How to choose your collagen?

By : Mammoth Team

Chances are that if you are reading this article and are a Popeye’s Supplement customer, you are aware of the several proven benefits of collagen, namely: 

• Longevity

• Wellness & Active Living

• Skin Care

• Muscular Benefits

• Joint Function

• The most abundant protein (approximately 30%) in our body and ostensibly, the most important one 

For years, collagen has been one of health & wellness best kept secrets.  Brought to popularity by the Keto craze (and keto coffee lore) collagen really took flight in 2019 and has only continued to grow exponentially.  Whenever a supplement explodes into the mainstream consciousness, literally everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon.  While more choice is usually a good thing, when it comes to selecting a collagen supplement there are several considerations to be made, including: 

• Not all collagen supplements are created equal
• There are specific ingredients required for collagen to work
• There are several collagen types and sources all yielding different benefits and absorption
• Some added ingredients are fillers and can be detrimental
• Taste: is flavouring a good or bad thing? 

What Collagen Supplement Should You Buy?

You should be looking for a supplement that works best for you and your needs.  The industry, especially the social media marketing component, is full of hype trying to capitalize off new customers that have heard they should be taking collagen but cannot navigate between the myriad of options.  That said, attention spans are short, so the temptation to put development money into a 15 second influencer video often generates orders . . .  just look at your IG or TikTok feed!

This is EXTREMELY effective.  But we need to ask ourselves this question:  What is the purpose of the product????   It takes money to pay the influencer so just how much of an investment has gone into the actual product I’m taking? And how can you POSSIBLY explain the benefits in 20 seconds or less?

Putting a quality supplement in your body is essential to get the desired results. By the end of this article, you should have an excellent idea as to what should be in your collagen supplement to ensure uptake, what the label should state and finally what optional ingredients can take your good supplement and make it great! 

What Every ‘Good’ Collagen Supplement Should Have:

A good collagen formula must have a few simple ingredients, all having a specific purpose for the product to work or to be most effective. When shopping for your supplement, these three ‘musts’ NEED TO BE ON THE LABEL.  If they are not, keep looking! 

• Tryptophan: The addition of tryptophan completes the amino acid profile, thus making the collagen a complete protein and fully releasing the positive benefits of collagen. 

• Vitamin C: Having a good dose of vitamin C is absolutely essential in a collagen supplement; without it, collagen cannot be absorbed. 

• Hydrolyzed Collagen: The hydrolyzation process breaks down collagen into small molecular fragments to enhance absorption; so small that the peptides are measured in kilodaltons (Leon-Lopez et al 2019). This may also be shown on the label as “collagen peptides”.  

How Much and How Long Do I Need to take Collagen? 

Research shows that you can expect to take 10-15 grams per day for at least 8 weeks to see results in your hair, skin and nails.   For stronger bones, joints and ligaments, research shows you should take collagen for at least 6 months .   Here is where product quality is so critical.  If you collagen supplement is in unhydrolyzed or non-peptide state, you would need to take so much more (3-5x the amount) to absorb what you can get from a quality sourced product. 

Similar to anything health and fitness-related, consistency matters!  You must take collagen consistently to get the benefits. Your body cannot optimize the benefits of collagen supplementation without a steady stream of building blocks. So, make sure your collagen supplement provides 10 grams of hydrolyzed collagen per serving, and take it daily, not occasionally.  

Another amazing way to increase collagen intake is to also add it to your prepared foods.  Adding a scoop of collagen to your pancakes or other baked goods is a fantastic way to fortify those low-protein foods with something that is not going to impact the taste of the finished product – perfect for kids!  As alluded to earlier, adding collagen post-workout is a great way to help with recovery plus the added benefit of mixing it with whey or vegan protein adds a boost of inflammation-fighting glycine (the 3^rd amino acid found in high concentrations in collagen).  

Flavoured or Unflavoured

Some collagen supplements are flavourless, whereas others come in a variety of flavours. While we would not discourage using flavoured collagen; there appears to be more pros to flavourless and some of the more trendy brands are sacrificing quality for flavour. 

Companies focused on health and wellness avoid artificial sweeteners and flavouring; these are also the brands that focus on good quality raw materials.  Companies that market their collagen on the “best taste” or “texture” invariably have a different focus and these are the ones to really scrutinize for the key elements of product quality discussed earlier. 

Avoid These in Your Collagen Supplement:

• Fillers: Carrageenan, Magnesium stearate, Titanium dioxide, Starch, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Stearic acid, Simethicone, Vegetable gum, Talc and Propylene glycol.
• Artificial colours – these is zero need for any dyes in a product as these are a major concern to your overall health (Red Dye #40, Blue #2, Yellow #5 as examples)
• Synthetic flavours – most companies don’t list these or will have a generic “artificial flavours” hidden in the extra ingredients list
• Sweeteners – these cut into the serving size and may reduce the amount of collagen per scoop. 

In Summary and to assist in your search for a perfect Collagen product for you, here is a  Collagen Search Checklist:

• Tryptophan (essential – without it, collagen is not a complete protein)
• Vitamin C (essential – at LEAST 60mg as a base dose)
• Formula has enhancers: Antioxidants, Immune Boosters, Joint/Skin/Mood enhancers
• Type I and III - Hydrolyzed Collagen sourced from grass fed Bovine and/or Marine
• No fillers/low-grade ingredients
• 10-gram serving size
• Unflavoured - OR - if flavoured, done so naturally
• Product quality tested 

Our Recommendation:

The release of Mammoth Super7 Collagen is tremendously exciting.  Developed to be the most comprehensive all-in-one collagen formula on the market, we’ve taken the best of what is available in the market today and then innovated to really set a new bar in product quality and performance.  Here is what differentiates this collagen from anything else available, achieving the basics in our shopping list while adding a few extras, unique to this formulation:

1. Super 7 uses BOTH Bovine and Marine collagen sources in one product – this is unique as most are either Marine (more expensive) or Bovine only.
2. Added 10,000mcg of Biotin which plays a major part in maintaining the health of our hair, nails and skin.
3. Mammoth SUPER7 has undoubtedly the highest dose of Vitamin C on the market at a whopping 250mg. This is important because Vitamin C is essential for collagen absorption and depletes quickly in the body.  Good products use between 60 - 90mg while there are many with none added.
4. 250mg of added Tryptophan makes SUPER7 a Complete Protein: That means each serving provides 10 grams of protein.  Many good products offer this too, at around 100mg.
5. Hyaluronic Acid helps to hold the natural water in the body and keeps our skin, eyes, and joints hydrated.  This is unique to Super 7 and offers 120mg per serving! 
6. Zinc speeds up muscle-building chemical reactions in your body!  While a smaller dose, this is again unique to Super 7 and not found in other collagen supplements.
7. Zinc along with CoQ10 & Elderberry are proven antioxidants that protect our bodies from inflammation, muscle fatigue & muscle loss.  Once again, this combination is unique to Super 7 and the 30mg dose of CO-Q10 is significant!
8. Product Quality Assured: “iNutrition is committed to product quality. Finished product testing is conducted in-house and verified by a third-party analytical laboratory”.