As a longtime vegetarian (and sometimes vegan), I hesitated to jump on the Collagen craze of the last few years. However, I became pregnant with my first child while we were in the thick of research for our Complete Plan; I came to understand how important collagen can be during pregnancy—especially for those who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet.
Collagen is not vegetarian or vegan because it comes from animal sources like cows, pork, or fish. Furthermore, “plant-based collagen" doesn't exist naturally. I want to emphasize that I respect your dietary choices, whether for religious, ethical, environmental, or other preferences. I am sharing this information as a resource that I wish I had known during my many years of following a restricted diet.
It's our goal at Needed to inform and empower women to make the best prenatal nutrition choices for themselves. We believe knowledge is power, and it's never our intention to add to the #momguilt. There's way more than enough of that to go around. That said, let's dive into why collagen for vegetarians—especially during pregnancy— can be so beneficial.
What is Hydrolyzed Collagen?
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body and forms the building blocks for your skin, bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Hydrolyzed collagen, also known as collagen peptides, is a type of collagen that has been broken down in a process called hydrolysis. This creates smaller pieces called peptides, which are more bioavailable, which just means they are more easily absorbed. Hydrolyzed collagen typically comes from beef, pork, or sometimes fish (called marine collagen).
Due to bioavailability, the body easily utilizes hydrolyzed collagen and provides a serious boost of protein (although it’s not a complete protein, as it doesn’t have all nine amino acids). Some of the key amino acids it does have, though, include glycine and proline, which are both vital to pregnancy. Why? Well, because both play a key role in the development of the placenta and the baby, supporting protein synthesis and DNA methylation. Both are often missing from a vegan or vegetarian diet because they are found in animal sources. Glycine and proline are critical for skin, connective tissue, healthy hair, skin, nails, joints, sleep, tissue repair, thyroid, and gut health.
Hydrolyzed collagen is a popular supplement because it is odorless, tasteless, and easily mixed into smoothies, coffee, tea, or baked goods. It’s an easy way to get a boost of nutrition in our busy lives.
Is Hydrolyzed Collagen Vegan?
You may be wondering: is collagen vegetarian-friendly? Unfortunately, most collagen is neither vegetarian nor vegan-friendly. Some companies market vegetarian collagen, but those formulations don't include glycine, proline, and protein (glycine and proline are not abundant in vegetarian foods). Instead, these products contain co-factors like vitamin C that help your body to naturally produce collagen (mostly for skin benefits).
As for the effectiveness of vegan collagen, the jury is still out. It can still healthily promote skin and bone health. Some people may consider it a safer option than animal-based collagen because it does not carry a risk of contamination in the process of hydrolyzing. Still, these products are not a substitute for hydrolyzed collagen and will not give you the same benefits as collagen that comes from animals.
Why is Collagen Needed During Pregnancy?
Before becoming pregnant, I ate what I thought was an incredibly well-rounded diet abundant in plant-based fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds, legumes, whole grains, and healthy fats like avocado and coconut oil. But, through preconception nutritional testing, I learned that I was super deficient in key nutrients for pregnancy, including all of the aforementioned ones that are lacking in a vegetarian diet. My co-founder Ryan and I dug into the research and realized I wasn't alone. Up to 95% of moms are deficient in key pregnancy nutrients like Omega-3 and Choline (especially those with diet restrictions), and these deficiencies worsen throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding.
These nutritional deficiencies can lead to difficulty conceiving, inadequate brain/neurodevelopment in babies, maternal mood imbalances, and hormone irregularities. Supplements are needed in today's environment due to a lack of diversity in our diets, poor soil quality, environmental toxins and more.
Plant-based Collagen Could Be Missing Important Nutrients
Pregnancy is a very nutritionally demanding time. It’s not impossible to be healthy during pregnancy and postpartum while following a strictly vegan or vegetarian diet, but it is very difficult to maintain adequate nutrition while doing so. Several of the most critical nutrients for pregnancy, like choline, active vitamin A, B12, omega-3, and the amino acids glycine and proline, are simply not abundant in a vegetarian or vegan diet. For example, to meet your daily choline needs on a vegetarian diet, you would need to consume more than 6 pasture-raised eggs per day every day! Additionally, did you know that the collagen content in your uterus grows up to 800% during pregnancy?
The Importance of Protein During Pregnancy
It's not just micronutrients that many pregnant women lack. So many of us struggle to consume enough protein during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Let's unpack why extra protein is needed before, during, and after pregnancy:
- Your body needs a lot of protein (75-100 grams per day) during pregnancy to help the baby and placenta grow, to regulate blood sugar and blood pressure, and to support your own energy and wellbeing
- As a vegetarian, I struggled to get enough protein, even with eggs and dairy. Eggs have just 6 grams, almond butter only a few, and plant-based milks offer little protein. I love beans, legumes, and quinoa, but they were hard to stomach in the first trimester, and I could only eat so much later. With concerns about too much soy, I needed another way to fill the gaps.
I was relieved to find research on collagen supplementation for pregnant women—a small study showed it helped with protein levels during pregnancy and postpartum.
Based on my research and lab work, I adjusted my plant-based diet during pre-conception, pregnancy, and postpartum to ensure my baby and I got what we needed. This meant adding a comprehensive prenatal multivitamin and an omega-3 supplement and swapping my plant-based protein powder for hydrolyzed collagen.
Is it Really Safe to Take Collagen While Breastfeeding?
You might be wondering if you can take collagen while breastfeeding. The answer is absolutely! Our team of perinatal practitioners agree that collagen is not only safe but beneficial for postpartum recovery and breastfeeding. This is because collagen can benefit your skin’s elasticity and connective tissues and is also a way to boost protein while you’re feeding a tiny human from your body. Research shows that taking 2.5 to 15 grams of hydrolyzed collagen daily is safe (Note: this research was not done on women who were pregnant or breastfeeding).
How to Incorporate Collagen into Your Pregnancy Routine
Here's how I've incorporated hydrolyzed collagen into my pregnancy routine and took it during my postpartum experience.
- I wish I had used Collagen in my first trimester. Although I didn’t really experience morning sickness, I did have strong food aversions. I couldn’t stomach much protein at all for a few weeks. Protein is shown to help curb morning sickness, but it’s a chicken and the egg problem as many pregnant women really struggle to eat animal proteins early in pregnancy.
- Once I finally decided to try Collagen in my second trimester, I began adding it into my morning smoothie almost daily. This super easy routine continued through breastfeeding (I even taught my husband how to make my favorite smoothie before our baby arrived, so that I could continue enjoying it in the hazy newborn days).
- On days I don’t make a smoothie in the morning, I’ll mix it into a bowl of oatmeal, warming lentil soup, or even into a mug of veggie or mushroom broth. It has almost zero taste and no texture once blended (if anything, the texture is a positive as it makes smoothies and other foods “fluffier” in a good way)
- One of my newfound favorites is to blend Collagen with cacao, warm almond milk, and a hint of vanilla extract (or our Vanilla prenatal multi powder)--the Collagen makes for a creamy/frothy hot chocolate (or try it iced for a “frosty” like taste).
- A huge bonus for those who are breastfeeding —other vegan/veg friends and I have found that collagen might help with milk supply!
Why I Choose Collagen
On a personal level, adding hydrolyzed collagen protein is a necessary addition to my vegetarian diet. Here are some of the benefits:
- Hydrolyzed collagen, unlike most plant-based powders that are very chalky, is a super light, tasteless, and easy-to-digest supplement. I mix it into everything from smoothies and soups to nut milk lattes and oatmeal.
- Hydrolyzed Collagen, unlike most plant-based powders that are very chalky, is a super light, tasteless, and easy-to-digest supplement. I mix it into everything from smoothies to soups to nut milk lattes and oatmeal.
- Plant-based protein powders are big offenders when it comes to heavy metals, so supplementing with pea/hemp/brown rice protein is not the best option during pregnancy. That's why many plant-based powders carry Prop 65 warnings on them. Not ideal!
- A big reason for my eliminating or reducing animal products from my diet was my concern for the environment and the welfare of animals. I got comfortable adding hydrolyzed collagen to my diet because it is a way to utilize the whole animal (specifically, the hides of grass-fed bovine that would otherwise be discarded in our modern-day food system that prefers filets/prize meat cuts over the whole animal).
- Lastly, bang for your buck! My husband is a meat eater, and we tend to buy high-quality meat. The fish he eats are traceable back to a trusted source. It's expensive and limiting (even when we buy from farmer’s markets here in California). Collagen is a great way to get really high-quality protein at a pretty affordable price.
- Aside from the benefits for me, my diet, and my lifestyle, collagen is overall a wonderful supplement for the childbearing years. From skin and joint health to gut health, optimal protein intake, and even skin elasticity (yes, it can maybe help your stretch marks!), there are so many ways that collagen supports your body while you are trying to conceive, pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding. Check out our article that goes more in-depth about collagen in pregnancy for a deeper dive.
One more thing about choosing collagen: I prioritize ethical sourcing, environmental sustainability, and third-party testing for safety and purity—especially during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Needed’s collagen protein meets all my standards.
We’re here to support you at every stage of your prenatal and postnatal journey with high-quality, ethically sourced, and clean nutrition. Needed’s Prenatal Collagen Protein is grass-fed, sustainably sourced, third-party tested, and a great option for vegetarian or vegan mamas from pre-conception to postpartum.
*Please note that one serving of our Collagen Protein contains 15g of collagen. Collagen has 8 of 9 essential amino acids your body needs to make protein and is an excellent addition to your daily routine to support joint, hair, nail and skin health, and more. Given collagen on its own does not include the amino acid tryptophan, it does not count toward the FDA recommended Percent Daily Value for protein.
