By: Tracey O'Shea, FNP-C
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body. It makes up your muscles, bones, connective tissue, digestive tract, organs, hair, skin, and nails. Collagen helps control the elasticity in your skin, keeping it smooth and tight as you age. Does choosing the right type of collagen make a difference?
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What is collagen?
Collagen is a major part of connective tissue that helps connect other tissues to major components of the bone, skin, muscles, tendons, and cartilage. It helps provide elasticity and structure to your skin and strengthen your bones.
The 5 most common types of collagen are:
Type I: the most common type
Accounts for 90% of the body’s collagen stores
Type II: found in both marine and chicken products
Less tightly packed than type I for better absorption
Type III: the second most common type of collagen
Supports the gut, muscles, blood vessels, and uterus
Bovine is the most common source
Type V: less abundant in the body
Less common in supplements
Found naturally in the eye
Helps form membranes and placenta tissue
Type X: less abundant in the body
Less common in supplements
Helps form bones
Collagen levels start to decrease in our mid-20s and continue to decrease by 1% per year.
Can you eat collagen?
Foods with gelatin, like bone broth and animal meat, contain collagen. Since collagen is found in the connective tissues of animals, foods like chicken, pork, beef, and fish are sources of collagen.
While eating collagen-rich foods is generally recommended as part of a healthy diet, there is a lack of research to show that eating collagen directly benefits skin or joint health.
Eating a nutrient-dense diet is essential to providing the required nutrients for collagen production. Foods that provide zinc, vitamin C, and copper are essential to proper collagen production and utilization.
Can you supplement with collagen?
Despite its abundance in the body and in foods, collagen supplementation is thought to be an effective way to support hair, nails, and skin (the dermis layer is made up of roughly 70% collagen), reduce joint pain, and prevent bone loss. Most collagen supplements contain amino acids—the building blocks of protein—and some may also contain nutrients to help support collagen utilization, like hyaluronic acid, vitamin C, biotin, and zinc.
How do you choose the best collagen supplement?
The key to choosing the right type of collagen supplement comes down to a few important features, most notably a highly absorbable, clean ingredient, liquid-based collagen.
Choosing a Type II collagen
Type II collagen is a major component of joint cartilage and is sourced from chicken cartilage. Not only is it high in hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate, but it also contains glucosamine. Type II collagen has been studied in osteoarthritis prevention, treatment and symptom management.
The majority of collagen supplements are derived from ground-up pig and cow hooves, hides, snouts, and other parts. Marine collagen (composed primarily of type I collagen) is derived from fish scales and other parts. The preference would be from a single-source, non-genetically modified organism (GMO), hormone-free source, like chicken cartilage. Multi-collagen powders tend to have subpar collagen types in their formula, reducing the potency and often resulting in a variety of different animals being used. More isn’t always better in this scenario.
Contains hyaluronic acid
Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring sugar molecule found in several areas of the body, most commonly in the fluids circulating in the joints, eyes, skin, and connective tissue. It isn’t really found in and extracted from foods, other than animal sources like bone broth. Collagen firms the skin, while hyaluronic acid nourishes and hydrates the collagen by binding moisture to collagen. It also helps reduce wrinkles and enhances the positive impact of collagen on joint health. An additional perk is the capability of the collagen supplement to inhibit hyaluronidase, an enzyme that degrades hyaluronic acid.
Liquid form in a highly absorbable state
A liquid delivery system, like Modere Liquid Collagen, plays a key role in absorption for certain molecules when compared to some powdered products that absorb as little as 15% to 20% of the collagen. Look for a product that improves absorption through a liquid medium and micro-dose delivery that achieves submucosal delivery and improves absorption and utilization. Many powdered collagens (even when hydrolyzed) still have a higher molecular weight that is difficult for the body to adequately absorb. I generally look for a molecular weight smaller than 4 kD to allow for bio-optimization.
Does not contain sugars, gluten, or other additives
Many collagen supplements contain added sugars like glucose, fructose, dextrose, sucrose, galactose, and more. Besides potentially spiking your blood sugar and contributing to chronic inflammation in the body, sugar breaks down collagen and elastin in your skin. Look out for chemical additives like anti-caking substances and preservatives. You also want a company that produces their products in an NSF and current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) registered facility and one that performs third-party testing (like USP) for heavy metals and animal diseases.
Collagen Supplement Risks
There isn’t thought to be much risk involved with taking liquid collagen supplementation, but there could always be a risk for allergic reactions when trying something new, so always double-check the product ingredients list before trying anything new. Some people with histamine intolerance or oxalate sensitivity report not responding favorably to collagen because of the potential higher hydroxyproline amino acid profile. I find this to be most problematic when people are simultaneously deficient in vitamin B6.
It’s also important to mention that liquid collagen is not meant to be a protein replacement because it is not a complete protein. It is deficient in certain amino acids that, when missing from the diet, can impact the health of some individuals.
My Preferred Collagen Supplement
My preferred collagen supplement is Modere Liquid collagen.
It hits all the boxes; highly absorbable, clean ingredients, type II collagen and has hyaluronic acid in it. I like taking this
collagen twice daily for max results to help support hair, skin, nail, weight and healthy cartilage and connective tissue.
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