Please help if you can understand my Question- won't be so long winded this time-promise.

Strictly speaking, there's nothing we "can't absorb." The problem with supplements like those collagen shots is that they lack a specific, essential amino acid. They are not complete so you cannot rely on them exclusively for your protein needs.

For what it's worth, if you were following my surgeon's plan you'd be transitioning off protein supplements at this point unless you had very specific needs. Perhaps meeting your protein goals, or at least a greater portion of them, through ordinary whole food is something you can also consider.

Chulbert, thanks for your reply and the thought put into it. I would be off of the protein shakes by now, except on days I was able to my 10 miles of walking in. But with the surgery I had on my spine (ACDF) in mid July where they dug out the discs between C5-C7 (due to bulging discs that was squashing the main nerve bundle in my spine) I am still having a whole LOT of problems with pain and spasm in the neck, shoulder and muscles across my entire upper back. So I am on a lot of high power meds that say "take with food" on strict schedule. I found regular foods I have problems with pain in the stomach from the meds. But with the shake powder mixed with the Unsweetened Almond milk it keeps the pouch coated so the meds pass through it without problems (other than I cannot find pain meds that last over 3 hours when they should last 6 or 8.) I started the "meal replacement" type of shakes because they do have more of the vitamins and minerals that we need so much. Many of the protein shakes are geared for body building and have the protein and the amino acids needed for that. But they lack vitamins that the meal replacement ones have. The brand I use is supposed to used 2 scoops with 8 ounces liquid for 25 grams protein. I am not needing it for ALL the protein, especially since I am using it 4 times a day with my meds. So I just use 1 scoop and 6 ounces of the milk. It makes 14 grams of protein and only 123 calories that way. Plus the extra vitamins to try to help me heal from surgery. Otherwise, when I was having a good day pain wise and am able to get some miles in walking and not on meds, I just mix up one 6 ounces and 1 scoop for the extra protein boost. Before the surgery and extra meds, I was able to get plenty of protein through real food.

Thank you for replying to my post.

Ok so stop one moment. (Yes, I'm bossy. Hi, by the way, I'm Nikki!)

What you need to be looking at on the shakes is the ingredients. You've already picked up on one ingredient that is no good - collagen protein. It's not really great for anybody but especially when you don't have your whole digestive tract, it's just useless.

The gold star in protein is whey protein isolate. If you see whey protein isolate in the ingredients list of your shakes it is a good protein for you to use. Now many protein shakes use what is called a protein blend which is made up of both whey protein isolate (which is whey protein with no lactose or fat) and whey protein concentrate (which has some lactose and some fat). Both have the same absorbability the only difference is that the concentrate is going to have some fat and lactose along with the protein. Now the reason we are encouraged to do whey isolate is because if you take a scoop of isolate and a scoop of concentrate that's the same size, the scoop of isolate is going to be 100% protein where as the concentrate is going to be some protein, some fat, some lactose. Does that make sense?

So instead of looking at the brand, look at the ingredients list. 100% pure whey isolate powders and drinks tend to be more expensive than concentrate. They also tend to be way fewer calories and carb-free. So if you can go for the isolate, by all means do so! I personally was in the midst of THE struggle early post-op so I relied heavily on concentrates and I did just fine with them.

But the main point I wanted to make is to look for whey protein. Whether you use isolate or concentrate is up to you and your dietician, but that's the best way to go. If you find you can't do whey (some folks are intolerant) the next best option seems to be soy protein isolate.