What is collagen?
Collagen is a structural protein and one of the building blocks of connective tissue. It is made up of amino acids, of which glycine, proline and hydroxyproline are the most common. Collagen is found in the skin, bones, tendons, cartilage and blood vessels, among other places.
The body produces collagen itself. From around the age of twenty-five, that own production gradually declines.
How many types of collagen are there?
More than 28 types have been described. They differ in how the protein chains are built up and in the tissue where they occur. Five types are the most relevant in practice.
Type I
By far the most common type: around ninety per cent of the collagen in the human body is type I. It occurs in the skin, bones, tendons, blood vessels and scar tissue. This is also the type found in collagen powder from fish or beef.
Type II
Occurs mainly in elastic cartilage. Supplements with type II are usually obtained from chicken cartilage and are sold separately.
Type III
The most common type after type I. It occurs in the structure of muscles, organs and veins, and in the intestinal wall. In tissue, type I and type III often occur together.
Type IV
Does not form fibres but sheets. Type IV is found in the basement membrane, the thin layer beneath the outer skin and around organs such as the kidneys.
Type V
Occurs in hair, in some layers of the skin and in the tissue of the placenta, among other places.
Which type is in collagen powder?
Almost all collagen powders on the market contain type I, type III or a combination of the two, obtained from fish or beef. Type II comes from chicken cartilage and is sold on its own.
Hūmen collagen powder contains type 1 hydrolysed collagen. Sea comes from fish (NATICOL®, Weishardt), Earth from beef (VERISOL®, GELITA). One ingredient per jar, produced in Europe under ISO 9001 and FSSC 22000.
What to look for
A jar does not always state which type is in it, or how much. Three things you can check:
- Type and source. Type I from fish or beef, type II from chicken.
- Whether it is hydrolysed. Hydrolysed collagen has been cut into shorter chains with enzymes, collagen peptides, which is why it dissolves in liquid.
- How many grams per daily serving, and how many servings a jar holds. That is what makes jars comparable with each other.
What we don't say about it
No health claims for collagen have been approved in the European Union. We therefore make no statements about what collagen would do for your skin, hair, nails or joints. What we do tell you is what is in it, where it comes from and how to use it.
You can read more about that in our frequently asked questions, or take a look at our collagen powder.
