A must-have in every woman’s self-care routine and diet.

Have you heard the buzz surrounding collagen? It seems everyone is talking about it and raving about its benefits for your skin, nails, joints, and more. There’s certainly a lot of research regarding collagen supplementation and what it can do for your body…but there’s honestly so much that it can be overwhelming sometimes!

That’s why I’ve compiled this report. To help you sift through all of the information out there and truly understand collagen — what it is, why you need it, how to get more, and what to look for in a supplement…because I don’t know about you, but I’m not eating bone marrow or cooking animal carcasses for days. I need something convenient and quick!

What Is Collagen Supplement Powder?

Collagen powders are made by extracting the collagen in animal hides, bones, and cartilage into a fine powder.

Collagen powders are a simple and convenient way to add more collagen to your diet. This is especially important for anyone over the age of 30 — since natural collagen production in the body starts to slow by the time we reach our second decade of life. (1)

As collagen production slows, we start to notice things like drier skin and mucus membranes. We also may experience a reduction in bone density and an increase in joint pain. (2)

What Are The Benefits Of Collagen Supplement Powder?

1. A Stronger, Tighter Pelvic Floor – Supplementing with collagen powder is important for the health of your pelvic floor. This is because women with stress urinary incontinence and prolapse have decreased collagen levels — both in their vaginal and pelvic floor tissues. (3-9) 

2. Glowing Skin – Collagen powder also has a reputation for helping your skin glow from within. This is because your skin is made up of 70-80% collagen. (10) Studies indicate that collagen supplementation can improve the skin’s elasticity. (11) 

3. Improved Gut Health – Your gut health is an important part of your overall health, and collagen supplements could help improve digestive symptoms and reduce bloating. (12,13)

4. Feeling Stronger – Collagen is also a protein that is a large part of muscles. (14) Studies suggest that when combined with a strength training fitness routine, collagen supplementation could help increase muscle strength and body composition. (15)

5. Less Joint Pain + Stiffness – Adding a bit of extra collagen to your diet could reduce joint pain. Research indicates that collagen supplement powders could help reduce joint pain like that associated with arthritis. (16,17,18) Collagen supplements have also been investigated for helping to alleviate foot pain in those with Achilles tendon injuries. (19)  

6. Stronger Bones – While collagen is famous for the role it plays in your skin, it also is a primary component of bones. You probably know that as you age, women’s bones can become fragile and brittle — a condition known as osteoporosis. (20) Studies suggest that collagen supplementation could improve bone mineral density. (21,22,23)

What Most Collagen Brands Get Wrong – They Don’t Have A Complete Protein Profile 

Most collagens aren’t complete proteins. This can be problematic since amino acid mixtures that are “incomplete” or missing tryptophan are often used to lower serotonin levels in studies about anxiety and depression. (24,25)

Collagens that do not include the amino acid l-tryptophan could make you feel anxious or even prevent you from sleeping.

They Add In Vitamin C  – Vitamin C is what’s called a “cofactor” for collagen synthesis within the body. In other words, vitamin C is necessary for the body to create collagen. However, many manufacturers add vitamin C to their collagen powder formulation to disguise a lower-quality product. What’s worse is that vitamin C is a known bladder irritant, so many women find they can’t take these types of collagen powders without compromising their bladder health. (26) 

Furthermore, it’s unnecessary since natural, non-acidic dietary sources of vitamin C do not irritate the bladder. (27) And normal levels of dietary vitamin C consumption are sufficient for your body to manufacture collagen.  

Heavy Metal Contamination – In a recent study by the Clean Label Project, 64% of collagen supplements contained arsenic. 17% had cadmium, and about one-third were contaminated with lead. This is why it’s so important to find a collagen that is third-party tested for quality and purity. (28)

What to Look For In A Collagen Supplement Powder – As you can see, not all collagens are created the same! Let’s take a look at what makes a great collagen powder.

Types of Collagen – First, it’s important to make sure that your collagen powder includes collagen types:

– Type I
– Type II
– Type III
– Type V
– Type X

While there are nearly 30 different types of collagen in the body — these five are the most well-studied and the most important for your pelvic floor, skin, muscles, joint pain, gut health, and bones. If you find a supplement powder that’s missing one of these types, keep looking.

Source of Collagen – Where the collagen in your supplement powder comes from is just as important as what types are included in the formula. There are certain sources of collagen that are often sourced from inferior sources — like marine, fowl, or pork collagen. 

The best and highest quality source of collagen is bovine (from cows).

Additional Ingredients – Earlier, I discussed how certain formulators add vitamin C to their collagen powders. What this does is help disguise lower-quality collagen. Be very careful and ensure that your supplement powder is made from collagen (plus tryptophan for a complete protein profile) and isn’t full of fillers or other dangerous irritants.

Quality and Purity – Sadly, many manufacturers cut corners with their collagen powders. Be sure that any collagen supplement you buy contains trademarked and studied raw material ingredients. You also want to ensure that any collagen you use has been tested by an accredited lab to confirm the absence of:

• Heavy metals: lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic
• Micros: plate count, yeast, mold, e.coli, salmonella, and s.aureus
• Oxidative markers
• Pesticides

Who Can’t Use Collagen Powder? – Collagen powders are generally regarded as quite safe and very few side effects are reported. (29)

However, unfortunately for vegans and vegetarians — collagen powders are by definition, animal products.

What Are The Drawbacks Of Collagen? – Here’s the trouble with collagen — once your body stops making it, you’ve got to supplement with it daily. In order to really see the benefits, you’ve got to take it regularly.

The Only Collagen Made Specifically For Women – While there are many collagen powders on the market, there’s only one that was made specifically with you in mind.

And, Total Fem Collagen is the ONLY collagen supplement powder in the world that can boast:

• Plentiful bovine collagen in the most important types for your skin, bones, and pelvic floor (I, II, III, V, X)

• A complete protein profile — so there’s no chance of it causing anxiety

• ZERO vitamin C…since vitamin C can irritate your bladder

• Trademarked and studied raw ingredients

• Thorough third-party testing by an accredited lab so you know for sure it’s not contaminated with any heavy metals or mold (believe it or not, this is NOT standard practice in the supplement world!)

Total Fem Collagen is the highest-quality collagen powder you’ll ever find, and it’s the only formula designed specifically with women’s needs in mind. 

Click here to learn more.

References:

1. “Decreased Collagen Production in Chronologically Aged Skin – PMC.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1606623/.
2. “Collagen Supplements for Aging and Wrinkles: A Paradigm Shift in ….” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8824545/. 
3.  “Pelvic floor disorders: linking genetic risk factors to biochemical ….” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21883823/.
4. “Association between pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary ….” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24940435/. 
5.  “Collagen content of nonsupport tissue in pelvic organ prolapse and ….” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14710077/.
6.  “Collagen metabolism and turnover in women with stress urinary ….” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12054187/. 
7. “Young women with genital prolapse have a low collagen ….” https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/j.0001-6349.2004.00438.x.
8.  “Collagen changes in pelvic support tissues in women with pelvic ….” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30710765/. 
9. “Vaginal Fibroblastic Cells from Women with Pelvic Organ … – Nature.” 11 Mar. 2016, https://www.nature.com/articles/srep22971.
10. “Aging of the skin connective tissue: how to measure the biochemical ….” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8043384/.
11. “Oral Collagen Supplementation: A Systematic Review of … – PubMed.” 1 Jan. 2019, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30681787/.
12. “Effect of a Daily Collagen Peptide Supplement on Digestive … – NCBI.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9198822/.
13. “Collagen peptides ameliorate intestinal epithelial barrier dysfunction ….” 22 Mar. 2017, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28174772/. 
14. “Biochemistry, Collagen Synthesis – StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf.” 12 Sep. 2022, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507709/. 
15.  “Collagen peptide supplementation in combination with resistance ….” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4594048/.
16. “Collagen supplementation as a complementary therapy for … – SciELO.” https://www.scielo.br/j/rbgg/a/fk95TfhxB7mPsmqYRDdHH8K/?format=pdf&lang=en. 
17. “Effect of collagen supplementation on osteoarthritis symptoms.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30368550/.
18. “The effects of collagen peptide supplementation on body … – NCBI.” 7 Sep. 2021, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8521576/. 
19. “Oral Supplementation of Specific Collagen Peptides Combined with ….” 2 Jan. 2019, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30609761/.
20. “Osteoporosis – StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf.” 4 Sep. 2022, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441901/. 
21. “A calcium-collagen chelate dietary supplement attenuates bone loss ….” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25314004/. 
22. “Specific Collagen Peptides Improve Bone Mineral Density … – NCBI.” 16 Jan. 2018, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5793325/. 
23. “Collagen supplementation as a complementary therapy for … – SciELO.” https://www.scielo.br/j/rbgg/a/fk95TfhxB7mPsmqYRDdHH8K/?format=pdf&lang=en.
24. The effect of acute tryptophan depletion on mood and … – PubMed.” 19 Oct. 2013, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24142202/.
25. “Pharmacokinetics of acute tryptophan depletion using a … – PubMed.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18683016/. 
26. “Dietary Consumption Triggers in Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain ….” https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221978643_Dietary_Consumption_Triggers_in_Interstitial_CystitisBladder_Pain_Syndrome_Patients. 
27. “IC-Friendly Fruits and Vegetables – Interstitial Cystitis Association.” https://www.ichelp.org/living-with-ic/interstitial-cystitis-and-diet/elimination-diet/ic-friendly-fruits-and-vegetables/.
28. “Collagen White Paper – Clean Label Project.” https://cleanlabelproject.org/collagen-white-paper/
29. “A Collagen Supplement Improves Skin Hydration, Elasticity … – NCBI.” 17 Oct. 2019, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6835901/.

Medical Disclaimer:
The information provided on this blog is intended for general knowledge and educational purposes only. It is not intended as medical advice and should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your doctor or other qualified healthcare providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read on this blog. The author and publisher of this blog are not responsible for any adverse effects or consequences resulting from the use of any suggestions, products, or procedures mentioned in this blog.