The Ketogenic Diet – known as ‘keto’ – has become quite the buzzword in the diet and wellness sphere.

Here we’re discussing how you could reap the added benefits of collagen on a keto diet to further boost your health.

What is a keto diet?

The number one aim of a keto diet is to put your body into the metabolic state of ketosis.

This is where your body switches to burning fat almost exclusively rather than glucose or sugar.

Ketosis is achieved by eating a low-carb, high-fat diet.

Fans of this diet will often sing its praises for its ability to lower blood sugar, shift unwanted weight, improve mental clarity, reduce inflammation and more.

However, in order to remain in a state of ketosis, dieters need to consume a careful balance of nutrients, including a reduced amount of protein.

The thinking around this is that consuming too much protein can actually ‘kick you out’ of ketosis, as your body can create glucose from protein, which is its preferred source of fuel.

However, protein is still essential in order to maintain overall health and shouldn’t be completely eliminated from your diet.

Exactly how much protein you should consume is different depending on each individual, but the general rule is that it should make up around 20-25% of your macros.

This is why it’s essential that practitioners of the keto diet should still include some protein in their diet – either through natural sources or supplements.

Collagen is an ideal choice here, as it already has a whole host of great health benefits that keto dieters in particular will want to take advantage of.

The 7 benefits of collagen on a keto diet

1. Keeping you fuller for longer

One of the main draws of a keto diet is the potential for weight loss.

However, as you would expect, this involves a reduction in the amount of calories consumed, which can lead to battles with hunger and cravings.

The sensible solution here is to add more protein into your diet to help with this, which is one of the main benefits of collagen on a keto diet.

Multiple studies have shown that collagen can make you feel ‘full’ for much longer than other proteins, including whey and soy.

2. Helping retain muscle mass

Weight loss through any regime can inevitably lead to a loss in muscle mass, particularly on low carb diets such as keto, where the body can start to use its own protein stores for energy.

Collagen not only provides your body with a source of protein for when this happens, but it’s also great for helping your body to retain its muscle mass in the first place, beating most other proteins in clinical studies. It can also help with muscle repair after exercise.

3. Healing joint and knee pain

If you’re using keto for weight loss, chances are you’re also upping your exercise too.

With new workout routines or increased intensity in exercise, you also increase your risk of injury with new strains on your body.

Adding a collagen supplement to your diet could be a really easy way to reduce any aches and pains and protect against joint deterioration.

Collagen is already naturally found in your bones and joints, and many studies have found that incorporating it into a daily diet helped athletes improve joint pain.

4. Boosting your gut health

A keto diet is already proven to help maintain a healthy gut lining by providing prebiotics, which feed the probiotics – or ‘good bacteria’ – in your gut, while essentially starving the bad bacteria.

This balance of bacteria is essential for good gut health, which many medical experts believe plays a key role in your overall health too.

Increasing your intake of collagen can help build on this, as collagen itself is the main component of your gut lining.

Maintaining a good gut lining ensures that you receive all of the nutrients from the food you consume and prevents unpleasant symptoms like bloating and stomach pain.

5. Protecting your brain

Fans of the keto diet will often sing its praises when it comes to boosting cognitive function and giving mental clarity.

It’s thought that the higher fat intake from a keto diet helps improve memory and other areas of brain function.

This is why it makes sense to supplement it with the added cognitive benefits from collagen.

Certain types of collagen have been found to protect the brain against amyloid-beta proteins, which are believed to be a cause of Alzheimer’s.

6. Increasing your energy levels

Again, if you’re incorporating new workouts or exercise routines as part of your keto diet, the restriction in calories and certain nutrients can leave you feeling tired much quicker than usual.

This is particularly true in the first few days of trying keto, when you might go through the infamous ‘keto flu’.

Collagen peptides have a high glycine content, which is essential for the process of creating creatine, which provides energy for your muscles and is shown to improve athletic performance.

7. Enhances the health and elasticity of your skin

If you’re using keto to lose a large amount of weight - as many do - your skin may struggle to keep up with your changing body shape, leaving you with loose or saggy skin.

One of the major benefits of collagen on a keto diet is that it’s great at helping to promote the natural elasticity of your skin.

Collagen is already naturally found in our skin, and is responsible for keeping it supple and hydrated, so keeping your levels topped up with a supplement could help your skin stay firm and youthful looking.

One of the best ways to introduce more collagen into your diet is through supplements. Absolute Collagen is one of the market-leading ingestible liquid collagens, with 8mg of hydrolysed marine peptide collagen per serving.

Our innovative formula is also infused with vitamin C, for advanced skin rejuvenation and tissue renewal.

Absolute Collagen is 100% keto friendly, and every ready-mixed liquid collagen sachet is completely natural.

Our drinkable skincare is also gluten, dairy and lactose free. Subscribe today and save 18%, including lifetime free UK delivery.