It can be hard to work out what’s actually effective when it comes to collagen supplements – some claim collagen is just a glorified gelatin, others say it’s the youthful elixir that makes skin smoother and hair grow longer. Where do the most popular collagen peptides used in collagen supplements come from, and does it matter whether they’re bovine, porcine or marine?
Most powders and liquids contain bovine (sourced from cows) or porcine (sourced from pigs). This collagen is a waste product from the meat industry, so all the bits you don’t want to eat end up in these types of supplements. Even if they say they’re organic, the fact is that cows and pigs are not bred for producing collagen peptides, they’re bred to produce meat for the food industry.
Award-winning supplement brand, INGENIOUS, have discovered through clinical research, that marine collagen (from cold-water fish) is cleaner and more effective from a clinical perspective. Fish collagen is absorbed more efficiently into the body, meaning it has superior bioavailability over bovine or porcine types.
In INGENIOUS’ case, their free-swimming Tilapia fish source is bred naturally and sustainably, specifically to produce collagen peptides. This means that the food produced from them is the ‘waste product’, so here the active ingredient is produced as the primary product, not a waste product that is repurposed.
Conscious and considered, Ingenious supplements use the very finest, low Dalton weight, hydrolysed collagen peptide, which is never sourced from farmed fish – only free-swimming – to ensure ultimate quality and sustainability.