Jello anyone?

I hope you all enjoyed baking quick and easy muffins since last we convened.  Today’s topic, collagen, has been intimidating to research but I tried to do my due diligence folks.  I nerded out for this one.  Collagen is used in a number of industries.  For the sake of this article I’ll stick with the health benefits of it as a supplement. If you're interested in delving deeper I’ve listed all my primary sources below. 

Let’s start with what it is: Collagen is a protein composed of 19 amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Interestingly, one of collagen's amino acids is not found in any other protein.  Collagen constitutes ~30% of our connective tissue.  Amazingly, our skin is 70% collagen.

Our skin: our barrier to the world, and our joints: which keep us mobile, constantly need to regenerate and collagen is necessary for this but collagen production diminishes with age post 25-30 years old.  Studies have shown supplementing can make up for this lesser production, with the aid of (drum roll please) Vitamin C, as I recently learned.  Vitamin C deficiency leads to the production of weak collagen formation.  The result is the worst symptoms of scurvy.  Our body literally struggles to hold itself together without collagen synthesis. 

Collagen is necessary for tissue repair, wound healing, tendon health (think Achilles, it’s what holds our muscles to our bones) and skin elasticity. Collagen is an antioxidant.  All the damage done from stress, poor lifestyle and UVB light that accelerate skin aging or cause skin cancer can potentially be mitigated with collagen supplement.  

Supplementing with collagen also helps maintain muscle mass in conjunction with exercise because collagen has the building blocks of creatine, a very popular supplement among weight lifters.  So much so, that collagen supplementation reduces the effects of sarcopenia: progressive and general muscle loss, again in conjunction with working out. 

The list goes on:

  • Improves hair and nail quality

  • Reduces inflammation in sufferers of rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. (In some instances complete remission for RA sufferers.)

  • Increases satiety

  • Anti-hypertensive 

  • LDL/cholesterol lowering 

  • Heals Leaky Gut Syndrome


While a diet of fruits, vegetables and a wide variety of complete proteins foster collagen production, as mentioned, collagen production diminishes with age.  When ingested, the bioavailability of collagen is able to cross the intestinal barrier to the place of most use.  Amino acid combinations found in collagen sources is the most efficacious way to replace collagen.  This is not vegetarian or vegan friendly.  Sources include any kind of animal bones and skin.  One popular way of getting natural collagen is with bone broth.  Or chicken feet, but I think that’s primarily Chinese cuisine and I bet not all of us are so daring.  

Since it’s warm out though how about some homemade jello made with gelatin?  Gelatin is hydrolyzed or cooked collagen with the exact same composition of amino acids so nothing is lost in the process of making it.  I love to make jello at home so I know my gelatin is coming from a pasture raised source.  Below is an easy jello recipe from Detoxinista I like to use.   It only requires 3 ingredients.  Enjoy! 

Ingredients:

  • 1 ¾ C 100% fruit juice, divided  (Bob note: any kind except for pineapple juice, as it contains an enzyme that inhibits the gelling)

  • ¼ C boiled water

  • 1 tablespoon of gelatin

  1. To begin, you’ll want to “bloom” the gelatin in a bit of cool or room-temperature fruit juice, to ensure a smooth and even end result. In a medium mixing bowl, sprinkle the tablespoon of gelatin over 1/4 cup of the fruit juice, and whisk well until the mixture starts to thicken.

  2. Once the mixture is nice and thick, pour the 1/4 cup of hot (just boiled) water over it, and whisk well to dissolve evenly. When the mixture is smooth, add in the remaining 1 ½ cups of fruit juice, and mix well to combine.

  3. Pour the mixture into a standard loaf pan, greased or lined with parchment paper to prevent sticking, and place in the fridge to set for at least 2 hours. You'll know it's done when the top is firm to the touch.  

  4. Slice into squares and serve immediately, or store in the fridge in a sealed container until ready to serve.

End of recipe.

I don’t do these last two steps.  I put the mixture into a glass vessel that will hold the contents and scoop out my servings.  My kid doesn’t care what her jello looks like.  She loves it all the same.  This is a very soft jello with the ratio of gelatin to liquid ½T:1C .  If you’d like a much firmer jello, up the ratio to 1T:1C.  


Until next we meet!

Mahalo;
Mrs. Bob

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