From Personal Food Journeys to Nutrition Advice: Understanding Collagen and Supplements for Women’s Health

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the myriad of supplements on the market, especially when it comes to collagen? If so, you’re not alone! Join host Heather Carey as she dives deep into the fascinating world of nutrition advice with Sherry Jeffries and Gina Gallagher, the dynamic duo behind Yonder, a pioneering company specializing in grass-fed collagen and organic mushroom coffee. This episode of Real Food Stories is a treasure trove of healthy eating tips, nutrition advice, personal food journeys, and empowering insights tailored for women navigating midlife and menopause health.

Sherry and Gina share their inspiring personal stories, revealing how they discovered the transformative power of collagen during their health journeys, including recovery from cancer and improving gut health. They shed light on the critical importance of quality in supplements, offering valuable nutritionist insights on how to choose the right products that align with your health goals. With a focus on the benefits of collagen, this episode emphasizes its role in supporting gut health, enhancing hair, skin, and joint function, and dispelling common nutrition myths surrounding collagen types and absorption.

Listeners will learn about the significance of sourcing clean, glyphosate-free ingredients, which is essential for anyone committed to sustainable eating and mindful eating practices. Sherry and Gina provide practical advice on how to seamlessly integrate collagen into your daily meals, empowering you to make informed choices about your nutrition and health. This episode is not just about supplements; it’s about embracing a holistic approach to wellness that includes cooking techniques, family food traditions, and the joys of nourishing your body with real food.

As you tune in, you’ll discover how to overcome food confusion and make healthy lifestyle choices that resonate with your food beliefs and culture. Whether you’re on a weight loss journey, seeking insights into perimenopause nutrition, or simply looking for cooking tips to enhance your meals, this episode is packed with wisdom and encouragement. Join us for an empowering conversation that celebrates the journey of women’s health and wellness, and learn how to embrace your midlife changes with positivity and strength.

Don’t miss this opportunity to gain valuable nutrition advice that can help you navigate the complexities of health and wellness in midlife. Tune in, and let’s embark on this nourishing adventure together!

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Transcripts:

Speaker #0
Well, hello, everybody, and welcome back. And if you are just tuning in with me for the very first time, it’s so nice to meet you. And I’m really glad you’re here with me today. I am your host, Heather Carey, nutritionist, chef, mom, and a woman who has been around the block with food. I want to open up about real food in relation to health, weight, and our bodies so you can make peace with what you eat. Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Real Food Stories. Today, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Sherry Jeffries and Gina Gallagher, who are the co-founders of a collagen and mushroom coffee company called Yonder. And I learned so much about collagen supplements. The supplement industry, as you might know, is… Totally confusing. You walk into Whole Foods, you don’t know what you’re buying, what’s in your supplements. There’s dozens and dozens of bottles and pills that you can buy. And that includes collagen. And I know that I have bought collagen. I’ve been confused. I’ve tried to take it for a little while. I’m not sure why I take it. And I got a real education today talking with Sherry and Gina. They both have really profound personal stories. as to why they even started taking collagen in the first place. And I think you’ll be really inspired. So take a listen to my interview with Sherry and Gina. Hi, Sherry and Gina. So glad to have you both on the podcast today. So I want to just introduce you to Sherry Jeffries and Gina Gallagher are the co-founders of Yonder, a grass-fed collagen and organic mushroom coffee company. Frustrated with the supplement industry, Come. compromising quality and putting profits over people, Sherry and Gina founded Yonder. Their mission is educating consumers and bringing clean and pure products to the marketplace. Sherry and Gina both conquered health obstacles with the power of nutrition and with collagen. Sherry is a cancer survivor and Gina has had a history of gut issues that she overcame. And they both consider their results nothing short of amazing. Their lived experiences is what drives their passion to inspire others. Okay, so full disclosure, I’m often really pretty wary of the supplement industry and the claims that are always made because we all know there’s no regulation by the FDA, that’s the Food and Drug Administration. And therefore, I think supplements can promote themselves pretty much any way they choose. On the other hand, I’m intrigued with certain products like collagen and mushrooms as I believe that my audience is too. And so I think they’re going to really look forward to this conversation. I know like right now, collagen and just medicinal mushrooms are really hot topics. So let’s jump in. And I’d love to hear both of your personal health stories and how you got into this. and how you started using collagen and your mushrooms to help heal and what you believe are the benefits. So does either of you want to start?

Speaker #1
Gina, go first this time.

Speaker #2
Oh, okay. Um, well, my journey with collagen, I kind of stumbled upon it, but I’m going to start with, um, as a child and into my teens, um, I was having chronic bladder issues. And I later got diagnosed with interstitial cystitis. And in doing so, really the only course of treatment was antibiotics. And so I was constantly being pumped with antibiotics. And then fast forward into my early adulthood, in my 30s, I went to another urologist and he kind of was going to put me on a medication that was very detrimental to my liver. And so I after had been on antibiotics, like a daily course of antibiotics, my my gut was just destroyed. So between the pain from the bladder issues and then the gut issues, I was just like, I’m not getting any help from the doctors. And, you know, there’s a lot of great physicians out there in medications. but at that point in my life, I was just… Iraq. And so I started looking into alternative health options and took a deep dive into what interstitial cystitis was and how I could help myself. And so I started taking things out of my diet and putting things into my diet that would help me. And then also there was other physical things that I could do, like the clothing that I was wearing and medications to, you know, not drinking carbonation and, you know, all those types of things. But I started to heal my gut through using aloe vera, actually. And then I stumbled upon collagen for my hair and nails, actually. And as I was taking it, I was noticing that it was soothing my bladder and I wasn’t as symptomatic. And then I noticed my gut health was getting better, too. the bloating and distension and all the issues that I was having with my gut were starting to, you know, slow down. And I’m like, Hmm, what’s with this collagen stuff? And like I said, I didn’t really know what collagen was when I was taking it. I, my hairdresser actually recommended it for my nails. So it was purely an accident that I stumbled upon it. So I just kept taking it. And I kind of, I started slow, but then I started adding more and more and was really reaping the benefits from it. And so, um, and that was in my late thirties, um, early forties, and now I’m 55. And so, um, I am a true believer in collagen because now if I go without, I can feel it in my joints. Um, I definitely feel it in my gut and, um, in my bladder. So, yeah, it it has done some remarkable things for me personally. And that’s kind of how we started our journey together, Sherry and I.

Speaker #0
So that’s amazing. I mean, that sounds like you stumbled upon it or just your hairdresser.

Speaker #2
Yeah.

Speaker #0
Told you about collagen. And I have questions, too, which I’ll I’m going to pause. You know, you said like you started slowly. I want to know these kind of details, too. when you say you started, like how much, you know. So how much you start with, but we can, I mean, we can, we, we can, if you want to get into the details, but I want to also hear Sherry’s story. And then you, I have a feeling that you probably both have a common routine with collagen and how you use it and, and, you know, how you started.

Speaker #1
For sure. Yeah, for sure.

Speaker #0
So Sherry, you want to tell, so why don’t you, yeah, why don’t you share? And then, and then I, and then I have a, you know, a list of lots of questions about collagen.

Speaker #1
Okay. Yeah. Well, for me, what happened was when, you know, when I was 30 years old, I was pregnant with my first child. And right when I gave birth, I, you know, there was a lump that was, that was in my upper chest area while I was pregnant. And I had brought it up to the doctors and they’re like, Oh, it’s probably just nothing. It’s probably just a benign nodule in your thyroid. And just, you know, check it like three or four months after you give birth. Well, right after I gave birth, I just ran right in there. I’m like, something’s just not right. They felt it and went, whoa, we need to send you to the hospital for a biopsy. It was Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer I had while I was pregnant. And so I had to go, I didn’t know anything about anything because at this stage in my life, I didn’t really know much about natural health or anything like that. So I just was blindsided. I had to go straight into chemo and radiation. and I had to like bound my breast, stop breastfeeding. go right into chemo and radiation, lose my hair. I was going through very harsh treatments. I was so freaked out because my brother had Hodgkin’s lymphoma when he was 19 and he got obliviated with chemo and radiation. And then by the time he was 25, he got a secondary cancer right here in his glands from the radiation treatment because the treatment that you get for cancer causes cancer, you know? So he ended up dying by the time he was 27. This has already happened. When I was told I had the same cancer that my brother had, I was freaking out, man. So once I went through all of the chemo and radiation, I’m like, I have got to do something different than my brother because I can’t get another cancer. I can’t die. I have my mom now. I got to be here for the long run. So that’s when I started getting into natural health and started seeing other types of doctors like functional medicine doctors and stuff and understanding how to change my diet and how to eat nutritious food and do a lot of things. One of the functional medicine doctors along the way told me, you know, because my gut was completely destroyed. I had leaky gut and all those other issues. And from all the chemo and radiation, my body was just a complete disaster. So I had to rebuild my body. And she was telling me to make homemade bone broth and drink that every single day, add some collagen, extra collagen to it. So I really got into making homemade bone broth. And I have some great recipes that we have on our blog. I put them on there. And then what I would do is add some hydrolyzed collagen. And so I started to, like, out of all the things that I did to change with natural health and different supplements and different, you know, ways in which I, you know, exercise and detox and hot baths and this and that, you know, collagen is one of the main foundational elements of my whole routine that you just totally notice the difference if you stick with it. You do, because if you stop taking it, you’d also notice the difference. You’re like, oh my gosh, what’s going on in my body? And, you know, my stomach is having issues. My joints are hurting, this and that. You really, it’s one of those things that, you know, that you do, you really feel it, right? So Gina and I, you know, we’ve known each other since seventh grade. You know, we were all leadership together in junior high and high school. And we were talking again in our early 30s. And, you know, and then we were sharing how we both became complete. complete natural health nuts, right? And how we’ve killed our bodies and everything. And some of them, some of our favorite major brands out there, that they were, they were not sourcing as well anymore, you can know, you know, you started learning that where they were sourcing and compromising and supplements, you know, are known to have a lot of toxins in them, you know, and there’s a lot of bait and switch in the marketing. And, you know, there’s a lot of that stuff going on in that industry. And, you know, we’re very skeptical of it. And I’m We decided, you know what, let’s do some research and figure out how we can source really clean collagen. And let’s be the brand that people can trust. Let’s be two women who are very passionate about healing our bodies and putting clean stuff in our body every day. And let’s figure this out and let’s share it with all the other moms out there and women and men, you know, whoever, you know, to be that brand. you know, put people over profits and focus on that as our core. values of our company. And so we figured out how to source and we just make it simple. You know, we’re not full of gimmicks and all this other stuff. We just want to make it simple. I mean, 90% of the collagen in our body is types one and three. So we, you know, and bovine view, if you can do 100% grass fed and grass finish in an area with a farmer, where there’s no glyphosate anywhere around that’s coming over and landing on it or being treated with glyphosate or anything like that you can Make sure it’s 100% glyphosate free, as well as having, what’s great about our brand too is we’re Prop 65 certified. So that’s only in California, but it’s very strict. You have to have very like minimal, I mean, you’re going to have some heavy metals, just natural heavy metals and soil, you know, but like at a very low level. But, you know, it’s really hard to meet those standards, Prop 65, you know, we do. because we’re glyphosate free and everything. So we’re proud of that, you know? And so, and we figured out how to source from it. We just keep it simple, just simple, you know, here’s, here’s this, we don’t have, oh, you need all five types or you need all these other stuff because one in three makes up 90% of your body. You know, when you start putting all these other types in the collagen, two types, one, two, three, four, five, you have to start finding that from other sources like eggshells and chicken and all this other stuff, which is so much harder to regulate. It’s so much harder to make sure that’s clean all the way through. There’s no glyphosate or grains being fed or contamination along the way because those open, you know, it’s harder. It gets more contaminated. So keeping it clean, 100% grass fed, grass finished cows, glyphosate free. And, you know, types one to three make up 90% of the collagen in our body. So, you know, you just take that daily super clean. You’re feeling the difference. Your joints are feeling better. Your hair is growing faster. Your nails are super strong, you know. You’re it’s just it’s just amazing. And it’s just clean. We just make it simple, you know, and and that’s kind of what we’re all about. So we’re we’ve spent five years doing a lot of research and everything. And we’re just the two of us, you know, working hard. And and we got we got our company launched of fall of 2022.

Speaker #0
So, well, thank you both for sharing your stories. And it sounds like you both, I mean, have big health or had big health issues. stumbled upon collagen and it really benefited you so much. And then you went on to create your company together, which is amazing. As I’m listening, I’ve heard a couple catchphrases, like hydrolyzed collagen, glyphosate-free, starting slowly, pesticide-free. So these are all the catchphrases. You go into whole foods and you see on like the other jars of collagen and, you know, like this is where I think some of the confusion comes in just with, you know, so I just wanted to just pick your brain a little bit and ask you about. the where, what, why, how much, you know, what, what, all the little, like more specific details. Cause I think this is where people get confused. I mean, I, myself, I have bought collagen from Whole Foods. I have taken it a couple of times. I’m like, why am I taking this? And like, what, what does it mean exactly? You know, I mean, it’s just, there’s so, you know, And I get, so my confusion then renders me like. This is worth it. What am I doing? Is this safe? So I think I wanted to start from just to get a little education. And I think my listeners would feel the same. They just want to get more educated to feel good about spending the money and knowing that this is something that’s really beneficial. So again, I appreciate you telling your stories because it sounds like you really had very positive experiences with it. But let’s just start with, I mean, what is collagen? I know what collagen is, but you know, I mean, I think for like my, my listeners, I think what I, you know, because you just hear like, you definitely should take collagen. What is it exactly?

Speaker #1
I’ll let her answer that.

Speaker #2
Collagen is the main structure in our bodies. It’s the most, the most protein in our bodies. It’s found in all the spaces. between ourselves. It’s basically, everybody says the same thing. It’s the glue that holds us together. Right. And if you think of it as scaffolding on a building, um, and so it’s the most abundant protein throughout our bodies, making up like 25 to 35% of our structural protein. And it’s important because as we age, we start losing that production of, of collagen in our bodies. And so, and then that starts as of like, early as 25, we start losing the amount of collagen production. So by supplementing with collagen, and you asked about that hydrolyzed collagen, what is that? Well, it’s basically taking the amino acid chain and breaking it down into a way that our body can absorb it. And so the difference between why Sherry’s doctor is saying, do your bone broth because it’s like a superfood. but then also adding the peptide to it because the peptides are more easily absorbed into our body because that collagen chain, amino acid chain rather, in collagen is very big and it’s harder to break down. So if it’s hydrolyzed, then it is more easily absorbed into our bodies and it can go right to repairing and restoring and doing all those things. So it doesn’t have to be digested down. So basically when people are like making bone broth, they’re rendering down those bones and that collagen into the gelatin, you know, collagen gelatin. So then when we hydrolyze it, we’re breaking it down even further into that peptide. So peptide and hydrolyze is the same thing. It’s just the smaller particles so that we can absorb it into our bodies.

Speaker #0
So your collagen that you sell is… collagen peptides.

Speaker #2
Rich as the hydrolyzed collagen.

Speaker #0
Right. Okay. Okay. So yours is more easily absorbed.

Speaker #2
Exactly. So when you put it, when you digest it, it’s going to work. It doesn’t have to, you know, as soon as you put it into your body, it’s going to work. It doesn’t have to go through the whole digestion process. Right. Okay.

Speaker #1
There’s another thing too. I think that I know it was confusing to me too, that I had to figure out was because a lot of brands. too, they’ll say, you know, you need to have collagen that also has vitamin C in it, because in order for collagen to be absorbed and work, you need the vitamin C with it. So they include in their formulas, absorbic acid, vitamin C, right? Well, we won’t do that. And I’ll tell you why. First of all, having vitamin C in your daily diet will absolutely optimize your collagen. And you absolutely want to do that. And you want to do that just simply by having vitamin C in your diet. with like a lemon, you know, like I know Gina and I, when we wake up, first thing we do is, is we take lemon and squeeze it in water and drink that in the morning. You know, first thing, start our day. You do not have to take vitamin C with your collagen. You just have to have it readily available in your body daily. So you can do your water. You can take your collagen a couple hours later. And if you put so whole food, vitamin C is so much more effective than absorbic acid, vitamin C to absorbic acid, vitamin C, just basically pee out. you know, it’s not that effective to begin with, but you know, vitamin C is a very strong molecule, right? When you actually put that in collagen powder, the powder itself in the formula, and you just leave it together, sitting together on shelf, connecting, touching. for long periods of time, there’s that also can affect the bioavailability of the collagen peptides because it’s such a strong pro-oxidant. It can, you know, start reacting, right? But they’re sitting there, you know, you could take vitamin C and, you know, collagen at the same time as nothing’s going to happen. But if you, if you put them together, the absorbic acid, vitamin C and the powder and set it on shelf for long periods of time, you can also damage the bioavailability of your amino acids and your collagen. We don’t want to do that. Plus, vitamin C, just have a piece of fruit every day. Have natural foods, which is better anyway. So once I figure that out, I’m like, oh, that makes so much sense. I think a lot of companies are trying to be different. Oh, let me make this collagen with this and use this marketing angle to capture these people. Because collagen is a huge industry, right? So everybody’s trying to get a piece of the pie. And so they’re trying to think, how can we differentiate ourselves to, you know, twist it? You know, we just want to be simple. Hey, you just plain old collagen and make sure it’s clean, make it simple, no other gimmicks or other stuff added in. And that claims that, you know, you need that to work, you know, you know, you just, you don’t need it. Oh,

Speaker #0
that’s such a good point, too. I mean, I think you see on the shelves, just multivitamins, I mean, any formula, you know, of supplements. And then you can see, like, you look at the label, there’s like a smattering of like herbs and you’re like, wait, how, I mean, how much, why is it in there? What, I mean, is that doing anything for me? And then you’re under, you’re, you’re paying more money probably for something that you really don’t need and doesn’t even matter. So that’s really great education right there that, you know, you don’t want a collagen with vitamin C in it. It’s probably losing its effectiveness,

Speaker #1
right?

Speaker #0
Having it there, but you do want vitamin C.

Speaker #1
Yes.

Speaker #0
with your collagen and you can easily get that. I mean, most, most diets, you know, just drinking lemon water in the morning will give you your, your daily dose of vitamin C. Now I also, I think Sherry heard you say the types one and three collagen is that, and I know you said that your, your brand has that in it and that’s the most easily absorbed.

Speaker #1
I would look at it. Like, for example, you could see, like, if you look on our it says ours is from bovine, which are cows, right? And then, you know, if somebody’s, if you look at, if you pick up some collagen, it’s saying it’s types one, two, three, or four or five, it has all five, five types. I mean, there’s many more types. There’s five, there’s five that are the most common type that are talked about,

Speaker #2
but there’s like 16 to 20,

Speaker #1
20 types of collagen that I don’t know. And so, so you can pick it up. What I would do is I would, I’d pick up and look at the label and I would see is, you know, if it has more than one in three as far as types, right? then see where it’s coming from. If it’s coming from bovine and chicken and maybe eggshells and all these other things, well, you know, I wouldn’t buy it myself personally just because it’s very hard to regulate those eggs and the chicken and all that stuff. That’s where you can, they’re probably not Prop 65 certified. You know, they probably, you know, it’s just, it’s harder to control. And then if it’s bovine, you know, if it, there’s a lot of, bovine out there that will say grass fed, but they will never claim that it’s 100% grass fed and finished because they can’t. Because you know, you can literally have grass fed for a day. Okay, let’s let the cows out and eat the grass. And then okay, let’s go ahead and give it the rest of this grain with that’s, you know, loaded with GMOs and glyphosate and whatever else. And you know, they start sourcing from all over the world and you know, get better, cheaper, you know, cheaper, price. So because, you know, mass producing it, you know, unregulated countries. And then, you know, they can have a bigger profit. So they just do it. And they just say grass fed, because, you know, that’s a buzzword. Well, we’re grass fed and grass finished. And we love to say finished. I love to say that. And I love to say glyphosate free because, but you know, so I understand how easy it is for people to be confused. That’s why we like to really clarify, You know, make it simple. It’s just, it’s really simple. You just, we feel like we’re like the advocate. We’re like the mama bears out there, you know, like the advocate, you know, we’re going to stand up and, you know, shield all of our people, you know, let’s, let’s, here’s, here’s what we’re giving you something clean. And here’s, here’s the truth, you know?

Speaker #2
Yeah.

Speaker #1
So,

Speaker #0
yeah, because there’s so much confusion. I mean, there is so much confusion and you walk into Whole Foods. I mean, there’s just thousands of bottles that, I mean… claims of all sorts of things and no regulation. So it’s really, it’s really, really confusing. It sounds like for both of you that. You both mentioned gut health, right? That this really helped with your gut health and digestion. I know I’ve also heard about collagen and your hair and your nails and everything, you know, and that’s, you know, I think that’s why most people maybe start using it. Are there other health benefits to using collagen?

Speaker #1
It’s interesting about collagen is like. So you know the lining in our stomach, the skin all around that, that’s collagen. And fascia, you understand what fascia is? It goes all around that whole case. Well, fascia alone is 90% collagen. And all the lining around our stomach, all the skin around all of our organs, as well as the skin that you see in your hair, that’s mostly collagen. That’s why they say it’s the glue that holds us together. Actually, collagen, if you look up the root word, like Greek, it means the glue. That’s where all that comes from. So when you lose your collagen, your collagen starts losing in all your skin and everything. And it’s like the matrix that holds everything together. So when it starts weakening, you know, everything weakens and it becomes more susceptible to gut issues and everything. So when you start taking daily collagen, and I take about 10 grams, maybe 15 every day. That’s what I do. to maintain my collagen and what you’re doing is you’re keeping your more youthful levels of collagen in your body daily most people will start noticing a difference in about anywhere from two to six weeks somewhere in that range and you just got to stay really consistent you got to add it into i personally put it in my organic coffee every morning with some cream and that’s how i do it every single that’s like that’s my habit some people put it in a shake you know or other tea But whatever it is that you do every day, that’s what you stick it in. And so with your, that’s why it helped my gut so much from all the damage from the chemo, right? It built up all that lining around my gut and same with Gina and same with her bladder, right? You know, that’s why it can be so healing for your body. And as you get older, you know, it feels good to have your collagen at youthful levels again to, you know. your knees, like my knees were starting to ache a little bit in my forties when I wasn’t taking my collagen as religiously. And I’m like, oh my gosh, that’s really helping me. Cause as I get older and all the different exercising that I do, you know, I, it just, it helps my joints. It helps. It’s just, it’s just that one thing. If you’re just going to do three things every day, like supplement wise, that’s one of them I would highly recommend for everyone, for everyone, you know, cause we start losing. our collagen in our 20s, and it just goes down from there. And so if you just keep a natural level, and you just make it simple, and just pure and clean, and you just do it every day, it’s just one of those things you just enjoy, you know, you benefit from it in so many ways, you know.

Speaker #0
So you said you take 10 to 15 grams a day. And Gina, I don’t know how much you take a day, but you can tell me but I think I said this before that, you know, How do you know how much to start with?

Speaker #2
Well, and the thing is, you know, we’re not doctors. So you always want to consult your physician or, you know, somebody in that realm. On our website, we have a really good FAQ to tell you like, hey, if you’re doing it for this reason or that reason, you know, check this out, but always consult your physician. But yeah, 10 is like your minimal amount, like your daily, if you’re trying to fix something, but like… like I said earlier, start with the minimum and then work your way up and see because everybody’s body is different. I’ve never had a reaction and no one that I’ve known has ever had a reaction to collagen. So anyway, yeah, start low and then you can increase. But when I was starting to notice the difference, then I doubled down. So I would say I was taking like Sherry was, like 20 grams. I was doing it in the morning and at night.

Speaker #0
So, and I, I really saw the benefits of doing that right away.

Speaker #1
And in our FAQs on our website, we have it broken down, you know, five to 10 grams, if you want to do this 10 to 20, you know, 20 plus, if you’re trying to rehear, you know, so it’s very informative. It’s a really good guideline to look at, to see what, you know, where would I fall in? You know, for most people, you could even start as low as five grams a day, you know, Our ours. you know, we have a scoop in ours, like a scoop, if you’ve actually filled that up and level it off, it’s 20 grams. And so I, you know, on the back, we put, you know, half a scoop, you know, to full scoop is between 10 and, you know, 20 grams a day, you can, you can even do a quarter of a scoop and start off with five grams for a week or so. And then, you know, then I would say go to 10 grams, probably eight to 10 grams, and then go from there and see if you see the difference, you know, so, you know, and then if you happen to have an injury or something or, you know.

Speaker #2
you can up it.

Speaker #1
Yeah. And the collagen,

Speaker #0
the collagen is, is also good because our diets are not the same as they used to be. And I know we’re always about, you know, you can get it from whole food, you get it from whole food. It’s all about what you eat, right? You are what you eat. But with the collagen, it’s a great supplement to maybe a diet that’s lacking in organ meat. And, you know, we used to eat from snout to tail, right? our ancestors did. I never did. I can’t say we as in that, but I mean, our ancestors, and they would make these amazing stews because they had bones and they just, you know, they would boil everything and, you know, stew everything down. And we just, we don’t cook like that anymore. We’re eating chicken without skin and, you know, leaner cuts of meats. And so by adding collagen into your diet, you’re actually adding that amino acid pilot. profile that we’re lacking. So it’s, it’s good for that as well, because the different amino acids that make up collagen are amazing. They do wonderful things. Glycine is one of the, the like star amino acids right now. A lot of people are talking about glycine and glycine is like 20% of the protein in collagen. So it’s a, it’s a great way to supplement your diet.

Speaker #2
Sherry, you mentioned that you add your collagen to coffee. What is the best way to add it? Is it sprinkling it on something? Does it dissolve in liquids?

Speaker #1
Yeah.

Speaker #2
And is your coffee your mushroom coffee?

Speaker #1
Yeah. So every single morning, I absolutely love drinking our mushroom coffee. And what we love about our mushroom coffee is there’s, you know, another brand out there. where when you actually look down, when you look through the lines, you know, you look, you read, you figure it out, you get it down to the bottom. That’s what we love to do. The amount of Lion’s Mane and Chaga, Lion’s Mane and Chaga have some great benefits. You know, the Lion’s Mane, it really helps my cognitive, you know, helps me focus. I feel the clarity. It kind of gives me that sustained energy without the caffeine. And our mushroom coffee has half the amount of caffeine. So, and it’s from, you know, organic. coffee from family farms that are no mycotoxins, super clean. And then we put therapeutic doses of both lion’s mane and chaga per serving. It’s over 600 micrograms of each mushroom per serving. If you look at the other brands that are out there, they have 200 to 300 micrograms of the mushrooms per serving. So what happens is, you know, the mental clarity and all of that, the clinical studies are between more like 500 to 1000 micrograms. you know, a day, right? So you have one of our cups with 600. I just have one cup every morning, you’re gonna feel the difference. If you have one cup of like a lot of the other brands, you’re only getting 200. It’s like, it’s more the hype. Right. I mean,

Speaker #2
it’s like, it’s like taking those vitamins with like, battering of like weird herbs. You’re like, yeah, like, it’s like a little tiny microdose of like some herb that you don’t. Yeah. So that’s, so that’s another really great point.

Speaker #1
kind of and then okay so for the so i put it i put i make my hot coffee then i pour the it just dissolves great you know and hot um yeah and i mean our collagen dissolves really really well la good good really good super warm liquid yeah even if you put it in and you know i i wouldn’t put it in an ice cold glass of water you want to have room temperature water and you can put some ice cubes in it if you want to do water, but you can, you can do that. And then. you know, hot tea. It goes in. I mean, I have, I have clients that tell me they just put it in their hot tea and they just drink it with their hot tea. They don’t, they don’t taste a thing. And it’s perfect. They don’t even put cream or anything in it. You can even like make some spaghetti and put some spaghetti sauce and take your scoop and mix it in the sauce and eat it for dinner.

Speaker #0
Yeah, that’s it. My husband’s favorite way to, this is what he does at night for his little treat. He takes peanut butter and mixes the chocolate collagen up in the peanut butter. And then we have some sugar-free chocolate chips that he puts on top. And that’s his little treat. That’s his recipe. Okay,

Speaker #2
interesting.

Speaker #0
And it doesn’t, it tastes great. I’m like. taste of that you know i’ll make those uh protein balls with the collagen we do the banana pancakes with the banana and pain really good it uh in the collagen um it that’s a great way to to get it in um but yeah that’s you know the daily basis is however you can have it stack and get it in but if it’s i’ve just been like i need a hurry and and i just drink it down Right.

Speaker #2
It’s probably easier just to put it into some liquid like your coffee because it’s drinking that every but but nice to know that you can add it in in a variety of. Oh, yeah.

Speaker #1
Your smoothie, your smoothie.

Speaker #0
Oh, this is a great way to do it.

Speaker #2
Now, are you selling in stores? Are you just online?

Speaker #0
Just online.

Speaker #2
That’s how we can find you.

Speaker #1
Yeah. So we’re just online on our website. And we’re growing and then we’ll, you know, eventually expand online. We’re not on Amazon yet, but we will eventually be there. And then we’ll go on shelf too. But right now we’re exclusively online on yonderfood.com. That’s where you can find us. You know, I love to communicate directly. Both Jean and I communicate directly to our customers. You know, if you reach out to us, we’re the ones connecting with you and talking with you. And we just love it. I just love to help people. I just love it. So it’s such a fun.

Speaker #2
Fantastic. Well, I want to thank you both so much. I feel like I just got a really great education in college and I learned a lot. I know my listeners are going to love this, too. And I’m going to go on to your site after this and buy some college. Yeah, this has been really great. And I feel like we have to have a maybe a follow up conversation about the mushroom coffee because we talked about it a little bit, but not. enough because I think that’s another supplement, you know, just medicinal type mushrooms. And so I’d love to have you both back and we can talk about that as well.

Speaker #0
For sure. For sure. Anytime.

Speaker #2
Thank you so much. I really appreciate your time. And I will link all of your stuff in my show notes so people can find you.

Speaker #0
Great. Thank you so much. It was a blast talking with you. Your brain.

Speaker #1
So I just want to say thank you so much because I listened to your podcast, Heather, and your information is so good. And the stuff you do on menopause is amazing. Women like in their forties and fifties who are going through perimenopausal menopause. I mean, I, and you know, as you know, we are deep dive researchers, both Gina and me. And what. And we’ve done a lot. I’ve looked into it because those are the phase of life I’m in. And you just take it to another level with how much you dig. And I appreciate your podcast and to be on it myself. I just thank you so much. Oh, thank you.

Speaker #2
I really appreciate that, too. I’m trying to do my best just to get the information out. But I love having you two on. And I think this is just part of the bigger picture. So thank you so much again. I appreciate it.

Speaker #0
And as always, if you loved this podcast, please consider gifting me with a five-star review. It is so helpful for me to get the word out on real eating,

Speaker #2
our real bodies, and real food stories. Thank you so much and have a great week. Bye for now.