I know there has been some debate about how often we can use the IP collagen products to help with loose skin issues as we all lose weight.
My coach has sent me this answer directly from IP:
USING COLLAGEN-RICH PROTEIN PACKETS
You can think of protein being much like sentences, which are long strings of letters, only protein is a long string of amino acids. The proteins we eat are broken down into their amino acids (the “letters”) by the digestive process, then absorbed and made available for building the proteins our own bodies need and want. To make all of the proteins we need for the body, we need the full range of amino acids, much as you need all of the letters of the alphabet to write your next novel.
The protein in the packets of Ideal Protein generally are those with a good range of amino acids, the broad range of ones we need. The exception to this rule are the two collagen-rich products, Raspberry Jelly Mix and Blueberry, Cranberry & Pomegranate Drink Mix. In these two products, the protein source is collagen and collagen is a protein with primarily just three amino acid constituents.
Although the collagen amino acids will be terrific for your skin, they are not providing the broad range of amino acids needed by your body for enzymes, body structures, messaging and a lot more. It’s fine to offset one of the many ‘broad spectrum’ packets every other day (one of the total 6 packets in two days), but to do so every day (one packet in three for each day) would be too limiting on your broad amino acid needs.
So, if you’re using one of those two products to offset one of your three daily packets…don’t do it more often than every other day. However, if you are concerned about your skin and want to give it some extra help for a while, there is no problem if you want to use one of those packets more often, as long as it is in addition to your usual three packets. To have the ‘extra’ protein in one of those products won’t be a problem for losing weight (they have very little carbohydrate content), nor are you going to ‘overdose’.
A final note has to do with the Chicken Noodle Soup. This product has collagen content that will be helpful to the skin. But, it also has protein content from whey. Importantly, whey is a wonderful protein from the point of view of its breadth of amino acid components. Thus, if you use the Chicken Noodle Soup, you don’t have to worry about limiting how often you use it.
