Are you looking to take collagen but you don't know which form is best - powder, pills, gummies or liquids? This article aims to inform and empower you to make the right choice of collagen for you. Consider four key elements:
- Collagen ingredients – pure or with nasties?
- Value for money – are you getting the biggest bang for your buck?
- Absorption and efficacy – you want your collagen to work, right?
- Collagen company ethics – nobody likes being lied to!
So, let's demonstrate how and why collagen powder is head and shoulders the best form of collagen for you to take.
Collagen Powder vs Pills, Liquids & Gummies at a Glance
To discover how Edible Health’s collagen powder is “stronger, cheaper, bigger, purer”, check out our comparison against other leading collagen liquid, capsule and gummy brands.
STRONGER
Average daily serving of collagen:
- Edible Health Collagen Powder - 13,000mg / 13 grams
- Liquid Collagen - 8,000mg / 8 grams
- Collagen Capsules - 1,000mg / 1 gram
- Collagen Gummies - 1,00mg / 0.1 gram
CHEAPER
Cost per gram of collagen:
- Edible Health Collagen Powder - 5p for bovine, 8p for marine
- Liquid Collagen - 63p
- Collagen Capsules - 40p
- Collagen Gummies - 53p
BIGGER
Total collagen per purchase and number of days’ supply:
- Edible Health Collagen Powder - 400-grams for 30 days
- Liquid Collagen - 112-grams for 14 days
- Collagen Capsules - 45-grams for 45 days
- Collagen Gummies - 3-grams for 30 days
PURER
Other Ingredients:
- Edible Health Collagen Powder - Nothing else - just 100% pure collagen
- Liquid Collagen - Water (from unverified sources), preservatives, sweeteners, flavourings
- Collagen Capsules - HydroxyPropyl MethylCellulose capsules, anti-caking agents, carriers (often maize/corn starch), gluconate, Potassium iodide
- Collagen Gummies - malt syrup, sugar, sweeteners, acids, flavourings, glazing agents, yeast, colourings, acidity regulators.
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We know that you are ‘brain-on’ health enthusiasts who don’t just want the latest Z-list celeb gimmick. We know you want straight-forward, natural ways to feel and look good without compromising your conscience or values.
At Edible Health, we’re for the people who want a natural source of collagen, not nonsense.
We’re about kick-ass collagen that offers wellness for the wise.
So, if you’re after some more wisdom, then we’d be delighted to empower you with even more details so that you, the customer, can make informed purchasing decisions, whether it’s an Edible Health purchase or not.
1.Collagen Product Ingredients - With Or Without Additives
Edible Health Powder Ingredients
All of our collagens, whether pure or blends, are free from sugar, soy, gluten, dairy, lactose, steroids, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and artificial preservatives and sweeteners. They are also certified free from heavy metals and are BSE safe, as well as being Kosher, Halal and WADA compliant. We have all the certificates to prove this and will happily share. Just ask!
Due to our purity and commitment to all-natural, our powders are all suitable for Keto, Paleo, Whole30 and fasting lifestyles.
We work with a state-of-the-art manufacturer to create the best quality, fully accredited collagen available on the market. They are fully certified to the strictest EU and US regulations and, once again, we are happy to provide proof of this. And, whilst this type of quality comes at a cost, we will never compromise quality for price. Cheap collagen is cheap for good reason, and we refuse to risk the health of our customers for the sake of a wider profit margin.
Edible Health Collagen Powder Ingredients Are Sustainable
Our plain bovine and marine collagen powders are made entirely from sustainable cow hide and fish skin respectively. Our blends contain not only our pure bovine collagen but are also combined with 100% natural, super nutrients, chosen specifically for their known health benefits and their synergy with collagen.
Collagen Liquids, Pills & Gummies Ingredients
As mentioned earlier, quite simply, the very nature of other forms of collagen such as liquids, pills, capsules or gummies, requires additives.
Look for ingredients such as water (often contaminated and/or unfiltered), preservatives, flavourings and sweeteners. When it comes to the latter, stevia is often touted as an all-natural, healthy alternative to sugar. However, some researchers believe there is not yet enough evidence-based research to provide a total understanding of how stevia might affect the body.
2. Value For Money
Average Daily Serving
People often wonder is 1,000mg of collagen enough? Edible Health's pure hydrolysed collagen powder recommended daily serving is 13,000mg (13 grams), of which 100% is collagen.
Liquids and shots typically contain 5,000-8,000mg (5-8 grams), and capsules are rarely more than 1,000mg (1 gram).
Gummies are often under 50mg - that’s 260 times less collagen per serving!
Average Daily Price
Based on our website price per tub of £20.95 for the bovine and £30.50 for the marine, Edible Health collagen costs just 70p and £1 respectively.
In contrast, shots, capsules and gummies do not provide the equivalent amount of pure collagen per serving. As a result, they cost substantially more when examined on a cost-per-serving basis. For example, a 30 day bottle of gummies with only 50mg of collagen per serving requires you to spend £113 PER DAY to get the same 13 grams of collagen!
Make sure you do the maths to ensure you’re getting the biggest bang for your buck!
How Long Does a Single Purchase Last?
A single purchase of our 400g tub will last 30 days, in contrast to a single purchase of liquid collagen sachets, which will typically only last 10-14 days.
Although pills and gummies may last longer, as mentioned above, they provide a significantly lower serving of pure collagen across the duration of use.
A bottle of capsules or gummies may last 60-90 days, but you would need 26 capsules or over 260 gummies to get the same amount of collagen that you would from a 13,000mg serving of our powder. So, the bottle would only last 2 - 4 days for the same sized serving.
3. Absorption and Efficacy
How Does Collagen Work?
The ease with which the body absorbs food and fluid from the gut is referred to as bioavailability.
All our products are premium-grade, ultra-fine powders designed to be quickly and easily absorbed into the bloodstream.
Many collagen brands will try to tell you that the molecular weight of collagen (how big the collagen molecules are) determines the rate of absorption. We also believed this. However, due to the market-leading research of our supplier, we now know this not to be true; molecular weight does not impact efficacy or speed of absorption.
Similarly, the collagen cowboys will claim that marine collagen is absorbed more quickly than other collagen sources (eg marine versus bovine). This, too, is pulling your leg. Hydrolysed collagen is absorbed at the same rates, regardless of molecular weight and source of collagen.
Collagen Liquid Is Not Absorbed Faster Than Collagen Powder
They may also try to tell you that liquid collagen is absorbed faster than powder. Well, on the basis that ALL collagen starts life as powder taking pure collagen powder and adding it to your own smoothie, juice or coffee is no different to taking the collagen in their pre-made liquid, although yours will be much healthier than theirs without all those nasties and sweeteners!
Even if you add collagen to food, this does not change the rate of absorption. The speed at which the collagen protein is digested and absorbed in the small intestine is unaffected by food. It is, however, influenced by the microbiome, digestive enzymes and other factors such as gut health, medicines, stress or illness.
Collagen Quality Impacts Absorption
What’s more significant about absorption is the quality and quantity of what is absorbed.
If the collagen is not manufactured to a high enough standard, the protein molecules (called peptides) may not be broken down very well which may result in them not getting fully broken down in the digestive tract.
In addition, the collagen may contain various contaminants and possibly be unsafe due to the presence of chemicals, hormones, bacteria, BSE or heavy metals. Collagen from some parts of the world has been found to contain traces of other animals in it (dog and horse collagen has been found in cheap cow collagen).
4. Brand Ethics
We finish with what should be one of the most important factors when selecting the right nutritional supplements for your well-being - brand ethics.
You are relying on collagen to support and deliver health outcomes for you and, in some cases, perhaps members of your family and/or friends. Few things are more valuable in life than our health.
Getting the benefits of collagen shouldn’t come with compromises to values, conscience, quality and convenience.
Fancy marketing tactics and misleading information persuading you to part with your pennies is exploitation - plain and simple!
No wonder you may be feeling confused, overwhelmed or disillusioned with it all.
Well, this annoys the hell out of us at Edible Health and it needs to stop. We were buyers long before we were sellers and, because supplements nearly killed our founder, we’re here to shine a light on these charlatans.
And one of the most ridiculous things being said about collagen right now is that liquid collagen is better than powder collagen.
Well, here’s a great big B and S to that!
As part of our collagen mythbusting series, we’re calling out the collagen cowboys.
We’re unapologetically setting the standard in collagen. Health - of ourselves and our planet – isn’t built on toxic shortcuts. Neither are we.
So, it’s time to stick our necks out, shout out loud and start standing up for all you customers out there, check out our Collagen Code for more information.
When purchasing collagen, ask yourself these questions first:
Company related
- Is there an About Us available on the company website and does it really explain who is behind the business, and what they stand for?
- Can the company provide evidence of their statements? For example, their approvals from independent bodies?
- Does the company claim their collagen is “grass fed” suggesting 100% grass fed? If so, can they prove 100% grass fed as we don’t believe this is truly possible (see our FAQ).
- Are the company making any other dubious, unsubstantiated or illogical claims to sell their product eg: Marine absorbs better than collagen (which is like saying a burger would absorb better than a piece of fish). Your body can only absorb 8 grams of collagen at any one time (which is the same as saying you can only absorb 8 grams of protein at a time - better not eat that 250-gram piece of steak then, eh?!). Collagen is destroyed by heat (the manufacturing process requires heat so, if this were true, then no collagen would work!)
- Is the company actually located in the UK?
Product related
- Is the pricing consistent and not always being manipulated with discounts and special offers?
- Are all the ingredients easily identifiable? Are there any names that sound unusual or unnatural?
- Are the labels clear and compliant detailing any possible allergens and not making any unauthorised health claims?
- Is the packaging user friendly?
- Has it been sealed airtight?
- Does it consider people with disabilities or impaired movement? Certain packaging can be hard to open or reseal.
- Does the company say their collagen is made in the UK? If so, this is not true as there are no collagen manufacturers currently based in the UK.
Customer related
- Do the customer reviews appear legitimate upon closer inspection?
- Does the company provide contact details?
- How responsive are they to customer questions?
- Can you view responses to questions and, if so, does the company provide comprehensive answers that demonstrate compassion towards people?
It is increasingly important that consumers - all of us - become aware of how products and brand stories are marketed to us because sadly, the industry is not without its opportunists; brands that just want to make sales and provide an inferior product in order to turn a profit.
We welcome any questions you may have, and we hope this information is useful to you.
The information we have provided herewith, and all linked materials, are not intended nor should they be construed as medical advice. Moreover, the information herewith should not be used as a substitute for professional medical expertise or treatment. Please refer to our Terms and Conditions and consult your General Practitioner for advice specific for you.
