There’s been much a-buzz about collagen from lay folk and wellness experts alike so of course it piqued my interest . I wanted to know more about this magic supplement… What is collagen? Does collagen actually work? Is it good for ADHD? Is it worth the money? Are collagen supplements synthetic or natural? Are collagen gummies effective? Does collagen actually help with hair growth and skin health? Find yourself wondering about any or all of these questions, this post is for you.

If you’re already sold on collagen and want to skip to the gummies, click here. But maybe you’re not convinced and want to nerd out on some of the science, keep reading!

First and foremost, a disclaimer: I’m not a doctor and don’t pretend to be one or even play one on TV. I’m simply a mother, naturalist, and eternal student who is great at asking questions. I love all the sciencey-nerdy-nuancey stuff and my life’s purpose is to empower you to take your health into your own hands. I want to encourage you to have fun looking at the often opposing research in the health and wellness space so you can make your own informed decision. My mantra: Learn the facts but don’t live and die by them. Trust your intuition above all else. Now that we’ve cleared the air, let’s get to the collagen!

In this post I covered some research and my thoughts on vitamins and supplements, but basically: I opt for whole food sources whenever possible. Like all supplements, collagen has lots of nuance as well. Here’s some of the research I found: 

Collagen pros

• Collagen can help with skin elasticity and hydration (Source).
• Consistent use helps to reduce and prevent joint pain, bone density loss and skin aging (Source).
• It can enhance facial skin moisture and elasticity and reduce wrinkles (Source).
• The most effective collagen comes from animal sources (Source).

Collagen cons

• The effects of collagen have been wildly overstated by companies and social media (Source).
• There’s not enough evidence to show that collagen will live up to the hype that many companies promise (Source). 
• There is little evidence that collagen supports hair growth specifically (Source).

A trusted source

One of the people I look to for health and wellness advice (besides my own functional medicine practitioner) is Dr. Zach Bush. Bush is one of the few triple board certified physicians in the country and specializes in internal medicine, endocrinology and metabolism, and hospice/palliative care. I listened to him on the Almost 30 podcast last week and he specifically talked about collagen and the supplement industry. 

Hearing him talk made me feel equal parts hopeful and angry about the state of our “wellness” industry (the two can co-exist!). You can listen to his interview on the Almost 30 podcast below. The part I’m talking about is from minute 14:20 to 17:10.

I highly recommend listening to the rest of the interview above, Zach Bush is an inspiring human and such a wealth of information. He also went on to explain that one of the largest studies done on supplements looked at 105,000 women and found that USP multivitamin actually increased mortality. So something we take as gospel – likely due to savvy PR and marketing – isn’t always in our best interest. In the podcast, he doesn’t recommend a specific collagen supplement over another, but is a huge proponent of getting back to nature as much as possible. Because according to him and other experts in the field, that is ultimately how we are going to reclaim our health and our planet. 

So it’s with that in mind that I wanted to share a recipe for collagen gummies (would it even be a Life’s Pretty Wild blog post without a major philosophical aside? )

My take

Considering all of this research, I feel comfortable supplementing with collagen from whole food sources. At best, it’ll help give me stronger hair and skin. At worst, it’ll do nothing. 

So when I found out it was possible to make whole-food collagen gummies at home, I wanted to give it a go. Difficulty level is about a 2/10 so I’m low-key annoyed at myself for waiting this long to dig into this

How to Make Collagen Gummies at Home

I found some basic recipes for gelatin gummies including this one and played around with it. After experimenting for a few weeks, I’m thrilled with the final recipe! It includes fresh orange juice for natural B vitamins, pomegranate juice and honey for antioxidants, lemon for electrolytes, ginger to combat oxidative stress, and 100% grass-fed bovine gelatin collagen protein to hold it all together and, of course, give you all the hair, skin, and nails benefits!

The basic recipe is 2 cups juice + ½ cup gelatin collagen + ¼ cup honey.

I went a little crazy and made up a fun and tropical version! Here’s a shopping list of what you need:

• 1 oranges or ¼ cup fresh orange juice
• 1 pomegranate or ½ cup pomegranate juice
• 4 inches ginger or 2-4 tsp ginger juice
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ½ cup coconut milk or ¼ cup coconut cream + ¼ cup water
• ½ cup gelatin collagen powder 
• ¼ cup raw honey

For all of the fruit ingredients above, you can either use a juicer (I like this one) or simply use a blender then strain through a cheesecloth. You can also skip the juicing altogether and buy the juices at the grocery store, just make sure they’re as natural and unprocessed as possible, with no added sugar. At my local Whole Foods, you can juice your own OJ and I also found a pomegranate juice that has no added fillers or sugar. The only tricky one would be ginger, as I’ve never seen just plain ginger juice, but you could also swap for ½ teaspoon ground ginger in a pinch.

My go-to brand for gelatin-collagen is Perfect Supplements. I love that the collagen is sources from whole food sources – 100% pasture-raised, grass-fed cows. Plus they are an ethical brand and all of their ingredients are fairly traded and lab tested. I deeply relate to their mission to be positive stewards of our planet. All yes boxes for me!!

How to make the best homemade collagen gummies:

1. Start by juicing all of your fruits. You can either use a juicer like this one or peel all of the fruits and blend in a blender, then strain using a cheesecloth. 
2. Add half of your juice to a small saucepan and sprinkle gelatin over juice to “bloom.” Whisk well until combined, it will become very thick.
3. Turn on heat to medium and add the remaining juice and coconut milk. Whisk until combined and it becomes liquid – be careful not to let it boil. Stir constantly until all the gelatin has dissolved. Then turn off heat and set aside to cool.
4. When mixture is cool enough to touch, add the honey and stir well. Do not add honey to the mixture while it’s hot, you’ll kill all the benefits.
5. Working quickly, pour into silicone molds and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes, then transfer for fridge for 2 hours to set. Once set, remove gummies from molds and store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. It’s best to store in the fridge, but you don’t have to.

If you make these collagen gummies, tag me on Instagram @lifesprettywild! I’d love to see what creations you come up with!

Some Q + A

Doesn’t heating up fruit juices make them lose their nutrients?

Yes, it’s always better to eat fruit raw as that will get you the most nutritional benefits. You will lose some of the nutrients in the heating process, but not all! That’s also why it’s important to remove from heat as soon as the collagen liquifies, and not let it get to a boil. The main component of these gummies are the collagen and the fruit juices are for some fun added benefits (and to make it tastier, too). 

When should I add the honey?

For this recipe, you want to be careful not to add the honey to the mixture while it’s still hot. On the flip side, you want it to be warm enough that the gelatin doesn’t set prematurely. If it does, just reheat until it melts and proceed. If you’re worried you won’t get the temperature right or you’re worried about burning the honey, just use raw maple syrup instead, which although it won’t give you the same benefits as honey, it does not lose its properties when heated. 

I always opt for raw honey for it’s nutritional + medicinal benefits. If I need to heat up a sweetener, I’ll use coconut sugar or maple syrup. While heating honey won’t kill you, keeping it as close to raw is going to give you the most benefits. When you heat honey, you can potentially destroy or weaken its vitamins, enzymes, minerals, etc.

Is collagen safe for kids?

While there is no need for a child to consume a collagen supplement, it won’t harm them, but do check with your pediatrician or healthcare professional if you want to confirm. I personally feel comfortable giving these to my kids because they’re obsessed with gummies (it’s like candy for them), it’s a fun little part of our morning routine (sometimes it literally gets them out of bed), and I like that they’re getting a little extra whole-food protein from the gelatin collagen and vitamins from the fruit. For reference, my kids are 19 months and 3 years old. 

Where do you get your collagen from?

Perfect Supplements. I really value their commitment to ethical sourcing, sustainability, and clean, whole-food ingredients. You can read more about the brand here!

If you make these gummies, tag me on Instagram! I love to see all of your creations!

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