainly use the unflavored collagen peptide, but they have other options like vanilla collagen peptides, berry collagen peptides, beauty collagen, and marine collagen.

You can see all of the Vital Protein products HERE. You can also buy them from Amazon. I’ve even seen Vital Proteins sold at Costco.

I like to get in at least 1-2 scoops of collagen powder per day.

Meet my fav Blueberry Collagen Smoothie… loaded with all the good things. Full of antioxidants, collagen, healthy fats, and fiber. Like I said, anti-aging in a glass. Here’s to looking and feeling your best.

Here’s the deets:

blueberries… have one of the highest antioxidant levels of all fruits and vegetables. These powerful antioxidants help to fight “free radicals”, which cause cell damage and aging in the body. Besides being amazing for skin health, blueberries have also been shown to improve memory and brain function and to lower the risk for heart disease and diabetes.

banana… adds a little flavor and a little fiber. If you rather skip the sweet banana, you could add a handful of steamed and frozen cauliflower. Sounds weird, I know. But adds such a nice creaminess to any smoothie. Trust me.

avocado… because we can’t get enough of those healthy fats. Avocados are also a good source of vitamin E, which is an important antioxidant that helps protect your skin from oxidative damage.

almond butter… more fats to help fuel you and to keep you feeling full. Feel free to use any nut or seed butter you like.

chia seeds… more anti-oxidants to help support glowing skin. Chia seeds also add a bit of fiber to help keep things moving. The Omega-3’s in chia seeds are good for your heart and help to reduce inflammation in general.

almond milk… I like to use a homemade almond milk for this recipe. Making your own nut and seed milks is a great way to help reduce plastic waste and ensures that you’re not getting any funky additives in your milks.

collagen… 2 scoops of my favorite Vital Protein collagen peptides provides about 18 grams of protein. Your body will thank you.

Creamy, filling, and completely satisfying, this smoothie makes a great breakfast, post-workout meal, or afternoon snack. It tastes amazing and will keep you fueled for hours.

Would love to hear your fav ways to get collagen into your diet.

xo,

Katja

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