Judging by its recent popularity, you might think the health benefits of collagen are new discoveries. However, an original "girl boss" named Hildegard of Bingen first wrote of the pain-relieving effects of collagen in 1175.



Living in medieval Germany, St. Hildegard was a Benedictine abbess and polymath. She was a writer, composer, philosopher, and Christian mystic. Not surprisingly, she was pretty smart when it came to holistic medicine too.



I imagine her looking at a pot of stew that had cooled, wondering if the fatty gel that sat on top of the stew had any health benefits. Maybe she scooped it off and ate it. And after repeating for long enough, perhaps she noticed a difference in how her joints felt. Who knows...



At the impressive age of 77 years old, she wrote about the pain-relieving benefits of collagen. She lived another four years. Living to 81 years old was pretty impressive back then.



But enough about St. Hildegard of Bingen. Let's get into the health benefits of collagen.



Over the last several years, collagen has become one of the most popular nutritional supplements.



How did this waste product of meat, poultry, and fish processing become an anti-aging, injury-healing, joint health-inducing superstar?



What is collagen? What should you look for when buying a collagen supplement, and how does it fit in with your high-protein diet?



Read on and find out.



What is Collagen?



Collagen provides a scaffolding for most of the tissues in your body. It connects muscle to bone and bone to bone, while also building cartilage that lets your bones slide over one another without causing pain in your joints. It keeps your organs in place...for that matter, it keeps your face in place too.



It isn’t as hard as bone, but is stronger than muscle tissue due to its amino acid structure.



Collagen makes up about 30% of the total protein mass in the body, and 70% of the dry weight of the skin dermis.



As you age, collagen breaks down. Exercise and overuse can also cause collagen breakdown. Collagen breakdown can lead to connective tissue injuries like torn bicep tendons or Achilles tendons, loss of joint cartilage, saggy skin, wrinkles, and cellulite.



Anti-aging doctors have been injecting collagen into patients' faces for quite some time, in hopes of restoring their youth.



As you age, you lose collagen, making your face droop and your lips get smaller. You've probably seen at least one celebrity who's taken their collagen treatment to an extreme.



Though it may not produce an immediate effect, it's possible you could look and feel younger by consuming, instead of injecting collagen.



Eating Collagen Helps You Grow Collagen



In case you need another reason to get off the vegan bandwagon, you only get collagen by eating collagen. 



Meat has collagen. Mushrooms don’t.



Poultry has collagen. Peanuts and potatoes don’t.



Fish has collagen. Fava beans don’t.



If you want the benefits of collagen, you’ll need to eat or supplement with collagen. There’s no plant on the planet that contains collagen.



That said, even meat-eaters often miss their opportunity to consume collagen in everyday meals. Chewing tendons, bones, and skin isn’t that appealing,