Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Review – I Like This One

|  Initial Thoughts  |  Core Ingredients & Benefits: Collagen Peptides, Vanilla, Dark Chocolate Blackberry, Mixed Berry, Sticks, Capsules, HA With Vitamin C  |  Additives  |  Success Rates  |  Final Thoughts  |

In this Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides review, we will properly dissect their core unflavored supplements and three of their flavored versions to get the best sense of the whole supplement brand.

And thus, we will dive into and discuss their promotional materials, promised benefits, active (beneficial ingredients), their likely actual benefits, and the additives. Additionally, we will also do a section on the available customer reviews, as well as everything that comes with that.

Essentially, all to make as accurate of assessment about the Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides supplements as possible.

The Vital Proteins Brand Feels Very Lovable, Good Looking & Value-Focused

According to the manufacturer, Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides is a “powerhouse [..] sourced from grass-fed, pasture-raised bovine to ensure a natural, high quality and sustainable source of this powerful ingredient.” The powerful ingredient – of course, they’re talking about Collagen here [R].

As they put it, “Collagen is found in all of our connective tissues, tendons, ligaments and bones with its purpose being to provide these body parts with their strength, structure and elasticity. As we get older, our bodies become less efficient at naturally producing collagen, which is why we recommend introducing ingestible collagen to your diet” [R].

So, here’s that little premise as to why we need their supplement. But, I feel, they are really easy-going about it. Meaning, it’s absolutely incomparable with supplements like Organixx Clean Sourced Collagens that essentially drown people in their promotional materials and marketing that do all to get people to buy.

No, Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides are very collected, poised, and not burdensome at all. To that end, it’s very similar to supplements like NeoCell Collagen + C or Great Lakes Gelatin Collagen Hydrolysate. A supplement that doesn’t try to lure you into anything. And ultimately, it does feel like a breath of fresh air (though there is a bit of marketing as well).

While there are quite a number of different supplements in their brand line-up, the description pages for each respective one are very similar. They essentially portray and subscribe to all of what we already discussed. Furthermore, they persist on the exact same potential benefits.

Improvements to skin, nail, hair, bone, and joint health. Whereas an augmented version of the thing also suggests youthful appearance as one extra gain. Also, it’s said to be free of Gluten, Dairy, and Added Sugars. Paleo-Friendly and Whole30 Approved are also among their features.

Other than that, they also provide supplement facts, the typical Amino Acid profiles, information on how to use them, a discount and free shipping if we subscribe (hello, marketing; it’s what I meant earlier), and a review section which looks far more trustable than what we’ve seen with Skinny Fit Super Youth or Pure Gold Collagen (more on this in a later section).

Also, as I see it, Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides are really good-looking supplements. So, something that adds to their pleasantness.

But that’s all quite superficial. So, let’s pick it all properly apart.

Let’s Do Them One By One; I Bet I Would Make It Terribly Confusing Otherwise

The Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides brand consists of a total of 7 supplements. There’s the flagship version that comes as a powder. And then there are kind of two branches in which they go from there. On the one side, there are three flavored versions of that powder. On the other side, there are sticks (packets) version, capsule version, and an augmented version of the flagship one.

So, picking the whole brand apart means we have quite a bit of supplements to look at and go through.

And I imagine if we were to just try to do it in a single section or in a way that discusses certain parts of them at a time, it would make it all incredibly confusing. Hence, to avoid that, we’ll do an entirely separate section for each of the supplements. And then within these, we’ll discuss the core ingredients, potential benefits, and additives of each particular one.

Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides (Review) – Kind Of A Backbone Supplement That All Other Build On

As we’ve seen with brands like the Code Age Multi Collagen or the Further Food Collagen, it’s also extremely similar here. Each of the brands has its own supplement that’s basically the backbone of the whole line-up. In this case, it’s a supplement going by the name of Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides [R].

This unflavored thing per two scoops offers 20 grams of Collagen Peptides from bovine hide. And that’s all that there is to it. No other ingredients. Which applies not only to the beneficial ones.

I mean, Collagen is the absolute only thing that we find here. Thus, the supplement skillfully avoids stuff like additives (which can prove to be harmful) and any other additions that may in any way inhibit its ability to deliver.

Speaking of the ability to deliver benefits, I feel, the serving size is a really nice one here. I mean, it should be considerably more beneficial than supplements like NeoCell Super Collagen or Youtheory Collagen. Moreover, I feel, it’s a definitely fine attempt at the full range of Collagen benefits [R, R, R, R].

That said, there is one thing about it that I’m not so keen on.

There are only about 14 servings per container (about 28 scoops total). Which is not a lot for $25. I mean, that’s pretty expensive. For a month’s worth of Collagen, it would require above $50. Plus, we would have to cover shipping as well.

I mean, compare that to something like the Garden of Life Collagen Peptides which not only typically costs about $30 but also adds a high-quality probiotic strain. The value for the price disparity is a good one.

Granted, one could subscribe and get off 25% for the first container and 15% for every next plus get free shipping. Which would mean $18.75 for the first 14 servings and $21.25 for the other 14. Which is no less than $40 for almost a month. Which is still considerably more than the Garden of Life thing.

Thus, overall, while the Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides feels a decent one, it’s not the most value for the price.

Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Vanilla (Review) – Flavored Versions Are Something We Can Easily Go For

As I suggested in the previous section, the Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Vanilla is truly something that builds on that flagship one. That said, there are a few unique aspects of it [R].

So, as you might have guessed, it also goes by 20 grams of Collagen Peptides from bovine hide. And with that, also comes 14 milligrams of Magnesium and 90 milligrams of Potassium. Both of which, by no means, will be life-changing additions. But they’re nice.

While some would assume that these two minerals are there to deliver benefits, I feel, that would be a faulty assumption. Think of them as necessary additions to make that Vanilla aspect of this Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides possible. Meaning, I feel, they’ve never been a necessity, they kind of just happened due to the added extra ingredients for the making of Vanilla Flavor.

Speaking of which, what are the exact ingredients responsible for that?

This is where the additives come into play. This particular product lists two: Coconut Water Powder and Natural Vanilla Flavor. While, I feel, the first one is, for sure, an, at least, harmless one, as for the other, it’s a pretty tricky one [R, R, R, R].

I mean, many hold the conviction that if it says, “Natural,” it means that it’s healthy. But that can be extremely far from the truth. I mean, the truth is that it can go both ways. Also, Natural Flavors can hold all kinds of unhealthy to consume admixtures and impurities created intentionally or unintentionally through the manufacturing process. So, I feel, it kind of all depends on that [R, R, R, R, R].

Thus, what about the Vanilla version of the Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides?

Well, their about us page doesn’t really give us much. But that’s just the wrong place where to look for that kind of information. Ultimately, I was pleasantly surprised as to the lengths they go to ensure everything’s legit and that we’re actually getting quality Collagen [R, R].

Vital Proteins hold third-party certifications like USDA Organic Certified, Non-GMO Project Verified, Kosher Certified. And they do all of their supplements in an NSF certified cGMP facility. Moreover, they also third-party test their end-products for heavy metals and microbiological components, which is amazing and something that we should always look for in a manufacturer. And there is other stuff to add to this as well to not go too much in detail [R].

So, be that as it may, I think one is for sure. They truly do care for proper manufacturing quality. Hence, as I see it, it’s likely that the Natural Flavors they do, are actually really helpful and pose no health hazard whatsoever.

So, overall, I think this one’s a very viable choice as well.

Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Dark Chocolate Blackberry (Review) – There May Be Too Much Potassium

The Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Dark Chocolate Blackberry is another supplement that builds on the unflavored Collagen Peptides. But it may not be as viable as either of the previous ones [R].

So, the supplement offers that same amount of 20 grams of Collagen. It couples that with 20 milligrams of Magnesium and 300 milligrams of Potassium. Both of which, I feel, are as it was with the Vanilla version. Meaning, they’re the byproduct of the additives and not what they necessarily intended to have to provide benefits.

Also, speaking of the additives, while there are five of them, none should be a problem. Coconut Water Powder and Natural Flavoring (this time Cocoa) we already discussed in the previous section. Whereas the extra Organic Blackberry Powder and Organic Cocoa will really only ever be beneficial [R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R].

There is, however, a different type of concern I would like to rise with this Dark Chocolate Blackberry version of the brand.

Too many minerals can be harmful. And that’s especially the case with Potassium. In fact, it’s so much so that many high-profile doctors strongly recommend against ever supplementing more than 99 milligrams of the mineral daily. Which the current supplement surpasses more than three times [R, R, R, R].

The reason for this is that generally it’s assumed that we get enough of this mineral from our diets, whereas supplementing it can easily lead to overdoing it. Which can lead to truly devastating health effects, such as hyperkalemia. That said, the most recent statistics in the field suggest that essentially 100% of people are Potassium deficient [R, R, R, R, R].

This may suggest that picking up such a supplement despite the dangers could potentially be likely more helpful than harmful, especially given that we need around 6,700 milligrams of the mineral a day. However, I feel, that’s largely a speculation [R].

I personally wouldn’t go for this one due to this. And if potential deficiency makes you uneasy, just eat more fruits and vegetables (almost all of them typically are great Potassium sources).

Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Mixed Berry (Review) – I Love The Approach Here; A Great Formulation

When speaking of the Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Mixed Berry, it’s a little bit different formulation that also brings vitamin C but replaces it for the minute amounts of Magnesium that we saw with the other flavors [R].

Exactly like the flavored supplements before it, also this one builds on 20 grams of Collagen Peptides from bovine hide per single scoop (instead of two that we found in the unflavored version). Then there are also 60 milligrams of vitamin C and 130 milligrams of Potassium. Last of which may raise some concerns yet again.

In the light of what we went over in the previous section, 130 milligrams is definitely more than 99 milligrams of Potassium, which is said to preferably not be exceeded. However, I feel, in this case, I think it shouldn’t be too big of a deal. I mean, we need about 6,700 milligrams of the mineral daily and an extra 30 milligrams on the general recommendation won’t very likely break things [R, R, R, R].

And that’s likely even over the long term, especially considering the potential deficiency pandemic that exists regarding the nutrient. Therefore, I think this should be fine as long as we don’t use any other daily supplements that contain it. Or to put it in other words, I wouldn’t disregard the thing due to this aspect.

That said, what I specifically love about this Mixed Berry version is that it doesn’t use Natural Flavors at all.

Instead, it achieves that taste purely through the added powders. Organic Blueberry Powder, Organic Strawberry Powder, Organic Blackberry Powder, Organic Raspberry Powder, Organic Acerola Cherry Powder. And these powders while also being inherently beneficial themselves, provide that extra vitamin C we can find on the label [R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R].

Overall, taking it all into consideration, I feel, the Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Mixed Berry is an amazing supplement. I’d even go as far as saying that it’s probably one of the two best ones of the whole brand.

Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Stick Pack Box (Review) – The Packet Equivalent Of The Flagship One

I mean, the name kind of gives it away. But unlike the three previous ones, the Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Stick Pack Box is not another flavored version of the thing. Rather it’s the same flagship supplement with a changed approach to dosages, namely, packets instead of scoops [R].

This kind of approach is actually pretty popular. Some like Ancient Nutrition Multi Collagen Protein also have it as an option in their brand line-up; others like It Works CollagenWorks use it as their main way of doing things. Though it has to be said that such products typically contain less Collagen per packet than what we would get from a scoop.

But that’s not the case with this Stick version of Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides. It offers as much Collagen per packet as we get from a single scoop of the flagship supplement (it was two scoops that provide 20 grams in that one, remember?).

So, it’s as good. To that end, I feel it’s an ideal option if we’re traveling or if we want to do it on the go.

Lastly, as it was with the basic version, it is also with this one. It doesn’t use any additives. Meaning, there’s far less concern for any potential side effects.

And thus, ultimately, this stick thing’s a definitely very viable option.

Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Capsules (Review) – A Much, Much More Limited Supplement

While protein powders have been the prevalent option when it comes to Collagen, it’s not what every person enjoys. And so, much like other brands out there like Doctor’s Best Collagen or Ancient Nutrition Multi Collagen, also offer their versions of a capsule Collagen [R].

But that doesn’t come without its drawbacks. That’s both typically and with the Vital Proteins brand.

The main problem with this approach is that these alternatives rarely manage to pump in as much Collagen per serving in order to not make the potential benefits likely quite limited. I mean, the best that I’ve seen in this category is the NeoCell Super Collagen + C.

Whereas while the serving size is the same, these capsules of  Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides are only about half as good. Meaning, with this, per serving, we’re only getting 3.3 grams of the substance. Which is not a lot.

As for the additives, both tablet and capsule versions usually involve some. As for this supplement, oddly enough they’re not listed on their website. However, doing some digging did end up actually finding that there is one. Gelatin Capsule.

While Gelatin as a substance can cause such minor side-effects as bad breath, I wouldn’t refer to the thing as something harmful. In fact, it’s essentially that same Collagen only manufactured slightly differently. Moreover, in of itself, it’s an extremely beneficial substance as well. I mean, Vital Proteins even have a separate product specifically dedicated to getting more of it [R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R].

So, while Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Capsules is not the most abundant supplement as far as Collagen goes, I wouldn’t say it’s unviable. Supplements like Nature’s Life Marine Collagen with almost three times fewer of the protein have proven through global success rates that they can be beneficial nonetheless. But more on this in a later section.

Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides With Hyaluronic Acid + Vitamin C (Review) – Maybe Even The Most Epic Supplement

When I was talking about the Mixed Berry version of the Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides, I mentioned that it is probably one of the best ones of the brand. And now, let’s discuss the other one [R].

It goes by the full name of Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides With Hyaluronic Acid + Vitamin C. While that is quite a mouthful, it characterizes perfectly the core ingredients found in the supplement.

It starts off on that same 20 grams of Collagen that all of the brand’s scoopable powders do. Then it adds 90 milligrams of vitamin C in the form of Ascorbic Acid. And that is then augmented by 80 milligrams of Hyaluronic Acid to make it overall one of the most fascinating Collagen supplements I’ve seen.

Vitamin C is okay, but really the emphasis here is on that Hyaluronic Acid and all the extra benefits that it can bring to the table. Whereas the best part is that has every reason to do so. Because unlike supplements like NeoCell Marine Collagen, this version of the Vital Proteins brand provides an extremely decent amount of the highly beneficial compound [R, R, R, R, R].

Hence, with the addition of Hyaluronic Acid, we’re likely looking at added benefits of younger-looking, “dewier,” more supple, just overall healthier skin with improved elasticity, fewer wrinkles, and good-byes to bags under the eyes. Plus, it can also heal dandruff, assist joint health, promote wound healing, reduce eye discomfort and dry eyes, and have a number of other useful benefits [R, R, R, R].

Which, I feel, kind of makes this Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides augmented version probably one of the best Collagen supplements one can buy. Especially, considering all we went over in regards to manufacturing and all that. And then just amazing beneficial ingredients with no addition of additives. I mean, just truly great. Just very powerful stuff.

Success Rates Are Extremely Mixed; Reviews Are Terribly Concerning; Amazon Sells Fakes?

Now, let’s take a more practical approach to the Vital Proteins Collagen brand. Let’s look at the customer reviews and see how helpful they have been generally.

According to the Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides reviews, those that we can find on the manufacturer’s website, they are on most part very well-received.

For all the non-flavored versions, they have a merged section for this. Meaning, we can only get the total number of reviews considering all of them combined. Which isn’t the most objective thing but it’s what we have to work with here as, I feel, it’s impossible to discern which reviews specifically go with which exact products.

So, we do find there a total of 3117 of which 152 are negative ones (1- and 2-star). This means that they are sitting on the average of 95.1% global success rate. Which is busted. Whereas for Vanilla version, it’s 93.3% (97 positives vs 7 negatives), Dark Chocolate Blackberry – 96.8% (60 positives vs 2 negatives), and Mixed Berry – 84.6% (22 positives vs 4 negatives).

But if we were to take all of the positive and negative reviews, combine them, and then make an assessment, we would get that the average global success rate for the whole brand of Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides is at 95.1%. Which is really great but it’s often only part of the picture.

This is generally because manufacturers have full control over their own websites, thus they can (and as we’ve seen with a number of supplements they likely do) edit and adjust the rating to make the products appear better and more desirable. Hence, improving their sales and revenue.

To counter that, I did a full-on, comprehensive, real-customer-review-oriented research across all other sellers and retailers that sell these supplements. And the results were kind of unexpected in every facet of the word’s meaning.

For the flagship Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides, I found a total of 3598 reviews. Of which 3394 were positive (3-, 4-, 5-star) and 204 were negative (1- and 2-star). This leaves us at a 94.3% global success rate. This suggests that it’s highly unlikely that Vital Proteins have edited anything on their page.

As for Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Stick Pack Box, it was a similar kind of thing. A total of 3632 customer ratings. Of these, 201 were negative and 3431 were positive. Therefore, a global success rate of 94.5%. Which again suggests that the manufacturer very likely does not edit anything.

It’s a completely different picture, however, when it comes to the Capsules version and the Augmented one (Hyaluronic Acid + Vitamin C). The former has 89 positives and 15 negatives, hence 85.6%. Whereas the latter has 4691 positives and 895 negatives. This leaves us at only 84.0%. Which was incredibly surprising in a bad way given how hyped I was about the thing and its essence.

Then came the Vanilla with a miserable of 40.0% success rate (16 good, 24 bad), the Dark Chocolate Blackberry with a solid 89.6% success rate (112 good, 13 bad), and the Mixed Berry with pretty bad 63.4% success rate (26 good, 15 bad). Which would suggest that they might be doing some adjusting and editing after all (though it might be too early due to how few total reviews they have by other sellers and retailers).

But given how great the supplement is from a pure ingredient and manufacturing standpoint, it really got me thinking…

What if it’s not that they edit their customer reviews? What if there’s something totally different that’s to blame here?

So, I immersed myself in the comments made for the 1-star and 2-star ratings. And what I found was extremely concerning, to say the least.

It’s beyond extremely likely that the product that we can buy on Amazon is not the same product that we get when we order through the manufacturer’s website. They look different, they smell different, they taste different, they dissolve differently. What we get directly from Vital Proteins is very unlike the slur that Amazon is selling.

What’s even more concerning is that this is not the first supplement I’ve seen such feedback for. I’ve seen this for other Collagen supplements on Amazon as well. And if my memory does not fail me, I’ve also seen similar stuff with MCT Oils and even some Turmeric Curcumin supplements.

Now, Amazon is listed as an approved seller of Vital Proteins and I have no idea how all of this plays into that. All I’m saying is that it appears that the people who’ve ordered supplements through the Vital Proteins page have never had the type of experience regarding the quality. Whereas when it came to Amazon, it was “bad batches” and all kinds of stupid sh*t everywhere. And we’re speaking long-term regular customers here – people of about a year and more.

In light of this, I don’t think Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides With Hyaluronic Acid + Vitamin C is an 84.0% global success rate. I mean, if we were to take out all of those “bad batches,” I wouldn’t be surprised that the global success rate would be well above 95%. Namely, something much like what we found with the flagship supplement and the sticks version.

Moreover, I imagine, this may also be a somewhat similar case for the other ones.

I Believe These Are Some Truly Great Supplements; Don’t Buy From Amazon Though

So, where exactly are we with the Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides supplements?

Well, I believe that it’s hard to imagine better Collagen supplements from a pure ingredient and manufacturing perspective. Which is arguably the most important aspect to consider. Great Collagen amounts, amazing additives, third-party testing. It’s just everything we’d want from a supplement.

Granted, they’re not the cheapest products we can buy, but there are ways how to keep the price down as much as possible. Furthermore, I feel for the quality they do, they are worth it. Though something like the Live Conscious (LiveWell) Collagen Peptides (full review with a summary) is the considerably more cost-efficient option.

Still, I myself would love to give these ones a try. I would love to put my wife on them if she ever suggests she wants Collagen. And I absolutely see a world where this, especially the Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides With Hyaluronic Acid + Vitamin C might be one among the very the best Collagen supplements currently available.

One thing I wouldn’t do though is to buy them from Amazon. Given the trend of potential fakes happening, I don’t think it’s safe to buy supplements from Amazon anymore. The only exception to this might be if it’s literally not sold anywhere else. Which is a very rare thing.

Above all, I hope this Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides review on all 7 of the brand’s supplements helped you find the information you were looking for. If it had to be this brand for you, which is the option or flavor you would go for? Is there a specific “why” to that as well? Let me know below.