Nearly every day, somebody asks about my diet. They expect to hear vegan, no sugar, paleo, counting macros, gluten-free, no seed oils, hydrogen water and so on. It’s not that complicated. I like simplicity. There are these food and beverage musts in my day. With this, everything else falls into place.
Morning Ritual
I am an aging athlete; the loss of collagen is felt. A youthful body produces abundant collagen naturally. It’s why young people aren’t complaining of achy tendons, loose skin, or degenerative cartilage. At 44, I’d give anything to maintain collagen just by hanging out here and being a nice human. But it doesn’t work that way. I started dealing with intense pain in connective tissue where the hamstrings connect to the sit bones at 40. Collagen, the glue that kept those tendons connecting muscle to bone with no problemo, flew the coup. {Not completely. It still makes up at least a quarter of my body’s protein composition, but the high quality superglue of my younger years now works like the dried up Dollar Tree glue stick I found in a drawer from my 3rd grader’s leftover Kindergarten school supplies.}
What Science Says:
Research studies have been divided on the efficacy of supplemental collagen for tendons. Split right down the middle, 50% say hydrolyzed collagen peptides can be used by the body (“bioavailable” is probably going to be the 2026 word of the year) for tendon health and 50% find no change in aging connective tissue from collagen supplementation. Knowing that there’s nothing I can do to naturally make the collagen I did when I was younger, I supplement. Doing nothing will hurt me. Supplementing may help me.
Sourcing:
I don’t just go to a vitamin store and buy whatever value-priced jug of collagen peptides the retailer has on the sale rack. My previous go-to was LTH Collagen Peptides. The unflavored option includes one ingredient: Bovine Collagen Peptides. (A long list of ingredients in your supplements usually means artifical flavors, colors and texture enhancers that mask low-quality whatever the thing you’re actually buying it for- in this case, collagen.) With LTH Collagen Peptides, the one ingredient, bovine collagen peptides, is sourced from cows from Argentina, Columbia and Brazil. The cows graze on grass that is free of synthetic pesticides and they are never injected with growth hormone. LTH Collagen Peptides come in powder form. I would add it to my morning coffee. With a frother, the powder would dissolve in the coffee.
Here’s the thing: I prefer my coffee black.
Here’s another thing, I look forward to my morning cup of coffee like sugar fiends look forward to dessert. My profound joy diminishes for me a smidge if I have to add anything to my already-perfect cup of black Nespresso coffee.
I found another way I enjoy getting collagen that has an extra perk of its own.
Vitamin C and collagen work together. I don’t get a lot of Vitamin C elsewhere in my diet. I mean, I’ll eat Clementines in hot summer heat and raspberries during peak season. I eat quite a bit of broccoli, but usually steamed. Cooked broccoli decreases its vitamin C. So doubling down on my previous statement, I don’t consume much vitamin C from my nourishment, especially right now when it’s nowhere near berry season (April) or summer. Deficient vitamin C impairs collagen synthesis. It was a necessary, if not critical, move that I help collagen supplementation by adding vitamin C as a cofactor.
So now I take LTH Collagen Elixir. It is a daily one-ounce liquid shot that comes in Berry Sorbet flavor. It is made up of two collagen peptides that specifically target joints and skin. It includes 200 mg of hyaluronic acid, vitamin C and antioxidants. This lacks the protein I was getting from collagen peptides. I make up for that in complete protein consumed elsewhere in my diet (and yes, I supplement with whey protein, too).
This 30-second YouTube video by Samantha McKinney, RD, explains why LTH Collagen Elixir belongs in my morning ritual.
If you have more than 30 seconds, tune in to this 14-minute podcast episode, titled “Why Collagen,” with Anika Christ, RD.
Compare LTH Collagen Elixir with Cholostrum and Collagen Peptides. This graphic may help you choose which type of collagen supplementation is right for you.
This is my morning ritual. To explore the full line of LTH supplements, shop here.
AFTERNOON F&B
Perimenopause and menopause are times when, for mood, rest, gut microbiota, weight maintenance and muscle preservation, women need to double-down on nutrition. The whole food ingredients in MenoWell bars would benefit anybody. (My children love them for an afternoon snack. As a mom, it pleases me that they have far less skyrocket effect on blood sugar than granola bars!) The ingredients start with almonds and include fiber-rich chicory root, dates, spinach and kale. 7 grams of protein from pea protein give my body some of the amino acids it needs to build and preserve muscle, but this is not a just a protein bar.
If It’s Not Just a Protein Bar, What Is It?
It’s, foremost, a fiber bar! I get protein from chicken, eggs, peas + brown rice (together, peas and rice make a complete protein), fish, nuts, and whey protein supplementation. What’s more of a challenge is getting the collective 30 grams of fiber a day that I aim for. I want to consume that necessary fiber mostly from vegetables, nuts and seeds. I include fiber (like a whole rainbow of vegetables) with every meal. To keep my standards of fiber sources and have a grab-and-go snack in the afternoons, I eat a MenoWell bar. (As you can tell from the image above, I devoured a peanut butter chocolate MenoWell bar faster than the photographer- my 8 year old- could take a picture. Swimming makes me so hungry!)
Ingredients in double chocolate brownie (best seller) MenoWell bar: almonds, chickory root, dates, pea protein, 69% dark chocolate chips, almond flour, cocoa powder, organic cocoa nibs, flaxseeds, organic maca powder, sunflower lecithin, sea salt, spinach, kale
MenoWell bar flavor options include this and also peanut butter chocolate and fresh blueberry lemon.
Prices start at $26 for a box of 10. Save 10% with my discount code at checkout: BrookBentenJimenez
(Look for a tab at the bottom at checkout that says “Add discount.”)
The beverage I drink all day long after my one cup of morning Joe is pure, simple, straight-out-of the faucet water. It’s the craziest thing that the one thing our bodies need more than anything is totally free. We should all be drinking this by the 40 fluid ounce Stanley thermos-full! I fill up at multiple times every day. Without enough water, those 30 grams of fiber that I consume each day miss their counterpart, therefore cannot work their gut magic. Getting ample fiber and water today directly affects my gut microbiota tomorrow. Neurophysiologist Louisa Nicola preaches that every thing we consume either helps or hinders our brain health. Put that way, of course I’m going to drink water. All. Day. Long. I am pro-brain!
Because I sweat a lot, I lose hydration. (We lose hydration not only through sweat, but also breath.) If I don’t keep a water bottle on me, I’ll miss my mark on replenishing lost water and end up with exertion headaches. Those suckers hurt like childbirth. Keeping the water on me saves me.
I use a WanderFull water bottle bag to keep my thermos attached to me all day long. It even has a hole for the handle- handy.
There are no downsides to drinking water, other than the obvious needing to urinate frequently. As a middle-aged woman, that would happen anyway, so I have no qualms with the frequent bathroom visits nor a few night wakes to empty the bladder. It’s the cost of doing hydration right. No complaints here. Just gratitude to have access to unlimited clean drinking water and a bag on me that reminds me to drink it.
Other compelling reasons to drink plain water: joint health, muscle growth (our muscles are mostly water), cognition and memory, emotional regulation, organ tissue, body temperature, digestion, oxygen transport, kidney health, energy and physical performance. Just to name a few.
Did I mention it’s free?
If you take nothing else away from this blog, drink water!
Evening Ritual
I gave up alcohol about three years ago. I was over drinking a beverage that hijacked my nervous system, made me feel great then made me feel lousy, and misaligned with my values. I will never have another alcoholic beverage as long as I live. I choose to put fluids in my body that serve my physical and mental health and well-being. Most of that is water. In the evenings, I sometimes make a special low-sugar cocktail. (I don’t need to give it a dumb name of “mocktail.”)
I mix mostly Topo Chico with a splash of low-sugar all-natural organic syrup, made locally in my hometown. It’s called Subtle & Spirited.
Here, I mixed Lavender Sky with a full bottle of original Topo Chico before toting this alcohol-free cocktail to Texas Lifestyle Magazine’s holiday party. I felt like I was enjoying all of the fun, enjoying the company of writers and editors I care about while sipping from my WanderFull water bottle bag.
I love that Subtle & Spirited syrups have no artificial flavors, colors or high fructose corn syrup. They’re keto-friendly, not the sugar bomb that is most mocktails (ug! That word!). They’re hand-grown and crafted right here in the country down the street from my home. I can drive right to the field where it’s made and pick up an organic batch cooked the night before. I’ve become friends with husband-wife couple owners, The Suttles, who have respective backgrounds as personal trainer + cardiac rehab physiologist and nurse. Health isn’t just in what they’ve crafted in these bottles. It’s who they are.
My absolute favorite Subtle & Spirited concoction is mixing Hill Country Heat with a bottle of lime Topo Chico. I garnish with a lime wedge and just a dash of cayenne pepper. It’s an alcohol-free cocktail that’s fun, spicy and makes me happy. That happiness doesn’t go away like it does with ethanol, nor does it have dire side effects. I’m just happy. It feels good to feel good.
My hope is that by reading this blog, you may have some ideas of food and beverage that will make you feel long-lasting good, too.
Happy New Year!
Cheers,
Brook Benten, M.Ed., ACSM-EP, is a personal trainer in Austin, TX. Her nutrition pillars are fiber and protein. Water is the cornerstone of her beverage consumption. If she had a guilty pleasure, it would be a warm buttered croissant with a cup of coffee. But she doesn’t call it a guilty pleasure. She calls it goodness. Follow Brook on Instagram @BrookBenten.