You may have noticed that there are currently tons of collagen products and supplements on the market today. You can find everything from collagen eye creams to collagen drinks. Many of these boast to help decrease the appearance of wrinkles and improve overall skin health, but the jury is unfortunately still out when it comes to scientific evidence completely backing up these claims. Bummer, I know.
However, I personally have been using a product for the past few months called NeoCell Super Collagen. Before I started taking this supplement I did my homework and read various studies about the effectiveness of collagen. Like I said, you will find articles that will show improvements in overall skin health, increased nail growth, and reduced joint pain. That being said you will also find research that shows no improvement from collagen supplements, showing that the same effects could be seen from eating foods rich in collagen such as fish, red peppers, berries, soy, etc. Anyway, I decided to try it myself and see if I could visibly see any benefits.
NeoCell Super Collagen
NeoCell Super Collagen is a powdered supplement which you mix with water. It has no taste and it is advised to mix it with 8 oz. of water immediately in the morning before consuming anything else. I purchased my container at Whole Foods, but you can find all locations that carry it here.
I started incorporating this into my daily routine for about a month. To be honest, I really didn’t notice a difference in my overall skin appearance at all. I did, however, notice that my nails were growing incredibly fast and were harder than ever. I also began to notice less pain and discomfort in my knees when I performed relatively high impact activities like running.
After I began seeing these results, I ran out of this supplement and didn’t replace it for two weeks. The biggest difference I noticed after going off this supplement was my nails. They became very brittle and began breaking.
Over the past few months, I have been on the supplement and have gone off of it, each time I see the same results. My nails begin to break after going off of the supplement. Unfortunately, I still do not see any improvements in my skin, but I personally attribute my ability to grow long hard nails to my collagen supplement.
Before beginning a collagen regimen, I highly recommend doing your homework. Here are some articles that I have found to be very helpful:
Collagen: An implausible supplement for joint pain
Consumption of the collagen supplement Pure Gold Collagen® reduces visible signs of aging