Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body. Found in your skin, joints, muscles, and bones, collagen provides health benefits ranging from better skin elasticity to reduced joint pain to improved body composition (1)(2).
Taking collagen orally, whether through food or supplementation, can help you enjoy these benefits, especially since different factors deplete collagen — such as aging, chronic exposure to UV irradiation, a high-sugar diet, and stress (3)(4)(5)(6).
This article focuses on collagen supplements, more specifically the best keto collagen powder options if you’re on a low-carb diet.
Is Collagen Powder Allowed on Keto?
Collagen powder is totally optional on the keto diet, but it can be very helpful for optimizing your health, appearance, and physical performance while you’re on this way of eating. Even non-keto dieters can take collagen — even more so if their diet is rich in sugary foods (because sugar weakens collagen, making you age faster).
Keep in mind that pure collagen powders do not raise your blood glucose levels and affect ketosis. At the same time, you should watch out for collagen supplements that contain added sugars, fillers, and other ingredients that put you over your daily carb limit. When finding a collagen supplement, make a habit of reading nutrition labels.
If you’re interested in keto-friendly collagen powders, be sure to check out our top brand recommendations below.
What Type of Collagen is Best for Keto?
The best keto collagen powder is one that’s carb-free or contains just a small amount of carbs per serving so that you’ll stay in ketosis. Some collagen powders are specially formulated for the keto diet in that they include medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) to boost your dietary fat intake and ketone levels.
When it comes to flavored collagen, it should be sweetened using a keto-friendly sweetener such as stevia, monk fruit, or erythritol. Avoid supplements that use regular sugar and junk fillers. Unflavored collagen, on the other hand, is a good option if would rather mix collagen into a beverage like coffee or a smoothie.
Top Keto Collagen Powder Brands to Buy
There are many collagen powders out there, but we’ve picked the best ones that don’t add lots of carbs to your diet, helping sustain a state of ketosis and supporting your health and wellness goals.
1. Perfect Keto Keto Collagen with MCT
This grass-fed collagen powder comes in an Unflavored version plus six unique flavors. It’s dairy-free, making it a good choice for people with a dairy allergy. In addition, Perfect Keto adds 5 grams of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) in every scoop to increase your energy, especially if you’re taking this collagen powder before a workout or first thing in the morning to start the day.
We tried their Chocolate-flavored collagen and share our thoughts in this review.
Flavors: Unflavored, Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry, Salted Caramel, Cinnamon Toast, Peanut Butter
Macros per serving (1 scoop): Calories: 70-90 | Carbs: 2-3g | Fat: 3.5-4g | Protein: 9-10g
Pros: It can be enjoyed at any time of the day — in the morning, evening, before or after a workout, or while you’re traveling. This collagen has no artificial ingredients and is sweetened using stevia to avoid gut issues that may be caused by sugar alcohols.
Cons: It may not fully dissolve when mixed with cold beverages. Your drink might turn out to be gritty.
Price: $42.99 at Perfect Keto, $42.99 on Amazon
2. Kiss My Keto Keto Collagen
Kiss My Keto collagen is a low-calorie protein supplement made from 100% grass-fed bovine and it comes in two flavors, Birthday Cake and Chocolate. We’ve tried these collagen powders and they’re great for creating a keto-friendly version of hot chocolate or hot vanilla milk drink. You can also use them to make healthy fat bombs, cookies, and desserts.
Flavors: Birthday Cake, Chocolate
Macros per serving (1 scoop): Calories: 70 | Carbs: 1g | Fat: 3.5g | Protein: 9-10g
Pros: There are no sugar alcohols used to sweeten Kiss My Keto Collagen. It uses only stevia, which is a natural sweetener with health benefits. Also, both flavors appeal to most customers, especially those who are picky eaters.
Cons: Some customers find it expensive.
Price: $41.99 at Kiss My Keto, $38.99 on Amazon
3. Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides
With 20 grams of collagen peptides per serving, this keto collagen powder is specially created for people who are trying to optimize their dietary protein. On top of its bovine collagen peptide content, it includes vitamin C to support collagen synthesis and maintenance. According to Vital Proteins, this powder is soluble whether in hot or cold liquids.
Flavors: Unflavored, Chocolate
Macros per serving (2 scoops): Calories: 70-90 | Net carbs: 0-2g | Fat: 0.5g | Protein: 18g
Pros: It features two types of collagen — types I and III — which are responsible not just for skin, hair, and nail health but also for wound healing. It dissolves easily without any problems and does not have a weird aftertaste. It’s gluten-free and dairy-free.
Cons: No other flavored options except for Chocolate.
Price: $27.00 at Vital Proteins, $23.45 on Amazon
4. Ancient Nutrition Multi Collagen Protein Powder
If one of your goals on the keto diet is to promote gut health aside from achieving beautiful skin, hair, and nails, try Ancient Nutrition’s powder. Its multi-collagen complex includes sources like bovine hide, fermented eggshell membrane, chicken bone broth protein, and fish. If you’re concerned about antibiotics and hormones, this product does not contain any of them, plus it comes in five different flavors.
Flavors: Unflavored, Vanilla, Strawberry Lemonade, Chocolate, Cucumber Lime, Cold Brew
Macros per serving (1 scoop): Calories: 35 | Carbs: 0-2g | Fat: 0g | Protein: 9g
Pros: It includes ten types of collagen coming from four sources. It’s very low in calories, even lower than other collagen powders, making it helpful for also supporting weight loss. It uses stevia leaf extract as its sweetener for other flavored powders.
Cons: It has a lower amount of protein per serving. Also, it may not be great for people with egg and chicken allergies.
Price: $44.95 at Ancient Nutrition, $39.96 on Amazon
5. Bulletproof Collagen Protein
Bulletproof offers this keto-friendly unflavored collagen that can be added to your coffee, smoothie, and a wide variety of recipes. This powder is highly bioavailable — meaning, it’s effectively absorbed and used by your body. Each serving has 20 grams of hydrolyzed collagen for your skin, bones, and joints.
Flavors: Unflavored
Macros per serving (2 scoops): Calories: 70 | Carbs: 0g | Fat: 0g | Protein: 18g
Pros: May help you recover from your workouts and provide joint pain relief. It does not have an aftertaste unlike some powders on the market. It also mixes well into any beverage — hot or cold.
Cons: If you’re looking for other flavors, unfortunately, there aren’t any available at Bulletproof.
Price: $43.95 at Bulletproof, $34.55 on Amazon
How to Take Keto Collagen Powder
There are many ways to reap the benefits of collagen powder:
- For example, you can take it in the morning by blending it into your coffee if you would rather have a satiating drink instead of a full breakfast. You could even add a tablespoon of MCT oil — or use a collagen powder with MCTs like Perfect Keto collagen for a boost in ketones.
- To aid in your exercise recovery, blend unflavored collagen powder into your smoothie or make an iced chocolatey or fruity drink out of flavored collagen. Some people might even add other keto-friendly ingredients so that their collagen drink becomes more delicious or for the purpose of meeting their nutritional needs.
- If you love cooking and baking, then find opportunities to mix a serving of collagen powder into soups, sauces, muffins, cookies, and brownies.
Bottom Line
Supplementing collagen in your keto diet is a helpful strategy to look and feel your best. Collagen is found throughout your body, which is why taking it in the form of a powder (on top of eating collagen-rich foods) can improve your skin, hair, nails, joints, and gut health among other benefits.
The list we shared features the best keto collagen powder products currently available. Make sure to choose the one that is in line with your goals, has the flavors you prefer (or unflavored if you like it plain), and contains ample amounts of protein per serving.
While collagen supplements are beneficial, keep in mind that they should not be used to replace whole foods.
References:
- Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health. Collagen
- Zdzieblik D, Oesser S, Baumstark M et al. Collagen peptide supplementation in combination with resistance training improves body composition and increases muscle strength in elderly sarcopenic men: a randomised controlled trial. 2015 October 28
- Varani J, Dame M, Rittié L et al. Decreased Collagen Production in Chronologically Aged Skin. 2006 June
- Rittié L, Fisher G. Natural and Sun-Induced Aging of Human Skin. 2015 January
- Danby F. Nutrition and aging skin: sugar and glycation. 2010 July-August
- Kahan V, Andersen M, Tomimori J et al. Stress, immunity and skin collagen integrity: evidence from animal models and clinical conditions. 2009 June 10
