The 7 Best Collagen Supplements Reviewed
Collagen is a protein found in our bodies. You can find it in muscles, bones, skin, and several other locations too. What you need to know about collagen is it’s like a glue to keep our body together. It even helps to reduce the signs of aging by keeping our skin together. Unfortunately, our body’s natural collagen production diminishes with age, and then it’s time to supplement.
With collagen being such an important substance to help prevent signs of aging and for joints, it’s one you will definitely want to add to your health regime. You have several options to use this potent substance, too, including cream, pills, powder, and even gummies, to make taking it simple and easy to fit into your routine. Added to your diet with the natural sources of collagen should give you an impressive jump in your skin and other body parts.
First, you need to pick the right supplement for you. We found the seven best options after hours of scouring the market to help you out. Stay on after to find out some essential information about collagen supplements and get answers to your questions. Find out what collagen has to offer you to improve your health right now.
If you are in a hurry, our pick for the best collagen supplement is XYZ Smart Collagen.
The Best Collagen Supplements
Here are our picks for the best collagen supplements:
1. XYZ Smart Collagen
XYZ Smart Collagen
You don’t have to live with sagging wrinkled skin as you can reduce the effects by boosting collagen. Improve your body’s elasticity, firmness, and even the texture to stay younger looking for longer. How do they do this? With smart active ingredients like South African Bulbine frutesens. This plant sap contains two substances scientifically proven to slow down collagen breakdown and also increase production fo collagen.
Moreover, all of the ingredients are certified organic from sustainable raw materials. Their formula is also vegan friendly and free of artificial ingredients without mineral or palm oils. Even better, the company uses cold-pressing to extract ingredients for the maximum potency of the active compounds.
In as little as 84 days, you can start to look seven and a half years younger. That’s less than three months to a new younger-looking you! To use simply apply the cream twice a day – in the morning and at night – to clean skin. Smooth the lotion over your face and neck in gentle upward strokes to get the maximum absorption. Be careful around your eyes to avoid the lower lids and tear ducts. Finally, make sure to wear sunscreen every morning to help increase the results on your skin.
2. Ancestral Supplements Grass Fed (Living) Collagen
As for ingredients, you get grass-fed cartilage from New Zealand raised bovine. The 3000 mg includes collagen from the trachea, and scapula, along with bioactive growth factors and chondrotin sulfates. The only inactive ingredient is the gelatin capsules themselves. With this supplement, you get glycine, hydroxyproline, and proline. You also get collagen types I, II, and III making it a viable source to help multiple areas of your body.
The company suggests you take six capsules per day, making a bottle a one month supply. Although, you need to gradually build-up to this dosage. As for the cows themselves, they are pasture-raised and fed grass without hormones, pesticides, and GMOs. The company also third party tests their product for optimal quality. If you love this product and want more, check out the many highly-rated products by the same brand.
3. Multi Collagen Pills by Dr. Emil Nutrition
Inside the capsule, you will find hydrolyzed bovine hide collagen peptides, chicken bone broth collagen concentrate, hydrolyzed fish collagen peptides, and eggshell membrane collagen. Furthermore, they add in the ever-popular Bioperine (black pepper extract) to help your body absorb all of the collagen. The only inactive ingredients include gelatin capsules and magnesium stearate. It’s free of GMO’s, hormones, gluten, and dairy.
As is the nature of collagen, this supplement does contain two allergens, including fish and eggs. Otherwise, a serving of three capsules provides collagens types I, II, III, V & X. This provides you the maximum benefits for anti-aging, hair, skin, nails, and bones. It can even help your digestion and gut health. Finally, the product is doctor driven and backed by science to provide you high-quality products from a USA FDA and GMP laboratory.
4. Advanced Hydrolyzed Collagen Peptides by ForestLeaf
Moreover, you get a whopping 2 pounds supply to last for 80 servings or days. The powder comes wit ha scoop to help you with the serving size. Do note, the powder can clump in cold liquids, which is why it’s better in coffee. It’s also a premium quality product from hydrolyzed bovine protein from pasture-raised and grass-fed animals. All this from an American NSF, GMP, and FDA approved facility, and they test for absorption.
Inside the powder, you get types I, II, and III collagen proteins with 10 mg per serving. The contents include pure hydrolyzed bovine collagen peptides and hydrolyzed chicken cartilage collagen. That’s it – no additives at all! It’s also naturally a source of an entire amino acid profile containing 18 different amino acids! All without allergens like sugar, gluten, dairy, nuts, soy, fish, eggs, hormones, or GMOs. Start getting all the benefits from an extremely easy to take and long-lasting supplement powder.
5. Multi Collagen Pills by Caribou Nutrition
Next, the supplements are made without GMO’s, hormones, gluten, or antibiotics. They do so in a US-based GMP certified facility. If, for some reason, you don’t fall wildly in love with the pills, you can get a full refund or replacement from this high-quality product and brand. To get the full benefit of the supplement, you need to take 3 capsules a day, making the 180 pill bottle last for a full two months, which makes it an even greater value.
The ingredients inside the bottle contain a respectable 2,000 mg of hydrolyzed bovine collagen, hydrolyzed fish collagen, and eggshell membrane collagen from chicken eggs. As for inactive ingredients, you only get the vegetable capsules and rice flour. It does contain both egg and fish but does not contain other allergens like milk, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, or soy. Start looking and feeling younger and healthier with this rich source of all five types of collagen.
6. Codeage Multi Collagen Peptides Protein Powder
The ingredients include pasture-raised hydrolyzed bovine collagen peptides, organic chicken bone broth, organic beef bone broth, hydrolyzed wild-caught fish collagen peptides, and eggshell membrane collagen. For flavor, they added Kona instant coffee, cocoa flavoring, and natural vanilla flavoring. The only allergens in the powder are fish and eggs. Also, you get a massive dose of collagen, more than any other option on the list, of 10,000 mg of collagen!
With this supplement, a single scoop constitutes a serving, and you get a full months supply. The suggested use is one scoop mixed into eight ounces of hot water and drink daily. You can drink it cold for an iced coffee too. All this from a pure and clean GMP certified facility that does third party testing No growth hormones, just grass-fed collagen ready to improve your skin, hair, nails, bones, and ligaments. Get all of the benefits with an amazing flavor!
7. Kaya Naturals Collagen Gummies
With this option, you get 100 percent hydrolyzed collagen types I and III. Even better, they taste delicious with natural strawberry flavor. The gummies, including vitamin C, biotin, selenium, and hydrolyzed collagen. Although the collagen levels are significantly lower than the other options at just 1000 mg, which is still a significant amount.
However, if you are on a keto diet or trying to avoid sugars, this is not the option for you as the inactive ingredients include glucose syrup, sugar, bovine gelatin, modified starch, citric acid, strawberry flavor, malic acid, purple carrot juice, vegetable oil, and sodium citrate. While it doesn’t have any dies, it does contain tree nuts and fish making this a source of possible allergens.
Furthermore, the gummies are third party tested from a GMP facility in the USA. A single bottle of 60 pills provides a one month supply of the supplement if you take two gummies a day. Lastly, you can improve your body and appearance for an extremely reasonable price without adding powders or pills to your daily routine.
Buying Guide for Collagen Supplements
Before buying, take a look at the many factors that can help you make an educated decision on which collagen supplement will benefit you the most. Let’s go over the ingredient, benefits, side effects, and any questions you may have.
Ingredients
Collagen is a complex protein with 19 amino acids, and it’s composed of three chains wound together for super long amino acid strands. Some of these amino acids aren’t often found in western diets because we don’t eat a lot of organ meats or bone broths, although our bodies do produce some on their own. The most prevalent amino acids found in collagen are proline, glycine, glutamine, and arginine.
If you have found a collagen supplement, you probably see types, including 1 to 5, but do you know what the types are?
Type 1 – is the easiest to find and the strongest as it’s made of eosinophilic fibers to help tendons, ligaments, organs, and skin. This type helps to form bones while holding would healing and providing elasticity to the skin.
Type 2 – helps build cartilage, making it necessary for joint health and to prevent age-related joint pain and arthritis.
Type 3 – is made of reticular fibers to help make up our organs and skin and helps to increase elasticity and firmness. You also need this to form blood vessels and tissue within the heart.
Type 4 – this collagen forms basal lamina in endothelial cells around organs, muscles, and fat. It’s necessary for blood vessels and nerve function.
Type 5 – helps make the surface of cells, including hair and tissues in the placenta. Take this one if you are pregnant if approved by your doctor.
Type 10 – helps new bones to form as well as cartilage and bone tissue.
The best sources of collagen come from cows, chicken, and fish bones. You can also get collagen from eggshell membranes, including the shell and the whites of eggs. However, because of the animal sources, collagen is not a vegan or vegetarian supplement.
Benefits
With collagen supplements, you get a whole host of benefits. For one, it can improve your skin and hair. It reduces cellulite, wrinkles, and stretch marks by improving elasticity. What you get is firmer, smoother skin that’s renewed and repaired. This powerhouse supplement even helps to strengthen your nails, hair, and teeth.
Next, collagen reduces joint pain and degeneration. As we age, our body produces less collagen, which reduces the collagen in tendons and ligaments, which leads to stiffness, swollen joints, and other problems. Taking collagen is like oiling your joints! Furthermore, collagen can help to treat leaky gut syndrome by repairing your gut lining.
Another benefit of collagen is its ability to boost metabolism, muscle mass, and increase energy. It can even improve liver health by detoxing harmful substances from your body and improving blood flow. This leads to protecting your cardiovascular health, making this a true powerhouse supplement that benefits the vast majority of your body!
Side Effects
Side effects of collagen are very rare as your body makes collagen! The only symptoms come from over-dosing or a pre-existing allergy to one of the animals. Many of the pills or powder can have a bad aftertaste that goes away in a few minutes. Otherwise, collagen is usually well-tolerated and considered safe. If you have any allergies, discuss with your doctor before taking a collagen supplement.
Questions About Collagen Supplements
Can collagen help me lose weight?
Collagen can help you lose weight as it can make you feel fuller because it’s a protein that can make you feel fuller and suppress your appetite. Moreover, collagen may help you to retain muscle mass. Both of these effects can help you to drop a few pounds while also improving your skin and other body parts. However, this is not a magic weight loss supplement but can help to be a healthy part of your weight loss routine.
How long does it take to notice a difference from collagen?
The results from collagen will not show up immediately. You may see early results in satiety, and as an appetite suppressant, but as for hair growth or tendon strengthening, it may take up to four months to see results. Although, you can start results as early as four weeks. Results vary by person as no two people are the same or have the same needs. Be patient and wait because the results just might sneak up on you!
What can damage collagen that I should avoid?
You aren’t going to like this, but the two most damaging things to your body’s collage are sugar and refined carbs. Man! Why is the whole world telling you to reduce carbs and sugar? Because they are bad for you and damage many parts of your body. Also, not getting enough sunshine can reduce collagen production as can smoking. Try to get at least 20 minutes of sunlight a day to boost productivity and increase vitamin D. Smoking is never good for anyone and should be avoided at all costs.
Conclusion
The easiest form of collagen is in the XYX Smart Collagen, as you simply need to apply it to your face and start seeing improvement in your skin in as little as three months. Pair the face cream with Ancestral Supplements Grass Fed (Living) Collagen (B07GL62CTS) to take full advantage of all of the wonderful benefits for your body internally. With this powerful combo, you can start to look and feel better for a longer, healthier life for your skin and bones plus so much more.
For more information on collagen supplements, watch this video by Dr. Dray: