Science shows collagen is more than a trend — it’s a proven superfood.
Collagen supplementation has been the all the rage recently.
Health claims saying that it helps joint health, improves gut health and improves joint health.
It sounds too good to be true right?
Well, I’ve got good news for you. All of this is true.
How much should you take and what form of collagen is best? Some are even full of heavy metals and must be avoided. We’ll get back to that later.
First the science backed evidence that collagen does work.
Reduces wrinkles and skin health
A study was conducted on 114 elderly people given collagen for 8 weeks and the group that was given collagen saw a 20 percent reduction in wrinkles.
Study link here https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24401291/
Improves joint and tendon health
Dr Michael Ormsbee one of the best protein scientists in the world conducted a double blind randomized control trial (the gold standard of studies) where he gave one group a placebo, another group 10g of collagen and another group 20g of collagen. This was done for 3,6 or 9 months.
Study link here https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10411303/
The subjects were active adults between the ages of 40-65 who trained 4-6 hours per week.
In a dose defendant fashion.
It was found that collagen supplementation increased bone and tissue turnover and daily life score increased/pain reduced.
How Should I take it?
The sweet spot seems to be 10-15g a day. You can take this in a powdered form but it’s important you pick a good quality brand.
Plenty of them contain heavy metals and are poor quality. You need to pick a supplement that is sourced from grassfed beef and contains type 1 and 3 collagen.
If you are Uk based the best is Ape nutrition brand. All their products are excellent. Link is here https://apenutrition.co.uk/products/grass-fed-collagen-powder?variant=43032187535593
If you are US based Lineage provisions are top quality link is here https://lineageprovisions.com/products/nose-to-tail-collagen
I personally get my collagen from bone broth as its the purest way to get collagen and is better for it’s gut healing properties in this form. If you get from a shop make sure it comes from grassfed beef and is stored in glass so you’re not getting any microplastics!
I make my own as a lot of store-bought stuff contains garlic and black pepper which can be irritating to the gut.
This is how to do it.
I get 1.5kg of grassfed Beef bones from and add 3litres of water and cook in a pressure cooker for 4 hours.
Drain the broth through a sieve to remove impurities and bones.
Then I let it cool and put in the fridge. The fat will sit at the top which I then take off.
I used this beef fat to cook potatoes and my eggs. YUM.
Beef fat is excellent to cook with as it can tolerate high heat.
Conclusion.
Collagen is a super food/ supplement that will improve your skin, gut and joint health.
Get 10-20g per day with high quality supplement or from bone broth.
