Collagen is an animal protein. Plants do not make it, so plant-based collagen does not exist. Supplements that call themselves that contain a mix of amino acids or plant proteins, not collagen.
Below you will find what collagen is actually in, which nutrients your body uses to make collagen itself, and what is known about how it breaks down.
Foods that contain collagen
- Stock made from bones and cartilage. With long simmering, collagen dissolves as gelatine. This is how collagen traditionally found its way into the diet.
- Meat with connective tissue. Tougher cuts of beef, pork and chicken contain tendons and cartilage, and with them collagen. Slow cooking at a low temperature breaks that down into gelatine.
- Fish with skin and bones. Fish skin and bones contain a lot of collagen. They are also the raw material for fish collagen powder.
- Gelatine. Gelatine is nothing other than partly broken-down collagen.
Exactly how much collagen you take in this way is hard to establish. It is not on the packaging and it differs per cut of meat and per preparation.
What your body uses to make collagen itself
Your body builds collagen from amino acids, with a number of micronutrients as helpers.
- Protein, and above all the amino acids glycine and proline. Found in meat, fish, dairy, eggs, pulses, mushrooms and cabbage.
- Vitamin C. Found in citrus fruit, peppers, kiwi and brassicas.
- Zinc. Meat, shellfish, pulses, nuts and seeds.
- Copper. Organ meat, cocoa, cashews, sesame seeds and lentils.
Vitamin C is the only one on this list with an approved European claim: vitamin C contributes to normal collagen formation for the normal function of skin. That claim is about vitamin C, not about collagen supplements. Our powder consists of one ingredient and therefore contains no vitamin C, which means the claim does not apply to our product.
What breaks collagen down in the body
More is known about breakdown than about build-up. A number of factors are documented as damaging collagen in the skin:
- UV radiation. Sunlight damages collagen and elastin in the dermis, the middle layer of the skin. This is known as photoageing.
- Smoking. Substances in tobacco smoke damage collagen and elastin, and nicotine narrows the blood vessels.
- Sugar. Sugars can bind to proteins, including collagen. That process is called glycation.
- Alcohol. Alcohol draws moisture out of the body and affects the blood vessels.
Collagen powder alongside your diet
Hydrolysed collagen is collagen that has been cut into shorter chains with enzymes: collagen peptides. That is why it dissolves in cold and hot drinks and is easier to dose than gelatine or stock.
Hūmen collagen powder contains type 1 hydrolysed collagen from fish or beef, produced in Europe under ISO 9001 and FSSC 22000. One jar is 300 grams, enough for 60 servings of 5 grams. The powder is neutral in taste.
What we don't say about it
No health claims for collagen have been approved in the European Union. We therefore do not claim that collagen from food or from a supplement does anything to your skin, hair, nails or joints.
You can read why we make that choice in What is a collagen brand actually allowed to promise?
