Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After reading countless reviews about gelatin being so great for your hair, skin, nails, weight loss, cellulite, etc, I have been dying to try it...I was going to wait to "review" the product for a few weeks and review it for effectiveness; however, I realized before it can possibly be effective, it needs to be consumed...that said, after reading the reviews, it was clear from the negative reviews other people are making many of the same mistakes I did, so I thought I would save new people some aggravation... In terms of what I read regarding suggested consumption: Everyone says it is great in smoothies...umm...not so much...I threw it in my protein shake and quite frankly, it made the consistency really gross! Protein shakes aren't that great to begin with - I thought this made an already mediocrely tasting drink, taste like there was snot mixed in...I choked it down and prayed I found a better recipe... I read people sprinkle in eggs...tried that...gagged and almost threw up...DEFINITELY will not repeat...worse than the protein shake...if I didn't make them myself, I would have sworn some guy blew a load in my eggs... Next, I read it mixed well into hot cereal (oatmeal)...well, it mixed..if I ate it fast, it probably ranked a *little* higher than the protein shake, but not much... Went back online to see if I missed some brilliant idea in terms of consumption...someone said they put a teaspoon full in their mouth and slugged down a huge glass of water...I am pretty sure that was a practical joke to see who fell for it...yep, I was a schmuck and gave it a whirl...I ended up face first in the kitchen sink, desperately trying to loosen the congealed paste out of my mouth ...I was VERY thankful nobody was standing behind me with a video camera!!...THAT "experiment" was a BAAADDD idea! After essentially 4 failed attempts at consuming this stuff, I made one last attempt and found success! I threw a tablespoon in the bottom of a coffee cup, saturated the powder with a bit of tap water and mixed until it was dissolved into a little gel...then, I poured coffee on top (I have a Keurig, so single cup brewing)...I stirred to mix it up, then added a little milk...It WORKED!! I couldn't taste it, and there was no change in consistency...VERY happy!! I *think* the trick is to try to mix as a gel, not the powder...also, I think you need to drink the coffee fairly quickly - don't wait around for it to cool down to room temperature... I am open to any other suggestions...I will say, if not mixed properly, the consistency really is beyond disgusting! Now that I think I have the consumption aspect down, I am curious to see if there any benefits from taking this... *** 7 MONTH UPDATE *** Since it seems people are reading these reviews (and I certainly appreciate the feedback :) ), I figured I would post a follow up... For the first 3+ months, I was religious about consuming a tablespoon a day (I had every intention of getting two tablespoons because that IS the recommended dose), but it just didn't happen...I learned that it actually does take about 3 months before a product like this starts REALLY "working", so if you think after a few weeks or a month you will see results, forget it... The results (1 tablespoon a day for a little over 3 months) ~ The two most noticeable results were my hair and skin... I had a bad chemical treatment on my hair a year ago and was doing everything under the sun to try to repair it...I DID notice my hair grew faster, stronger and healthier...I actually took monthly "selfies" with my computer's webcam to track the difference...(In the interest of full disclosure, while I was consuming the gelatin to "grow" healthier new hair, I was doing weekly coconut oil conditioning treatments to "protect" the hair I already had)...the combination was EXCELLENT!! (I had been using the coconut oil already for about 6 months and it was working well, but REALLY could definitely tell a difference after adding the gelatin to my diet) The second and most noticeable was my skin - I have pretty decent skin to begin with, so I wasn't trying to polish a turd, but my skin looked GREAT after about 3 months...I am almost 40, spend a lot of time in the sun without sunglasses and I like having a tan, so I deserve every ounce of sun damage I have...that said, while my skin has looked decent enough, I have developed a lot of fine lines and wrinkles, particularly around my eyes...also, with age, I have noticed the skin under my eyes thinning out...I use all the fancy skin department store care products, but NOTHING has worked anywhere near as well as this gelatin...after about 3 months, the fine lines and wrinkles were FAR less noticeable and the skin under my eyes actually thickened up...I had been debating getting Botox or fillers to fill in the lines and thanks to this product, decided to back burner that idea for a while! I guess I should address the "weight loss" and "cellulite" aspects of this product...when I started taking this product, I was eating a pretty decent diet and working out regularly...I was maintaining a healthy weight, but was hoping to drop 10 pounds and get rid of some cellulite on my legs and butt...this product did NOTHING to decrease my appetite, promote weight loss, or reduce cellulite... So, you probably wonder why my current review is leaning towards "past tense"...I have trouble sticking to things I start...I was TOTALLY committed for over 3 months, but then I fell off the wagon...while the consistency mixed in the coffee WAS/IS palatable, the reality is, it still changes the taste of the coffee a little and it takes a few extra minutes to prepare it (yep, I can be THAT lazy)...what started as, "I am just going to skip today" essentially turned into a 3 1/2 month "skip"...so now, my hair isn't looking quite as nice, nor is it growing as fast, my fine lines are all back, and the skin under my eyes is looking pretty sad...My "skip" on the gelatin actually stemmed from my "skip" from the gym and healthy diet...(I prefer the term "unforeseen circumstances" ;)) ...bottom line, my "unforeseen circumstances" have resulted in a robust 25 pound weight gain... ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE: While this product does take time to kick in, you DO reap the benefits for almost as long on the other end when you stop taking it because it needs just as much time to work its way out of your system... In summary, remembering how happy I was when I DID see the results from this product, I have decided to blow the dust of the red cans, incorporate the gelatin back into my diet, clean up my diet, get back to the gym, and I will update again in a few months!