You may be familiar with Vital Proteins’ basic collagen products, most notably their unflavored gelatin and/or collagen peptides.  (Collagen peptides are, essentially, the part of gelatin that doesn’t gel, so this AIP-friendly, high-protein powder can be dissolved in virtually any liquid – cocoa, soup, oatmeal, etc..)  They also have marine peptides (fish-based, for those who prefer not to use land animal products), capsule-based supplements, etc.  (If not, go check them out.  I use this stuff near-daily.)

What we’re here to talk about today, though, is a new(-ish) product line from Vital Proteins: collagen creamers.

Vital Proteins Collagen Creamer

The collagen creamers from Vital Proteins currently come in four different flavors: coconut (basically the “unflavored” option), vanilla, mocha, and gingerbread.

Now, I don’t drink coffee and haven’t historically used creamers — ’cause, can you say terrible ingredients?!  But I do drink hot cocoa, so I’ve used the creamer; just be aware that I’m not able to compare it to how it would be in coffee.

The wonderful thing about these creamers is that they don’t have all those nasty ingredients (like hydrogenated oils).  The unflavored variety — which is what we were provided with to try out — contains only collagen peptides, coconut milk powder, bamboo shoot extract, and acacia fiber.  (Of course the flavored varieties have a few additional ingredients.)

For those who might be worried about SIBO or other starch-related digestive issues, acacia starch has a reputation for digestibility.  I can’t speak for everyone, obviously, but I tend to have difficulties with starch digestion, and am able to digest this just fine.

The scoop that’s included is about 2 Tbsp.  This seems to be overkill for a cup of cocoa, and the coconut flavor comes through quite strongly.  Coffee has a stronger flavor than cocoa, so this may not stand out as much in a cup of coffee.  With my cocoa, I prefer to use a much smaller scoop for the good stuff that’s in the Collagen Creamer, and add additional raw cow’s milk if I want my cocoa creamier.  The flavored creamer options might taste less strongly coconutty.

The only thing I don’t like about this product is the container.  I wish Vital Proteins would replace it with something squatter like the other product canisters.  It looks fine, it works fine, and it stores well, but here’s the problem: because the canister is so tall, the scoop has to have a long handle in order to reach the bottom as the canister approaches empty.  But this means that when the can is full, it’s very difficult to wrangle the scoop far enough inside to close the lid.

That’s a pretty minor detail in the grand scheme of things, though.  This is much healthier than mainstream creamers, for those who are already using those.  And it’s worth incorporating even if you aren’t already using creamer, because it provides good fat and skin-, hair-, and joint-friendly collagen.

Where to Get It

Vital Proteins is a well-known brand, so you can typically find it at health food stores and healthy product retailers online, as well as (of course) Vital Proteins’ own website.  Amazon even carries it.

Vital Proteins is also a sponsor of the starter kits in my new course, so you’ll find a sample of Vital Proteins product (gelatin, not collagen creamer) in that starter kit if you’re an early adopter.  And this week you can enter to win a canister of this creamer in my launch giveaway. [Update: giveaway over.]