How to choose the best collagen that suits your needs

In the recent years, there are many studies and talks around the world on how collagen is hailed as the secret to slow aging and youthful looking skin. However, have you ever wondered how does collagen work its wonders and why we need it?

In essence, collagen is like “glue” that sits in the middle of your skin which helps to restore and renew dead skin cells. Collagen is also found in bones, muscles, ligaments and blood vessel. There are largely three main types of Collagen (I, II and III) with Type I making up to 90% of our body, making it the most important one for skin, hair and nails. The body’s collagen production declines with exposure to UV light and age, with our skin producing 1-2% less collagen for each year of age after 30. Women also experience a significant decrease in collagen production after menopause. Another major culprit of collagen breakdown is sugar, which is prevalent in almost all the food and drinks we take every day. Sugar causes our skin to lose its elasticity and becomes stiff. All these lead to premature signs of aging such as wrinkles, deep crevices, fine lines, saggy skin, larger pores and skin dryness. Not only that, many people also experience brittle hair and nails.

If the above is getting you worried, it’s not too late to start taking collagen to fix this but we’d like to shed some light on what makes a good (both in substance and value) collagen supplement. With so many collagen products available in the market, it’s very easy to fall prey to the marketing tactics employed. 

The following are the factors to consider to truly find out what makes a good collagen suitable for you:

Optimal Dosage

In order to receive the optimal results, a minimum of 5g of collagen is recommended. The reason we recommend a dosage of at least 5g is because most clinical trial results of collagen have been proven to be effective at dosages above 5g with 8g being optimal.

Price per g

At Maeraki, we see a collagen as good value if the dollar per gram of collagen you are paying for is not above $0.4 and the collagen per serve recommended by it is above 5g. For $ per gram, a quick formula is to divide the price of the product over its entire collagen weight (e.g. $59.95 / 90g = 0.67).

To illustrate this, Maeraki compared about at least 20 other collagen brands in the market that are in powder form and a combination of marine and bovine collagen. The result is the below chart, with the best value driven products in our opinion are in the bottom right quadrant (purple highlight). These are ones where you’re paying a fair price for each gram of collagen you’re taking while getting the necessary amount of collagen you need per serve.

Marine vs bovine

Marine and bovine are the main two types of collagen you’ll find in the market. We have a strong preference for marine collagen because it is highly concentrated in type I collagen compared to bovine which makes it especially perfect for people looking to use collagen for the benefits of skin, hair and nails. Marine also makes it possible to pescatarians or those who don’t want to eat meat to get their collagen intake. Not only that, marine is arguably more transparent and environmentally friendly compared to bovine. For example, our Radiance only uses fish skin from wild caught fishes so you can rest assure that the collagen is pure and free from pollutants. With bovine, it can be tricky as most bovine collagen are made from the bones but may also include other by products which are not disclosed.

Synergizing ingredients

These days, with increased coverage on collagen there is increasing awareness that collagen is best taken with other supplements such as Vitamin C which further amplifies collagen production and improves hydration. It is highly recommended to find collagen products that have at least added Vitamin C in its formula as this will ensure you get optimal collagen benefits. With our Radiance, we’ve gone to take the extra few miles by adding Vitamin C, Lycopene and Aloe Vera. This helps to further accelerate skin healing, protect from UV light damage and boost collagen production.

Bioavailability

Our body can only absorb if the molecules are small enough so in general the lower the molecular weight (Dalton) the higher the bioavailability and also make sure it is hydrolysed in order for a direct absorption. This is also one of the reasons why marine is viewed to be superior to bovine as marine is more bioavailable. Look out for this when you are looking at collagen products as this will usually go along the lines as “…with a molecular weight of 3000 Dalton”. Our Radiance is made from 2000 Dalton marine collagen which is lower than most of what is in the market at 3000 Dalton, making it more superior in bioavailability compared to others.

Discover our best seller, Radiance which provides high concentration, 8g of marine collagen, made from skin only wild caught fishes at only 2000 Dalton, one of the finest in the world supercharged with Vitamin C, Lycopene and Aloe Vera for the youthful skin you’ve been desiring. Start being in control of your body!

Written by Maeraki team.