If you already know what marine collagen is and just want an answer to what hydrolyzed means, then you can skip to the bottom of the article.
What is collagen?
Collagen is the most common protein in the body, and is found in everything from bones, skin, cartilage, blood vessels and gums. The word comes from the Greek word “kólla”, which means glue.
The body forms collagen itself, but as it ages, the body produces less and less. Actually, production already drops by 1-2% per year from the age of 25-30. This can be seen by the skin gradually becoming less firm and flexible. This is why we form wrinkles.
The good news is that it is probably possible to increase the body’s collagen levels, either by eating collagen-rich foods – or taking supplements that contribute to production.
In addition to collagen peptides, Nutrinic Collagen+ also contains vitamin C and zinc. Vitamin C contributes to the normal formation of collagen, which is important for normally functioning blood vessels, bones, cartilage, gums, skin and teeth. Zinc contributes to the maintenance of normal skin, hair and nails. Collagen contributes to reducing the depth of wrinkles and increasing the skin’s elasticity, firmness and glow.
The source of collagen matters
There are many types of collagen and even more sources, all of which have their own properties and qualities. Therefore, it does not matter where the collagen you consume comes from.
Two of the most common sources of collagen are bovine and marine. Bovine collagen comes from cattle, and marine collagen comes from fish.
There are several benefits of marine collagen, which we have written about in more detail in our post “Is collagen from fish (marine) better than collagen from cattle (bovine)?“
Here I will simply list what we believe to be the two most important benefits of marine collagen:
- Up to 1.5x better absorption in the body than bovine collagen
- Better for the climate: production is generally less stressful
So what does it mean that collagen is hydrolyzed?
When the body needs to absorb proteins (including collagen), it is an advantage that the protein is as small as possible. This makes it easier for the body to absorb the protein.
That is why the collagen proteins in Collagen+ are split into smaller amino acid chains via a process called hydrolysis. The fragmented amino acid chains are called peptides.
So when our collagen peptides are hydrolysed, it simply means that the already small proteins are broken down into even smaller parts, which make it easier for the body to:
- Dissolve and digest the collagen powder
- Absorb the collagen peptides into the body