Where I got it
I am a part of this Facebook group with a whole bunch of Asian parents within mostly Auckland. The group consists of sellers and buyers of products mostly from overseas. Products include clothes, food, makeup, household item, etc.
I came across this product from a seller that I bought from before and these are collagen enzyme jellies. These are super popular in Asia as they are really convenient. Similar to how popular collagen powder or collagen protein powders are in Australia or New Zealand.
Each of these boxes contains 15 servings and the seller was selling these for $50 a box. She gave me a good deal because she wanted me to try them and repurchase if I liked it. So she offered me $100 for 3 boxes which pretty much means buy 2 get 1 free. She said this was a one-off offer because it was really cheap.
What I got
These are Collagen Enzyme Jelly by a company in China. In Chinese, they are called 膠原酵素果涷 by 清源果. Each box has 15 sachets of 15g jellies that are individually wrapped.
Basically, the product box and packaging itself doesn’t really have much information except for what the product is, the ingredients, the nutritional facts, place of manufacture and distribution, and some warnings. It doesn’t really list out the benefits of the product and any side-effects (and I assure you there were side-effects!).
Let’s get to the ingredients of this product.
水 (Water) – main ingredient to a lot of food products.
低聚木糖 (Xylooligosaccharides) – a prebiotic and has a couple of health benefits, including improvements in blood sugars and lipids, digestive health benefits and laxation.
刺梨粉 (Roxburgh rose powder) – helps control cholesterol and support digestive health.
低聚果糖 (fructose oligosaccharide) – an alternative sweetener.
針葉櫻桃 (Acerola cherry) – a good source of vitamin C and may cause side effects such as stomach aches or diarrhea.
紅葡萄果汁粉 (Red grape juice powder) – source of antioxidant.
綜合果蔬粉 (菠蘿, 木瓜, 胡蘿蔔, 菠蘿蛋白酶, 木瓜蛋白酶, 麥芽糊精) (vegetable extract powder (pineapple, papaya, carrot, bromelain, papain, maltodextrin) – a mixture of vegetable derived powders. Pineapple, papaya and carrots for their enzyme qualities. Bromelain for its an anti-inflammatory and anti-swelling benefits. Maltodextrin as a thickening additive. Papain is just an enzyme from papaya.
菊粉 (Inulin、Synanthrin) – a natural soluble dietary fiber.
大麥若葉青汁 (Green barley juice, barley grass juice) – rich in amino acids, minerals, vitamins and enzymes. Great anti-inflammatory properties.
魚膠原蛋白肽粉 (Fish collagen peptide powder) – type 1 collagen from marine life. Boosts collagen production, helps build up bone strength, stabilise blood sugar and is an anti-inflammatory.
魔芋粉 (Konjac powder) is a soluble dietary fiber that helps lower cholesterol and blood glucose levels.
燕窩酸 (Sialic acid) – It is thought that dietary sialic acid supplementation can improve learning and memory.
卡拉膠 (Carrageenan) – It is an additive used to thicken, emulsify, and preserve foods and drinks.
檸檬酸 (Citric acid) – Commonly used as a food additive as a natural flavoring and a preservative.
檸檬酸鉀 (Potassium citrate) – It is critical for the maintenance of normal levels of cellular fluids throughout the body, as well as for the maintenance of the acid-base balance.
檸檬酸鈉 (Trisodium citrate dihydrate) – It is often used as a food preservative, and as a flavoring in the food industry.
維生素E (Vitamin E) – it is a powerful antioxidant.
山梨酸鉀 (Potassium sorbate) – It is primarily used as a food preservative.
食用香精 (Food-grade fragrance) – no explanations needed here.
How I find it
This is actually the first time I’ve tried these enzyme jellies, but I have tried powdered ones before where you need to mix with water and preferably drink in the morning.
There isn’t many instructions with this product and the packaging basically states do not swallow entire contents in one go. I guess that is for the risk of choking. It doesn’t recommend taking in before and after meals or the frequency of dosage. I suppose this can be taken at any time of the day and with or without food, but I have decided to take it daily and in the morning with my breakfast.
The first 2 days I’ve taken it, I had really loose bowels with wrenching pains in my abdomen which I didn’t really think was because of the jelly. You really had to head to the bathroom as soon as you feel a bit of a tummy ache! By the end of the 2nd day, I had figured out why I’ve been having a stomach upset, the enzyme has been trying to clean out my bowels. After the 3rd day, my bowel movements are normal and regular.
I also started taking them first thing in the morning (after brushing my teeth) consistently on an empty stomach. After about 30 minutes I will eat breakfast. This routine works great for me because I get that enzyme in my body early to get it to start working. I often get too busy during the day to eat it too, but since it is so handy to consume, I can keep one in my bag just in case.
Overall
So I have taken 3 boxes of these (3×15 sachets) continuously and I noticed a different in my overall bowel regularity and quality of my poop (lol). I actually didn’t really see particular improvements in my skin or nails or hair growth. I’m not too sure if it helps in these areas but usually collagen does assorts general skin condition as well as hair and nails.
I did enjoy taking these in the morning and it was effortless to put into my existing routine. It only takes me like 5 seconds! Before publishing this post, I have already purchased and have been trying out the 養顏酵素 already. That one helps more on general gut health, bowel movements and assist weight loss. I have purchased about 3 months worth of jellies so please come back again for the review of 養生酵素!
