Ep. #407: Collagen Protein Is a Waste of Money, Science Says

Hey there, I am Mike Matthews and this is the Muscleful Life Podcast. Welcome, welcome to another episode. This episode is going to be about collagen protein because in the last few years, this stuff has become quite the glittering moneymaker. According to some people, some gurus and experts online, collagen protein is the new fish oil, what with a long list of benefits for nearly every major part of our health and our physiologies and some of the more popular claims include reducing joint pain and improving joint health, improving the health and the appearance of your skin, hair and nails and increasing muscle growth and recovery.

And if none of that happens to tickle your processors, then what about boosting immunity? What about improving your digestion and gut health? On the other hand, however, collagen Protein detractors say that the benefits are being misrepresented, overblown, and in some cases flat out falsified. Like most supplements.

Who’s right? The short answer is this. Collagen protein is basically garbage. And I’m saying that literally, and Figure it’ll be, because while some forms of collagen may be able to offer some benefits in very specific situations, most are nothing more than low quality, but highly profitable fodder for supplement shysters to separate you from more of your hard earned cash.

And in this podcast, you’re going to learn why. This is where I would normally plug a sponsor to pay the bills. But I’m not big on promoting stuff that I don’t personally use and believe in so instead I’m just going to quickly tell you about something of mine Specifically my hugely popular and 100 percent natural pre workout supplement Pulse.

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That is enough shameless plugging for now, at least let’s get to the show. Okay. So the first question we need to ask to unravel the scam that is collagen protein is what is collagen protein? And to answer that, we first have to talk about what collagen is. And so collagen is a protein that serves as the main components of your body’s connective tissues, which means that it is the primary building block of many bodily components, including your skin, teeth, cartilage, bones, and tendons.

Now, the collagen found in collagen protein supplements comes from the connective tissues of various animals, including Cows, chickens, and fish. Now there are over 37 different kinds of collagen in animals and they can be categorized into different types. Type 1, type 2, type 3, and so forth based on their specific amino acid makeup and where they’re found in the animal’s body.

For example, type one collagen is the most abundant type of college in the human body, and it’s present in scar tissue, tendons, ligaments, skin, bones, and more. Type two collagen protects joints against damage and helps preserve their function. Type three collagen supports various organs such as the liver and bone marrow, as well as tissues in the lymphatic system.

Now, most collagen protein supplements come as a tasteless powder, and most are made up of a combination of different types of collagen that are extracted from stuff like beef skin, chicken and fish bones, and byproducts of food processing like eggshells or intestines. And the reason this stuff is so hot these days is it supposedly can help prevent or even heal all kinds of minor and even severe health issues, including joint pain, wrinkles and sagging skin, brittle hair and nails, various types of infections.

Leaky gut syndrome and more, and some people also consume collagen protein because they think it’s going to help them build muscle and recover faster from their workouts. Now instead of exhaustively examining all of the claims that are made about collagen protein, let’s just look at what the evidence has to say about the three most common and most effective selling points.

think Now, the most popular explanation for this almost miraculous feat goes like this. As you age, your joints and your other connective tissues gradually lose collagen at a rate of about one to two percent per year after the age 30. This collagen needs to be replaced if you want to remain sprightly and the easiest and most effective way to do this is to eat collagen protein.

This way your derelict damaged and collagen depleted joints can revitalize themselves by soaking up the new pristine collagen molecules you are gulping down every day. There’s also a study that is often trotted out in support of this that was conducted by scientists at Penn State University, and it involved splitting 147 college athletes with joint pain into two groups.

Group one consumed 10 milligrams of collagen protein dissolved in 25 milliliters of water every day, and group two consumed roughly the same amount of xanthan gum, a type of fiber. dissolved in 25 milliliters of water every day. Now, both groups followed their respective protocols for six months, and both before and after the researchers estimated the athletes joint health by recording a few data points.

One, how many of the athletes were taking painkillers or anti inflammatory drugs as an indicator of how much joint pain they were experiencing. Two, how many of the athletes showed signs of joint damage and to what degree, and three, which joints hurt and how much. So at the end of the study, there was no difference between the groups in terms of joint damage or anti inflammatory or painkiller usage.

But when the subjects were asked to rate their level of joint pain while performing different movements, the group taking the collagen protein reported they had slightly less pain than the group taking the placebo. Now, that is hardly anything to write home about. And especially when you consider that The following points.

One is the results were not impressive. The group that consumed collagen protein experienced slightly less joint pain than the group consuming the placebo. And on most of the tests, the researchers did, neither group fared better than the other. Another important point to note is this study was funded by Jolita Health or Jolita G E L I T A.

And this is a company that. Big Surprise makes collagen protein and also supplied the collagen protein used in the study. And while this alone doesn’t automatically invalidate the results, it’s an obvious red flag. And unsurprisingly, nearly all of the most positive studies on collagen protein of which there aren’t very many, I might add, were funded by companies who produce and sell it.

Another key point to consider with this study that we have been discussing is that there was no group in it that took a more powerful, researched drug or supplement for joint pain like ibuprofen or curcumin. And this is important because it would have helped establish the real magnitude of the collagen proteins benefits.

And based on its relatively anemic performance here, it’s very likely that the collagen protein would have been left in the dust by something already proven to work. So that’s the Penn State study. And believe it or not, that’s the strongest scientific evidence that is currently available to date. that collagen protein can help with joint pain.

There are a handful of other studies on the matter but they suffer from similar but more severe methodological flaws and simply can’t be taken seriously. Now do you know what there is a lot more evidence of though? That collagen protein does basically nothing for your joints. And to understand why, you first need to understand how collagen protein is digested in the body.

Now, as you learned a few minutes ago, collagen is a protein. All forms of collagen are proteins, including the Collagen protein that you buy as a supplement. And when you eat collagen, it is digested and it is absorbed like any other protein. And what that means is collagen that you eat is broken down into individual proteins.

amino acids, the amino acids that make it up. And some of those are used to create collagen in the body. Some of those are burned for energy. And some of those are used for many other things like creating hormones, creating tissues or repairing tissues and cells and so on. In other words, most forms of collagen protein are processed in the exact same way as protein from peas, beef, chicken.

or way. And by the time the amino acids that the collagen protein is made up of enter your bloodstream, they are indistinguishable from amino acids from any other food. Now, I said most forms because there actually is one notable exception, which we will get to in a minute. Now, this is important because it alone explains why eating collagen protein doesn’t necessarily increase the amount of collagen in your joints or regenerate it or do anything else special.

Most kinds of collagen protein simply provide the body with amino acids that may or may not be turned into collagen in your joints, depending on many different physiological factors. And in this way. Most forms of collagen protein are no more conducive to joint health and function than any other type of protein.

And even if that were not the case, even if all forms of collagen could make their way through your digestive system intact, there’s still no guarantee that this would improve joint health because there’s no telling whether the collagen proteins that have made it into your. Bloodstream again intact, not as individual amino acids, but as molecules.

There’s no guarantee that those would be used to restore cartilage tendons and ligaments or used for other things like creating glucose or constructing cells. I don’t know of any studies that have been done to investigate that, but based on what we know about human physiology, it is unlikely that infusing our blood with collagen molecules would help our joints.

The amount of collagen in your body at any given time is largely dictated by your age, activity levels, and genetics. And so it is wishful thinking that dumping collagen molecules into our blood would affect this to a meaningful degree. Another claim, often made by the collagen crooks, is that by ingesting a special blend of collagens, you can heal achy joints by Activating the collagen receptors in your body sounds fancy.

Yeah, we’re not. While it is true that many cells in the body do have collagen receptors, research shows they respond to the collagen naturally produced within the body, not. animal collagens that you’ve eaten or collagens that have been extracted from various food waste products. And consuming multiple kinds of collagen doesn’t change this either, as most are just broken down in the same way.

But wait, I hear a scumbag somewhere lying. That’s why you need my patent perpetually pending hydrolyzed collagen protein. Wrong again. Protein contains long interlocked chains of amino acids, and hydrolyzation is a process that breaks those chains down into shorter ones. In other words, hydrolyzation pre digests protein for you, which then allows your body to digest, process, and absorb it faster.

This does not change the fact that hydrolyzed proteins of any kind are still just turned into amino acids before being released into the bloodstream. In fact, and ironically, you could argue that since hydrolyzed protein is already partially digested and requires even less work to convert into amino acids, it is even less likely to survive digestion intact.

then non hydrolyzed protein. And that’s often how hydrolyzed proteins are sold. Hydrolyzed whey, for example, is often expensive. And the pitch is usually that because it’s pre digested, your body can make better use of it, can better digest process and absorb it. Meaning that for every scoop of hydrolyzed protein that you eat, you are getting a bit more amino acids than every scoop of non hydrolyzed protein.

Now it’s not true and studies show that non hydrolyzed whey performs just as well as hydrolyzed whey, but it sounds nice and it gets people to spend more on protein powders than they normally would. Anyway, getting back on track here, all of that is likely why a report written by researchers for the European Food Safety Authority concluded that, quote, a cause and effect relationship has not been established between the consumption of collagen, hydrolysate, and maintenance of joints.

And as if all that weren’t enough, here’s another reason to laugh at hydrolyzed collagen protein powders. gelatin, which is one of the Cheapest and most widely available food additives is just hydrolyzed collagen. Another name for gelatin is collagen hydrolysate, which of course is just another way of saying hydrolyzed collagen.

So on the whole, collagen protein is simply a dud for improving joint health. I did mention though that there is a form of collagen that can help joints and that is called undenatured type 2 collagen also known as UC2 collagen. Now this is the type of collagen in my joint supplement Fortify and research shows that it partially survives digestion and thus is able to exert some positive effects on joints.

How it does it, however, is not what you’d expect. Instead of rebuilding damaged joints and replenishing lost collagen and fixing cartilage, Undenatured type 2 collagen minimizes a natural but unwanted immune response in the body that gradually eats away at our joint cartilage over time. And that is a process that is known as arthritis.

Now, several studies have shown that UC2 collagen accomplishes this by teaching the immune system to stop attacking the proteins in joint cartilage, which in turn can significantly improve joint health and function and decrease or even eliminate pain and swelling. In other words, UC2 collagen allows your body to recognize its own joint collagen as a safe substance that doesn’t need to be destroyed.

And the best part about this type of collagen is that these effects have been demonstrated in people with healthy joints, as well as those with joint problems. And that is significant because it makes. Undenatured type 2 collagen, one of the only supplements known to help preserve joint health and function, as opposed to just treating joints that are already damaged or dysfunctional.

That said, there is not much research currently available on UC2 collagen. And so it’s unclear just how beneficial it really is for different kinds of joint conditions and injuries, but it’s definitely promising. It also does have a significant downside and that is that it is very expensive. And that is why most collagen supplements, including collagen protein, either contain no UC2 collagen or so little that it might as well contain none.

A good rule of thumb here, is if the ingredients of the supplement that you are considering buying the collagen supplement that you are considering buying don’t specifically list undonatured type 2 collagen or uc2 collagen as well as the amount assume that the product contains none or very little if it does list it but doesn’t give the amount all right so the summary here on collagen protein and health is that these Supplements will not improve your joint health.

They will not reduce joint pain. And the one type of collagen that can actually do something for your joints, undenatured type 2 collagen, generally is not included in collagen protein supplements because it is very expensive.

Hey, quickly, before we carry on, if you are liking my podcast, would you please help spread the word about it? Because no amount of marketing or advertising gimmicks can match the power of word of mouth. So if you are enjoying this episode and you think of someone else who might enjoy it as well, please do tell them about it.

It really helps me. And if you are going to post about it on social media, definitely tag me so I can say Thank you. You can find me on Instagram at Muscle for Life Fitness, Twitter at Muscle for Life, and Facebook at Muscle for Life Fitness. Alrighty, let’s move on to skin, hair and nail health because collagen protein is often sold as a beauty product as well.

And the spiel usually goes like this. We have the collagen loss that I spoke about earlier, the one to 2 percent per year after 30. And this not only messes up our joints, but it also makes our skin, hair, and nails ugly, dry, and brittle. And if we eat collagen protein, this boosts our body’s total collagen and thereby reverses those effects and makes us look prettier.

Now the first problem here is something that we have already touched on. Almost all of the collagen you can consume is broken down into amino acids like any other form of protein before it ever gets a chance to interact with your hair, skin, nails, or any other tissue. Thus, there is no reason to believe that collagen protein would beautify you more than any other type of protein, and no studies have shown this to be the case.

That does not mean that marketers don’t have studies to bandy about. However, people selling collagen protein often refer to a couple studies that do seem to show results. But when you look beneath the hood, you quickly realize it is just more. chicanery. For instance, two studies commonly cited are one conducted by scientists at Minerva Research Labs and another conducted by scientists at International Research Services.

Now, if you simply read the abstracts of these papers, you would probably conclude that consuming collagen protein for 8 12 weeks can decrease the appearance of dry skin, flaking, lines and wrinkles and increase the collagen and moisture content of your skin. As expected, however, there are some major problems with this research.

Namely, one, neither of the studies were blinded. In both cases, the researchers and the subjects knew exactly what was being consumed, which all but guarantees the results were influenced at least somewhat by the placebo effect. And this is especially likely in this study as the results were based mostly on subjective opinions about how the participants skin looked.

And point number two is that both of these studies were funded by the companies that manufacture the collagen protein used, Minerva Research Labs Limited and BioCell Technology LLC. Furthermore, in both cases, the scientists conducting the research were employed by the companies, which of course raises serious questions about researcher bias.

For example, in the study conducted by Minerva Research Labs, their research and development manager, Thane Aung, was allowed to help, but wasn’t listed as one of the authors. Instead, his name was hidden at the bottom of the paper in the acknowledgements section, almost like they didn’t want anyone to notice it was there.

Now, why would that be? Maybe it’s because Thane is also involved in the company’s PR and marketing, as evidenced by a puff piece that he wrote on Collagen where he claims that our skin gets thinner and drier and replenishing it is the only way to get healthy, young looking skin. We can get collagen, a protein, from fish, and it helps hair, skin, and even our mood.

But no, that can’t be why Thane wasn’t openly acknowledged as one of the authors of the paper. No, that would be a dirty conspiracy theory, and everyone knows that conspiracies rarely happen, and most everyone everywhere almost always acts as honestly and straightforwardly as possible, no matter the activity or stakes.

Another point to consider with both of the studies mentioned earlier is the researchers used some rather dubious techniques and tools to measure the appearance and collagen and moisture content of the subject’s skin. For example, improvements in skin appearance were simply based on subjective assessments by the researchers.

Yeah, her skin looks good, right? It looks better, right? And the collagen and moisture content was measured using a machine that is normally used for measuring. skins melanin content. This machine is not approved for evaluating collagen and moisture, and there’s no research showing that it is a reliable way to do either of these things.

Yet, that is the machine that researchers chose to use. And any of those three points alone would be a reason to be skeptical but when you take them together it makes it hard to take either of those studies seriously. And so the bottom line here is there is no valid evidence that collagen protein improves skin hair or nail health and there’s also no reason to think that it would or should.

All right let’s now talk about the final major selling point for collagen protein supplements. And that is muscle building that collagen protein is somehow better than other forms of protein for building muscle and for recovering from your workouts. So the best types of protein for building muscle are those that contain an abundance of essential amino acids and particularly leucine and those that are digested and digested.

Absorbed. Those are the two key factors that you need to consider. And essential amino acids are important because they are amino acids that cannot be produced by the body. They must be obtained from the food that you eat. Now, most essential amino acids, such as lysine, methionine and histidine are building blocks of muscle proteins.

And leucine is special. It is unique because it also directly stimulates muscle. Muscle protein synthesis, which is the formation of new muscle proteins. And what this means then is leucine is particularly good at kickstarting your body’s muscle building machinery. You could think of it that way. High leucine foods like beef, poultry, fish, and dairy are considered best for building muscle.

When evaluating a protein in terms of its muscle building benefits, then the first thing to look at is its amino acid profile. If it is high in essential amino acids and leucine in particular, then it’s probably going to be good for building muscle. The next thing to consider is how well the protein is digested and absorbed.

And while this is more difficult to measure, studies show that animal proteins do tend to be easier to digest and absorb than plant proteins. And this is why bodybuilding as a vegetarian or a vegan can be trickier than as an omnivore. As an omnivore, you have more high quality sources of protein. You have more options.

You can do well as a vegetarian and as a vegan, but you do have to pay special attention to the types of protein that you’re eating. Now, collagen protein is a rare exception to the animal proteins are better rule because while it is easy to digest and absorb. Its amino acid profile is severely lacking in essential amino acids necessary for muscle gain.

The three primary amino acids in collagen protein are glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline, and none of those are essential amino acids, or are required or even helpful for muscle building. Additionally, collagen is about 2. 7 percent leucine by weight, whereas beef protein is around 8 percent.

Leucine by weight and whey protein is about 10 percent leucine by weight. Collagen profiteers might retort to those points that muscle contains collagen though and this is why collagen protein can help maximize muscle growth. And to help bolster their case, they might also refer to a study that was conducted by scientists at the University of Freiburg that has made the rounds on the interwebs.

In this study, researchers divided 60 men aged 65 years or older who had experienced substantial muscle loss in the past 3 4 years as prey. into two groups. Group one consumed 15 grams of collagen protein per day, and group two consumed 15 grams of silicon dioxide, which is a safe food additive that looks similar to collagen protein, but passes through the digestive system intact.

Now, all of the participants followed a full body resistance training program that involved Three, one hour workouts per week for 12 weeks, everyone was instructed to drink the collagen or the placebo within one hour of their workouts on their training days. And at roughly the same time, they would normally finish their workouts on their rest days.

And so at the end of the study, scientists found the group that consumed. Collagen protein every day gained about 25 percent more muscle and lost about 30 percent more body fat. Wow. And that makes for a neat headline and a sexy sales pitch, but there’s actually no reason to get too excited over the results.

And here’s why. Number one, both groups were likely consuming very little protein to begin with. Now we don’t know how much protein the participants were eating before the study, which is a problem, but we do know one of the primary causes of muscle loss in the elderly is low protein and low calorie intake.

And while eating an additional 15 grams of protein per day may not seem like enough to make a difference. It might have been enough to tip the balance in favor of the group eating the collagen protein. For instance, if the collagen group’s average protein intake was just 60 grams per day, which may even be a little bit high for the average person in their mid to late 60s, bumping that intake up to 75 grams per day is a 25 percent increase.

The second reason why this study is not valid evidence that collagen protein is great for building muscle is both of the groups were severely under muscled and thus primed for muscle gain. And this would further magnify the benefits of the collagen groups increase in protein intake. And the third and final point.

is this is one of the only studies available demonstrating any such benefits and it is entirely possible, dare I say probable, that future studies may not produce the same results. And of course, let’s not forget that collagen protein does not infuse your muscles with Collagen. It infuses your blood with amino acids that may or may not be used to create collagen or muscle amino acids that can be obtained from any other source of protein as well.

So the bottom line here is collagen protein is not a good source of protein for building muscle because it is low in essential amino acids, and it is particularly low in leucine. And especially when you compare it to other much tastier and more affordable foods like beef. Fish, chicken, and whey protein.

So if all of this is true, why is collagen protein so popular? It is a red hot moneymaker because it is garbage. Literally, it is produced by boiling down, filtering, and drying the connective tissues, bones, feet, and other collagen rich parts of animals that have been discarded after butchering and.

Processing. This is stuff that would otherwise just be turned into animal feed, pet food, or fertilizer. And guess what that means? Oh, it means margins baby. Cause collagen protein is both dirt cheap to make, and it is in very high demand right now by consumers who have been misled into wanting it. And thus it is extremely profitable.

And I’m talking about a cost of maybe 10, 000. 5 a bottle that you can sell for anywhere from 40 to 60 a bottle. And that is why so many gurus and experts have hopped onto the collagen protein bandwagon and intend on riding that sucker until the wheels fall off to wit. People spent about a hundred million dollars on collagen protein supplements and foods in 2017 and experts are expecting that to surpass 250 million by 2021.

And if that sounds a bit cynical to you welcome to the supplement industry, my friend, which is brimful of cheats, charlatans, and crazies perpetrating all. Manner of shams and scams to scratch their forever itchy palms. And that’s why I’m the guy who sells supplements, but also regularly tells people things like you don’t need supplements, period.

Whatsoever, you can reach all of your health and fitness goals with just a diet and exercise alone. I also tell people that no amount of pills or powders are going to change your life supplements are supplemental by definition and can never replace the need for proper eating and exercising. I’ll also tell people that many.

Of the most popular supplements on the market, like collagen protein, do absolutely nothing and are not even worth the bottles they are sold in. And if you want to learn more about what is wrong with the supplement industry and what I’m doing about it, what I’m doing differently, check Head over to legionathletics.

com and poke around. Check out the truth, for example, which is one of the menu options. So where does all this leave us regarding collagen protein? If you ask me, it is a scam. It is a low quality protein supplement that does not work as advertised. And the primary reasons it is so popular are it’s cheap to produce and easy to use.

To market don’t buy collagen protein and do not follow the advice of anyone who says you should immediately unfollow them on Instagram. And I would say do not buy anything from someone or from a company that sells collagen protein because they are either ignorant. Or they are full of shit. The only type of collagen worth swallowing is undenatured type 2 collagen.

And that you will not find in any appreciable amount in any of the popular collagen protein supplements because it is very expensive to produce and to buy. Hey there, it is Mike again. I hope you enjoyed this episode and found it interesting and helpful. And if you did, and don’t mind doing me a favor and want to help me make this the most popular health and fitness podcast on the internet, then please leave a quick review of it on iTunes or wherever you’re listening from.

This not only convinces people that they should check the show out, it also increases its search visibility. So And thus helps more people find their way to me and learn how to build their best bodies ever too. And of course, if you want to be notified when the next episode goes live, then just subscribe to the podcast and you won’t miss out on any of the new goodies.

Lastly, if you didn’t like something about the show, then definitely shoot me an email at Mike at muscle for life. com and share your thoughts on how you think it could be better. I read everything myself and I’m always looking for constructive feedback. So please do reach out. All right, that’s it. Thanks again for listening to this episode and I hope to hear from you.

And lastly, this episode is brought to you by me. Seriously though, I’m not big on promoting stuff that I don’t personally use and believe in. So instead, I’m going to just quickly tell you about something of mine.