Here’s What You Need to Know About Plant-Based Collagen

In the last year or two, there has been a noticeable shift towards plant-based diets. More people are singing the virtues of eating less animal product and are instead increasing the number of plant substitutes on their plates (Think tofu and tempeh burgers, mushroom patties instead of beef patties and plant-based milk such as Oat, Almond and macadamia milk).

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So it only makes sense that there would also be an interest in plant-based collagen supplements. We’ve spoken with Madeline Calfas, Nutritionist, Naturopath and Founder of The Wellness Group to understand how plant-based collagen work and the difference between animal-based collagen.

How Effective is Vegan Collagen in Comparison to Animal-based Collagen? is collagen vegan?

Collagen supplements are designed to help improve your skin’s ability to increase plumpness and skin elasticity. This helps to decrease fine lines and wrinkles (we definitely want as few of those as possible) and gives your skin that beautiful dewy appearance. But why do we need to supplement in the first place? It’s a sad fact that as we age, our skin matrix starts to deplete.

Collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid start to slow down their production, and this is what starts the downward spiral of our skin. Lines that used to only be there when you laughed or cried suddenly start to be there all the time. Cellular turnover starts to slow down, and we may notice a build-up and thickening of the skin, which begins to make our skin look a little duller and not quite as radiant as it was when we were younger. By adopting a great skincare regime, we can begin to slow this process down.

However, as we all know, what happens on the outside of our bodies must also be supported by what’s going on on the inside of our bodies. This is where a collagen supplement really gets its moment in the sun (wearing an SPF 50+ of course)

• Collagen is made up of 19 different amino acids and accounts for around 30% of all your body’s protein. That’s quite a hefty piece of us, so it stands to reason that it is something that we really want to support.

• Collagen is part of your skin, bones, tendons, muscles and intestines, and is essentially responsible for keeping everything in it’s place. So much for than just for beauty reasons, we want to maintain our collagen to also ensure our gut and joint health is optimal, and that we feel as good as we look!

• A good collagen supplement will also contain vitamin C and minerals as well to help your body produce collagen. Including whole foods such as kiwi fruit, lemon, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, guava and oranges into a collagen supplement will help ensure your body has what it needs to get the collagen-production ball rolling.

• Most animal-based collagens are exactly that – collagen powders that are literally made from animals. Marine collagens are similar – they are derived from marine animals, and are designed for you to take them to increase your own collagen levels.

The Negatives to an Animal-based Collagen, vegetarian collagen

The negatives to animal-based collagen are that they can often contain pesticide, hormones, antibiotics and industrial chemical remnants. How? Because whatever was used on the animal during its life is stored in the cells, and then passed on to you. If the animal was given antibiotics just before it died, then it is entirely possible that the antibiotics used will still be present in the tissue when it is processed into collagen powder. It stands to reason then that you need to be very choosy about your source of animal-based collagen and opt for organic, hormone and pesticide-free varieties.

Vegan Collagen vs Animal-based Collagen

Plant-based or vegan collagens work in a different way to animal-based. They are actually not made from collagen. Rather, they are designed to provide all the ingredients to help your own body to make MORE collagen.

Think of them more like collagen peptide builders. Your body gets given the pieces and then has to put them all together. It would actually be more accurate to say plant-based collagen isn’t actually a collagen supplement, but rather a collagen- induction support supplement. By including plant-based ingredients that contain collagen-stimulating ingredients (think biotin, trace minerals, silica, vitamin C and rice peptides), you are actually making your body produce more collagen rather than just relying on taking a supplement to, well, supplement what is missing.

A lot of ingredients you will usually find in plant-based collagens include sea buckthorn (a plant that is known to actually contain ten-times the amount of vitamin C when compared to oranges), spirulina, kale and spinach (dark green leafy vegetables that also have high vitamin c levels, as well as vitamin A and calcium), trace minerals such as silica and selenium, antioxidants (to help protect against free radical damage), hyaluronic acid derived from mushrooms and rice peptides (peptides are short-chain amino acids that are the building blocks of proteins such as collagen, elastin, keratin and hyaluronic acid).

How to Choose a Good Vegan Collagen

Similarly to animal-based collagen supplements, you want to be really particular with which brand you choose. Ensuring that you have a brand that is certified organic, and sourced ingredients that are non-GMO, pesticide and chemical-free will make all the difference when it comes to minimising your body’s exposure to these unwanted additives.

Ultimately using a vegan collagen supplement will work better for someone who would like to maintain their collagen levels as it makes your body do its own work. An animal-based supplement is generally better when someone already has a lot of repair work to be done, and so it would generally be recommended to start with animal-based collagen to fix and repair, and then move onto plant-based collagen once you are in maintenance mode. 

It is important to remember though that NO supplement, animal or plant-based, can do anything to undo a sketchy lifestyle. Ensuring you sleep well, get regular exercise, eat well and keep well hydrated is just as essential (if not more so) than relying on a supplement.

Our Collagen Powder of Choice!

Imbibe Protect

Includes: Superfruit Juice Powder, Natural Flavour, L- Glycine, Organic Camu Camu Fruit Powder, L-Glutamine, Monk Fruit Juice Powder, Schisandra Berry Powder, Organic Reishi Mushroom Powder, Zinc Citrate.

Price: $75