Collagen Supplementation & Safety
Is your collagen helping or hurting your health?
First things first- what is collagen?
It’s the most abundant protein in your body- collagen accounts for about one third of your body’s total protein composition! Collagen is composed of 3 amino acids- glycine, leucine, and proline. Your body must also have sufficient amounts of Vitamin C and Copper in order to build collagen. Vitamin C and Copper both activate enzymes that contribute to crosslink formation in collagen and elastin, as well as allowing the collagen protein to fold properly- basically these nutrients catalyze the formation of the amino acids in a proper sequence.
Collagen is the main component of connective tissues in your body. Think tendons, ligaments, skin, and muscles (1). Collagen also provides your skin with structure and keeps it better hydrated, and collagen strengthens your bones (2).
There are 28 types of collagen, but the most common are the following:
Type I: the most common type, found in all connective tissue in the body
Type ll: found in joints and spinal discs
Type lll: the main component of fibers found in your skin and blood vessels
Type lV: found in your kidneys, inner ear, and eye lens
Where do we find collagen in the diet?
Lots of foods contain collagen- all of them animal based. Foods that contain gelatin, such as bone broth, provide quite a bit of collagen. Gelatin is a derivative of collagen after it has been cooked.
Just like in our bodies, collagen is found in the connective tissues of animals. Foods like chicken skin, pork skin, beef, and fish are good sources of collagen. The connective tissue of animals is where collagen supplements are derived from. If you are looking to increase your collagen intake from food directly, organs and meat that have some animal skin are the best way.
BUT- foods that are high in collagen may not increase actual collagen levels in your body- this is because digestive enzymes break down the collagen in food into individual amino acids and peptides, and then subsequently put it back together to build collagen in our body. The collagen found in supplements has already been broken down, or hydrolyzed, so it’s thought to be absorbed more efficiently than collagen from foods.
There are a lot of potential health benefits from collagen, but note the word potential! Some seem to show better results than others, and most have more anecdotal evidence than hard scientific studies. However, anecdotal evidence can be a great place to learn about the experience of others and see if the same thing will work for you!
How Can Collagen Improve Your Health?
SKIN HEALTH AND ANTI-AGING
The most popular reason people likely take collagen supplements for is skin health and appearance. Collagen plays a role in strengthening skin, as well as in elasticity and hydration of the skin. Our bodies produce less collagen as we age, and this can lead to dry skin and the formation of wrinkles and older looking skin (3).
There are some good showing that collagen peptides or supplements containing collagen could help slow the appearance of skin aging by reducing the forming of wrinkles, and the appearance of dryness.
One review of 11 studies- which focused mostly on women- showed that women who took 3–10 grams of collagen per day for an average of 69 days (about 2 and a half months) led to improvements in skin elasticity and hydration (4). Just like most supplements, the effects of collagen supplementation aren’t instantaneous. Giving your supplement a solid 3 months of consistent use, and perhaps taking a before and after photo evaluate, would be a good way of determining if collagen were helpful for this effect in your body.
There are many anecdotal claims of collagen supplementation helping with skin conditions such as acne and psoriasis, however no studies that I could find.
JOINT PAIN
Joint pain is another reason a lot of people opt for collagen. This makes sense as collagen helps maintain the integrity of your cartilage, which is the tissue that protects your joints.
The risk of degenerative joint disorders such as osteoarthritis increases as we age due to less collagen being produced, and thus offering us less joint protection (4). Autoimmune conditions like RA break down joint tissue as well.
A review of five studies in more than 500 people with osteoarthritis found that taking about 10 grams of collagen daily for an average of 24 weeks led to significant improvements in joint stiffness and self-reported joint pain (5). These pain relieving effects were shown to occur at 10g or above for a daily dose (5).
Several studies have showed a reduction in joint pain,, tenderness, and stiffness in patients with Rheumatoid arthritis. These studies specifically used Type 2 collagen (6,7) . Positive effects were found most commonly at or above a 20mg daily dose of collagen (7).
Researchers have theorized that supplemental collagen may accumulate in cartilage and stimulate the tissues to make collagen. In turn, this may lead to lower inflammation, better joint support, and reduced pain.
BONE HEALTH
A somewhat lesser known reason for collagen supplementation is bone health. Women reach peak bone mass around age 20-25, and after that have to more or less try to maintain that mass as best we can. When it’s not maintained we are at a higher risk of bone fractures and issue like osteoporosis and osteopenia.
There are studies showing that collagen supplements might help inhibit the bone breakdown that leads to osteoporosis (7).
In one yearlong study, women took either a calcium supplement as well as 5 grams of collagen each day, or the same calcium supplement but with no collagen daily. The women in the group who took the calcium and collagen supplement had significantly lower blood levels of proteins that promote bone breakdown, as opposed to those who took the calcium alone (8).
Another study found similar results in a small group of post-menopausal women who took 5 grams of collagen daily for a year. Those who took the collagen exhibited an increase of up to 7% in their bone mineral density (BMD) compared with those who didn’t take collagen9. BMD is a measure of the density of minerals, such as calcium and boron, in your bones. Low BMD is associated with weak bones and a higher risk of osteoporosis.
MUSCLE MASS
As mentioned earlier, collagen is the most abundant protein in the body, so it goes without saying that it is an important component of muscle mass. Studies suggest that collagen supplements help boost muscle mass in people with sarcopenia. Sarcopenia is an age and inflammation related disease of advanced muscle decline.
In a 12-week study, 27 men with this condition took 15 grams of collagen while participating in a daily exercise program. Compared to men who exercised but didn’t take collagen, they gained significantly more muscle mass and strength (10). Researchers have suggested that supplemental collagen possibly promotes the synthesis of muscle proteins like creatine, as well as stimulating muscle growth after exercise. Keep in mind that collagen protein isn’t more effective than whey protein for building muscle or strength. That’s because collagen is low in the essential amino acids needed for building muscle — particularly leucine. If building muscle mass is your main reason for supplementing with collagen, there are definitely better options out there. However if you’re looking to use it for other reasons as well, then this could be a positive side effect for you.
LEAKY GUT
A very common reason for taking collagen is to fix leaky gut. Leaky gut is the breakdown of the barrier in your gut- when this occurs the tight junctions of your gut lining remain more open, and for longer time frames, than they should. This allows undigested proteins, bacteria, and other gunk to “leak” into your body. Since bone broth is high in collagen, this is often suggested as a way to help mediate leaky gut. When it comes to anecdotes, it is easy to find many stating this claim. One study showed that marine based collagen decreased the amount of TNF-alpha induced breakdown of the tight junctions in the gut (11). What that means is that the collagen supplement lowered levels of inflammation in the gut, and that resulted in further tight junction breakdown. Don’t confuse this with it actually building the cells of the gut back up. When there is an issue with leaky gut, there is almost always inflammation at play, so collagen supplementation could certainly be a good way to reduce further damage.
Collagen helps with a variety of symptoms
Collagen is a super easy supplement to add to many foods
Make sure you find out the heavy metal content of your brand of collagen
What are the Downsides to Taking Collagen?
There aren’t many reasons why a person shouldn’t take collagen. If you’re vegan, you would avoid collagen supplements as they are animal derived. There is no such thing as vegan collagen, but there are supplements containing singular amino acids that make up collagen- glycine, leucine, proline-combined in a capsule. If you have an allergy to fish or shellfish, you’d want to avoid marine based collagen, and if you have an allergy to red meat, like alpha-gal, you’d want to avoid anything derived from bovine based collagen sources.
The other issue with collagen supplements is heavy metal levels potentially being high. Collagen supplements can test high for heavy metals if the source the collagen is derived from- fish, cows, chickens, pigs, etc- had high levels of heavy metals, and this would all depend on how they were raised and what they were fed. This is why it’s important to use a brand that sources from pastured animals rather than grain fed, or if it’s marine collagen that they are using wild caught fish. This should reduce the chance of heavy metal contamination. Unfortunately, even wild fish and pastured animals can have high heavy metal levels depending on the type of fish and what part of the world the animals are raised in. If you can’t find information online about the product being tested for heavy metals, you should be able to email the company and ask for a copy of their verified third party testing analysis. If they are unwilling to share, it’s likely because their product tested high.
The most common metals in collagen are arsenic, cadmium, mercury, lead and hexavalent chromium.
The most recent information that I found on a mass testing of collagen supplements was from 2020 (12).
Here’s what’s important to remember when we look at levels of heavy metals in collagen, or in any supplement. The FDA has to set acceptable levels of these metals, because they are in a LOT of things- they are naturally occurring. If you’re only using one serving of collagen a day, and you aren’t taking any other protein powders that may have a bit of heavy metals, and you’re careful about what type of seafood you consume and your other food sources, then you can have some wiggle room on which collagen supplement you choose. Obviously NO detectable levels is ideal, and we should all try to reduce our exposure to heavy metals as much as possible. Of the collagen supplements tested, only a couple had levels above what the FDA says is safe. The FDA says 0.01mg per serving is ok, and the ones that came closest to getting above that level were Garden of Life for arsenic levels, and Bulletproof for cadmium levels.
The serving size is where things get hairy on interpreting this data. Some of the serving sizes used on the data chart for testing are only half the size of the recommended serving on the label (Vital Proteins specifically in this analysis). This means to accurately account or the amount of heavy metal intake in one actual serving, the amount of heavy metals on this data chart has to be doubled.
Of all the brands tested, the ones with 0 or non-detectable levels of any metals were:
Ancient nutrition bone broth protein (their complex was also tested and had moderate levels of arsenic)
Bio Optimal unflavored collagen
Neocell super collagen
Puori CP1
Reserveage Nutrition Collagen Replenish
Zint
Out of 28 tested products, only 5 were free of heavy metals.
My favorite collagen peptides (and whey protein!) come from Promix, and while they weren’t included on the data I found from 2020, I did reach out and ask for their analysis, which they shared with me. All of their collagen and protein supplements came in with all heavy metals -as well as glyphosate -coming in at less than 5 ppb, which equates to a non-detectable level . You can order from their site by clicking the Promix button below.
If you’re interested in having your body tested for heavy metals, an HMTA (hair tissue mineral analysis) test is the best way to measure long term heavy metal accumulation. Click the HTMA button below this article to schedule a call with Jade to learn more.
HOW TO INCLUDE COLLAGEN SUPPLEMENTS
You can add collagen powder to pretty much anything. It dissolves most easily in hot food. A lot of people add it to coffee, which I’m not a huge fan of doing from a personal taste perspective but lots of people love it! It blends well into hot cereals like oatmeal, or smoothies. It can be added to the batter of baked goods to increase the protein content as well. Different brands can have slightly different dissolvability so keep that in mind particularly if adding it to something cold, like yogurt, where it might clump up.
There are also collagen tablets available for purchase. If you are looking for a specific type or combination of types of collagen, this is the best way to go, as bovine based collagen is mostly Type 2, and marine based collagen contains Type 1 and Type 3.