The Real Story On Collagen

Back in the1990s, I worked in New York with nutritionist Oz Garcia.

- Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS

Q: Everyone seems obsessed with collagen right now. What are the benefits of this popular supplement? — Stephanie, St. Louis

A: Back in the 1990s, I worked in New York with nutritionist Oz Garcia. Oz was very cutting edge with nutritional supplement recommendations, and we had an entire dispensary filled with all kinds of high-end brands of designer vitamins, exotic nootropics from Europe, and injectables like glutathione and alpha-lipoic acid. Top-of the line stuff.

And right there on the shelf alongside these superstar supplements was a big carton of plain old Knox gelatin.

That’s right, gelatin. Like the stuff they make Jell-o from. And it was on the shelf with all the superstars because—at the time—it was one of the most powerful natural treatments we had for joint health.

The reason we used gelatin for joints was that it’s a precursor to something our joints absolutely need—collagen. And in those days, we were taught that you couldn't really take collagen supplements because they weren’t well digested, so an envelope of gelatin seemed like the only option.

But that was then.

The notion that you couldn’t digest and absorb oral collagen supplements has long since been buried on the garbage dump of wrong nutritional theories, and collagen supplements have now become, as they say, a thing.

So what’s the deal? What’s the difference between gelatin and collagen? And what’s the difference between collagen supplements for the skin and collagen supplements for the joints? And what’s up with collagen protein powder?

Glad you asked.

COLLAGEN AND GELATIN