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Collagen is the supplement everyone seems to be taking and nobody can quite explain. It gets sold for skin, hair, nails, joints, gut and just about everything else, which is exactly the sort of cure all promise that should make you a little wary. So does it do anything, and if so which one should you buy. Here is the grown up version.
Collagen is the most common protein in your body, the scaffolding in your skin, joints, bones and gut. From your mid twenties you slowly make less of it, which is part of why skin gets less bouncy and joints get creakier over the years. The idea behind a supplement is to give your body the raw materials to keep topping it up.
Here is the fair answer. The strongest evidence is for skin, where several decent studies have shown improvements in hydration and elasticity after a couple of months of daily use, and there is reasonable support for joint comfort too. It is not an overnight miracle, and no powder will undo the sun damage of forty Australian summers. But of all the beauty supplements on the shelf, collagen is one of the better backed. Give it eight to twelve weeks or do not bother judging it.
Bovine collagen comes from cattle and is the common, good value option, strong on the types found in skin, bone and joints. Marine collagen comes from fish, is usually finer and often favoured for skin, and it suits people who do not eat beef. Both work. You will also see the word hydrolysed, sometimes as peptides, which just means it has been broken into smaller pieces so it dissolves easily and absorbs well. That is the form you want.
Two honest notes. Collagen is not a complete protein, so it tops up your skin and joints but it is not your daily protein hit, see it as a beauty and joint extra rather than a meal. And vitamin C helps your body actually put collagen to use, which is why a lot of good blends include it, or why a piece of fruit alongside is no bad thing.
The Chief grass fed powders are the everyday bovine option, unflavoured to stir into anything or a creamy vanilla for coffee, the Beauty Shake is a pure marine collagen if you prefer fish sourced, and there are easy formats like the matcha latte blend and a choc coconut bar for people who will never remember a powder.
An unflavoured collagen dissolves into hot or cold drinks without changing the taste much, so the easiest habit is a scoop in your morning coffee or tea every day. Consistency beats dose here. Pick the format you will genuinely use, keep it next to the kettle so you do not forget, and give it a couple of months before you decide.
The full range is under Collagen, and if you would rather talk it through with a person we are at 936 Anzac Parade, Maroubra, open seven days.
