Thank you to Vital Proteins for providing me with product in exchange for review. All opinions belong to me.

Vital Protiens is a company that produces high quality pasture raised beef collagen. They take many measures to go above and beyond providing a quality collagen supplement. Their product is tested multiple times over to ensure a product without heavy metals and their packaging is an air tight seal to provide the best environment for storing your collagen. There are many more quality measures taken that you can read about in their FAQ section.

Vital Proteins offers two types of collagen, peptides and protein. You might be wondering if theres a difference? Collagen Peptides is a unique formula more suitable for adding to a juice, or water. Collagen Protiens is a more traditional beef gelatin better suited for thickening, or making things like gummies and jello. Health wise, the gelatin (proteins) takes slightly longer to digest and can better coat the small intestine (which is beneficial in gut healing diets like GAPS, AIP or SCD).

Now that you know what they are, why do you need them? First of all the list of all the benefits of this stuff is seemingly endless, so I’ll touch on some main points to avoid an over lengthy post. Your body is made up of many proteins, one of the largest proteins within your body is collagen. Collagen supports so many different things within the body, everything from hair, skin, and nails, to the main support of all your connective tissues. Supporting all of these aspects with whole nutrition from the inside out is one of the best things you can do for your body. Not only will your hair, skin and nails be thankful but also your joints, bones, and intestinal tract! The clean amount of protein within is one of the biggest factors why my husband loves Vital protiens.

I mentioned previously that you can mix the collagen with a regular liquid or make a jello type treat. Throw out that over-processed box of sugar and food coloring and make good nutrient dense snacks for your family with Vital proteins Collagen proteins!

Strawberry Lemon-aid Gummies (recipe credit to thecoconutmama)

Makes approx. 2 1/2 cups of gummies

Ingredients

~1 cup Fresh Strawberries

~3/4 cup of water

~1/4 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice

~3 Tbsp Beef gelatin

~1/2 cup hot water

~1/4 cup local raw honey

Step 1

Use a blender to thoroughly blend water and strawberries

Step 2

Strain the liquid and toss the pulp. (I don’t have a strainer so I used a nut milk bag instead)

Step 3

Combine lemon juice and Strawberry juice

Step 4

Pour gelatin over the juice and mix until no clumps remain

Step 5

Let the mixture gel up for about a minute

Step 6

Pour your hot water over the gelatin

Step 7

Whisk ingredients together ( the mixture should be going back to a more liquid state)

Step 8

Add your raw honey and mix

Step 9

Pour mixture into molds or a 5×7 dish

Step 10

Refrigerate for about 1-2 hours or until the gummies have set up, afterwards I stored them in air tight glass container in the fridge.

These snacks were something my kids begged for everyday and I was able to give in every time knowing I was giving them a nutrient dense protein snack! As for my husband and I, we also enjoyed the gummies, but we recently joined a gym and are both hoping for muscle increase so on top of the gummies we are also ingesting the peptides in a plain glass of water. The ease of extra protein without forcing a shake or downing a chalky artificially flavored drink is insurmountable. I consider myself pretty picky and the taste for this is literally non existent, both in the gelatin and the peptides.

Vital Proteins also offers an Encapsulated Beef liver supplement which I am more than grateful for. My husband and I have done some research into whole nutrition and have frequently read the amazing benefits of consuming liver. The taste and texture profile of cooked liver however doesn’t have so much raving reviews. Having this encapsulated liver is ideal for all of my family as we still are getting all of the benefits without having to figure a way to hide actual liver within a meal. If your skeptical of consuming liver, think about the many things it can offer your body, Vitamin A, B12, Folate, Riboflavin, Zinc, Copper, and Choline.

Vital Proteins really has your health in mind when making their products. I feel its a real one stop shop for me for a majority of the supplements I’m taking as of now. But I won’t be the only one benefiting from their awesome products because they are offering a giveaway for you awesome readers!

Win it! (1) 120-count Beef Liver Capsules, (1) 20 oz Collagen Peptides & (1) 32 oz Collagen Protein Beef Gelatin ($123.00 retail value) To enter: Fill out the GT form below by 11:59pm EST on 9/10/2015.

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Lakota

I am a stay at home mother of two, who loves to create in every form, from cooking, to henna, to painting or sculpting, creating with my hands is my passion! I love to dance and let loose when the music flows right. Being outside is a special kind of therapy I think humans need more of as well as mindfulness! I love all things new and adventurous and am always looking to experience more of life 🙂