Collagen vs Collagen Boosters; What's best for your body?

Collagen is one of those suddenly everywhere buzzwords that is becoming popular by the day. Everyone wants to add a pouch of collagen powder to their smoothies and juices. But what’s important to know is that collagen and collagen boosters are two different things and have different roles to play in the body.

Collagen is a protein that is naturally found in our bodies. It has a mesh-like structure that helps in holding moisture and keeps your skin plump. It also provides structure and tensile strength to connective tissues, tendons and ligaments. Upto 60% of the human adult body is water. Water facilitates the movement of nutrients and oxygen to the cells and also helps remove toxins from the body. So, it is only natural that you need a lot of it to keep your body functioning at its best. The only problem with collagen is that its production in the body slows down as you age. This means you need an external supply of this protein to retain your body’s youthfulness.

With so many collagen supplements available in the market, it might get confusing to pick the one that’s most suitable for you. There are brands claiming to be collagen supplements when in reality, they are just a combination of ingredients that work as collagen boosters in the body. So, we decided to give you an outline of how they work and what’s best for your body.

There is a stark difference between collagen and collagen boosters. While one is literally the collagen compound similar to that found in the body, the other is more of a preserver of the body’s existing collagen and cannot be treated as collagen itself.

Collagen

Collagen is special because it contains an abundance of the three amino acids that you won’t find in meaningful amounts in many other foods (glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline). Muscular growth, joint health and an overall glowing appearance can be partially attributed to the amino acid blend in collagen that can’t be found anywhere else.

There are two types of collagen – whole collagen and hydrolyzed collagen (peptides). A whole collagen protein is difficult to break down and leaves a large portion of the material unusable.

Hydrolyzed collagen (also known as collagen peptides) is collagen that’s been broken down into more easily dissolvable amino acids, often available as a collagen powder dietary supplement.

Marine collagen derived from fish by-product or fish waste is the most sustainable and bioavailable form of collagen that you can put in your body.

Collagen boosters

First things first, collagen builders or boosters do not contain collagen. These products target vegan individuals who want to experience the benefits of collagen without ingesting collagen (derived from animal or marine sources). Collagen builders contain nutrients that support collagen production, but don’t actually contain collagen. For example, zinc activates the proteins that make collagen. Omega-3 fatty acids and hyaluronic acid are also crucial for aging and protecting existing collagen. Omega-3 fatty acids protect the fatty layer around the cells and hyaluronic acid draws in moisture. Consider these components as bubble wrap for your delicate collagen parts.

Which Collagen supplement is better for your body?

The bottom line is, there is no way to replace collagen protein in the body with a collagen booster. Do boosters help? Yes, of course, and they are vital for vegetarians and vegans. But, in order to get your body up to standard, you need to provide it with the building blocks it needs to produce collagen on its own, and that’s only through ingesting actual collagen.