Thinking of using Ancient Nutrition collagen protein? Then you’ll want to read this Ancient Nutrition collagen review first.
There are a lot of questions surrounding the company.
Is Ancient Nutrition good for you? What is the difference between collagen peptides vs Ancient Nutrition collagen protein? And what is up with the Ancient Nutrition lawsuit?
In this full Ancient Nutrition collagen review, we will cover what the brand is, what products they offer, some pros and cons of the product, and some alternatives you should consider.
What is Ancient Nutrition?
Ancient Nutrition is a health and wellness company that focuses on producing nutritional supplements inspired by traditional diets and ancient food practices.
Founded by Jordan Rubin, the company emphasizes the use of high-quality, whole food ingredients to create products like bone broth protein, herbal supplements, and other functional foods.
The mission at Ancient Nutrition is to promote health through ancient wisdom combined with modern science, catering to a variety of dietary needs and preferences.
Ancient Nutrition products
Here are some of the collagen products that Ancient Nutrition offers:
Multi Collagen Protein
The main collagen product by Ancient Nutrition is their Multi Collagen Protein. This protein claims to come from 10 different sources of collagen. On the label, it says the product is made from bovine collagen, egg collagen, chicken collagen, and fish collagen.
It’s advertised as 20 grams of collagen per 2 scoops, when actually the serving size is only one scoop. So really you are getting 10 grams of collagen.
It also contains added vitamin C and probiotics, but since the product doesn’t need to be refrigerated, that means these are not live probiotic organisms. If you are looking for a good probiotic, you are better off buying a separate probiotic supplement with live cultures.
Multi Collagen Advanced
Multi Collagen Advanced actually comes in three types: Lean, Muscle, and Hydrate.
Lean contains moringa leaf extract, curry leaf extract, and cordyceps mushroom and somehow promises 6 times more weight loss, regardless of your diet or exercise habits.
Muscle claims you will lose fat and build lean muscle with ashwagandha root, thistle flower extra, and mango bark extract.
Hydrate contains twice the amount of electrolytes as the average sports drink.
Functional Collagen
The line of Functional Collagen at Ancient Nutrition contains four types of products: Joint + Mobility, Gut Restore, Beauty + Sleep Support, and Brain Boost.
Joint + Mobility contains ginger and turmeric, just like all the advanced formulas. The only unique ingredients are apple cider vinegar and skullcaps, and it’s unclear how either helps with your joints. Collagen, on its own, can certainly help with joint health, but you don’t need a special formula.
Gut Restore contains probiotics, ginger, peppermint, and elm bark, which all aim to improve digestion.
The Beauty and Sleep Support doesn’t have any specific claims like some of the other products. It should help improve sleep thanks to the added magnesium and ashwagandha.
Last, the Brain Boost claims to improve your focus and cognition and contains ashwagandha and lion’s mane mushroom.
Collagen Peptides
The fact that the company has a Collagen Peptides line is probably where the confusion between collagen peptides vs Ancient Nutrition collagen protein lies.
All Ancient Nutrition collagen is actually made from collagen peptides. What makes this line unique is that it only contains egg and bovine collagen and contains 20 grams of collagen per serving.
Bone Broth Collagen
Bone Broth Collagen is made from beef and chicken bone broth. It contains 15 grams of collagen protein per serving. The company says you should add it to stews and soups.
Ancient Nutrition collagen review: Pros and cons
Here are some of the pros and cons of using Ancient Nutrition collagen:
Pros of Ancient Nutrition:
Multi-collagen complex: Ancient Nutritions uses bovine, egg, and fish collagen, and says it contains 10 kinds of collagen. There is no description of what those kinds of collagen are, but it’s great that this is a multi-collagen supplement.
Contains vitamin C: Your body needs vitamin C to synthesize collagen, so it’s great that this product already contains both collagen and vitamin C. If there wasn’t vitamin C added in, you would need to make sure you were getting ample vitamin C in your diet alongside your daily collagen supplement.
Hydrolyzed: The product says it contains “collagen peptides.” This is another name for hydrolyzed collagen. What is hydrolyzed collagen? It’s collagen that has been broken down into smaller and more easily digestible pieces. This is important because collagen in its whole form is very hard for your body to digest, and a lot of the product would simply pass through your digestive system and go to waste if it weren’t hydrolyzed.
So if you have questions about collagen peptides vs Ancient Nutrition collagen protein, they are actually the same thing!
Cons of Ancient Nutrition :
Bad taste: Customers have said that the product tastes much worse than other collagen products they have tried, even the unflavored protein. One customer said that the chocolate flavor tasted like rancid oil and made them nauseous.
Gritty texture: Many customers have complained about the texture of the collagen powder, saying it has a gritty feel and doesn’t dissolve, even in a hot beverage like coffee. People also had issues with the powder clumping up in their drink. As such, the formula isn’t the best and you can find other products that mix more easily.
Incomplete protein: Ancient Nutrition collagen is missing out on tryptophan, which prevents it from being a complete protein. This means your body will have to provide its own tryptophan to make new proteins within your body. If you use the supplement regularly, this can cause a tryptophan shortage if you aren’t getting enough in your diet. This tryptophan deficiency can leave you feeling depressed, anxious, and irritable.
Other Ancient Nutrition collagen reviews
Ancient Nutrition collagen reviews tend to be quite varied. Some reviews are super positive and you can see that people get great results with the product. Take a look at this glowing Ancient Nutrition collagen review:
As you can see, the product helped with hair, skin, and bone health. Of course, any good collagen product would do that. So it’s not unique to Ancient Nutrition alone.
Unfortunately for the company, not all Ancient Nutrition collagen reviews are so positive.
Many people seem to have issues with the formula and consistency of Ancient Nutritions collagen powder. This review claims it was so gritty that they couldn’t mix it with their coffee and they found the product to be absolutely undrinkable.
This isn’t the only negative Ancient Nutrition collagen review…
Ancient Nutrition is not safe for people with Celiac disease. Even though the product is labeled as “free from Dairy, Gluten, and Soy,” it was manufactured on machines that also process wheat. This makes it unsafe for anyone who needs a truly gluten-free product.
Yet another Ancient Nutrition collagen review expresses issues with the taste of the product, saying there is way too much Stevia and the product tastes like rancid oil. Yikes!
Here is one more Ancient Nutrition collagen review about the poor taste, which has to do with the Unflavored product as opposed to the chocolate.
This person even broke out in cystic acne because of the collagen, which is highly concerning. Collagen itself won’t cause acne, so it has to do with either additives or poor processing practices.
The Ancient Nutrition lawsuit explained
Ancient Nutrition has come under fire for their “Brain Boost” collagen protein. They claimed that their product could help with cognition, and this has created a full lawsuit.
This Ancient Nutrition lawsuit came about because of false advertising. The company has claimed that their Brain Boost product is scientifically studied and that it is proven to be “brain boosting.”
The “secret ingredient” behind the promise of increased mental clarity and concentration is an herbal cocktail trademarked as “Multi Collagen Complex & Brain Boost Blend.
However, according to the lawsuit, none of the ingredients in the product are scientifically proven to improve cognitive function.
Unfortunately, most supplements are not FDA regulated, so the companies who make them can claim any benefits they want for their products without being forced to back them up.
It’s good that Ancient Nutrition is finally being held accountable for their false claims.
Alternatives to Ancient Nutrition
If you have read this Ancient Nutrition collagen review and are convinced you need to look elsewhere for your collagen, there are lots of great options for you.
One of your best options is Frog Fuel collagen protein.
Frog Fuel is superior to Ancient Nutrition in many ways. First of all, it has tryptophan added in to make it a complete protein. This makes it easier for your body to utilize in any way it needs, and doesn’t require your body to come up with tryptophan on its own.
In addition to being a complete protein, Frog Fuel is also nano-hydrolyzed. This means it has gone through the process of hydrolysis more than once to make it even easier for your body to digest.
Frog Fuel collagen protein is proven to be fully digestible in just 15 minutes or less, which means your body can make use of every single gram of protein it receives.
Which brings us to our next point: Frog Fuel contains 15 grams of collagen per serving, which is 5 more grams than Ancient Nutrition. This means your body will have over 33% more collagen to utilize from your supplement.
It can put this collagen to use healing your joints, wounds, bone issues, hair loss, and more!
Best yet, you don’t have to worry about the formula of Frog Fuel like you do with Ancient Nutrition. In the Ancient Nutrition collagen reviews above, customers cite the product as being gritty, hard to mix, and foul tasting.
Frog Fuel uses liquid protein shots so that you don’t need to mix your collagen supplement with anything! It also has single serving pouches that are convenient to throw in your purse, gym bag, or pocket and take whenever you need it throughout the day.
Frog Fuel liquid protein shots also come in a tasty mixed berry flavor that doesn’t need coffee or other mixers to mask the taste.
The formula doesn’t contain any sweeteners or harmful additives, so you don’t need to worry about cystic acne or sickly sweet stevia. It’s just pure, healing collagen.
If you are looking for an alternative to Ancient Nutrition, then Frog Fuel liquid protein shots are your best bet. Of course, you can also check out our Huel review if you would like to compare the products for yourself.
Ancient Nutrition collagen review: Final thoughts
Overall it seems that Ancient Nutrition makes a decent product, but there is a lot that could be improved upon. The company should make their dosing and advertising more clear. They could add more protein per serving to make their collagen more effective.
It’s great that they have tried to add vitamin C and probiotics to their supplement, but they should stick to making the collagen itself the best it can be first. Unfortunately, their collagen supplement is not a complete protein.
It also is gritty and difficult to mix, and multiple people have complained strongly about the taste.
Overall we would have to give Ancient Nutrition collagen a 2 out of 5 stars.