I Swapped My Morning Coffee For This Collagen Beverage, and It Gave Me Energy For Hours

If staying home and social distancing the last four months has taught me anything, it's that I'm not exactly a morning person. Sure, when I wake up early and go for a walk or get in a workout before logging on for the workday, I feel more energized and productive. The problem? I can never get up early enough. I've overcompensated for this fact by drinking way too much coffee. Like, the equivalent of a Big Gulp from 7-Eleven amount of coffee, which is not exactly great for my anxiety. Coffee can be healthy for you, sure, but consuming too much caffeine has trapped me in this cycle of not being able to fall asleep > sleeping in > trying to wake myself up with too much coffee, and repeat. (Not to mention the unpleasant GI symptoms I experience from drinking too much coffee, but I digress.)

I'm not ready to give up my caffeine habit just yet, but I could definitely cut back. That's why I was so excited to try a new drink by Vital Proteins: Morning Get Up and Glow ($30). I'm already a fan of Vital Proteins and add the unflavored collagen powder to my morning coffee or drink the matcha collagen as an afternoon pick-me-up. But when I read up on this beverage as a morning energy and beauty boost, I was intrigued.

Morning Get Up and Glow

From

$30

$30 at vitalproteins.com

Morning Get Up and Glow is made with 10 grams of collagen peptides per scoop, which translates to nine grams of protein per serving. This extra boost of protein is satisfying when I'm not hungry for a big breakfast. It also has biotin for skin and nail health, 600% of your daily value of vitamin C, and 90 milligrams of caffeine, which is about as much as a cup of coffee. It comes in powder form, which easily dissolves in cold water with the help of my mini mixer stick (I'm obsessed with this thing).

That's all well and good, but how does it taste? Morning Get Up and Glow is a light and refreshing citrus taste that's not too overwhelming; there's only one gram of sugar and it's sweetened with monk fruit, so it doesn't have that artificial sweetener aftertaste. It reminds me of a tastier Emergen-C without the effervescence. Pro tip: mix it with eight ounces of orange juice in the morning for even more vitamin C and a richer flavor.

I'm not ready to give up coffee entirely just yet, but Vital Proteins Morning Get Up and Glow is definitely a healthy replacement with a moderate amount of caffeine for when I want to cut back. After just one cup, I still had energy and focus throughout the morning without all the nasty GI side effects. I'm excited to add this to my rotation of Vital Proteins collagen drinks. If powdered drinks aren't your thing, Morning Get Up and Glow is also sold in capsule form ($30 for 60 capsules), and both are available at Target and VitalProteins.com. Since I already take so many vitamins, I'll stick to the beverage.