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Collagen and Vitamin C: Why They Belong Together
Collagen is the body's most abundant structural protein - and vitamin C is the nutrient with the genuine, authorised role in making it. Here's the honest science, and why we pair them.
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body - the structural scaffolding of skin, bone, tendon and cartilage. It is also the supplement of the moment, which means a lot of loud claims. So let us be unusually straight about what can honestly be said, and why vitamin C is the quiet hero of the story.
What collagen is
Think of collagen as the body's rope and mortar - long, strong protein fibres that hold tissues together. Supplement collagen is usually hydrolysed (broken into small peptides so it dissolves and digests easily), and comes either from fish (marine collagen) or cattle (bovine collagen). Marine tends to be finer and is pescatarian-friendly; bovine is the traditional workhorse.
The one claim that actually counts
Here is where we part from the hype. The eye-catching collagen claims you see are generally not authorised, so we will not make them. What is authorised, and genuinely useful, is about vitamin C: vitamin C contributes to normal collagen formation for the normal function of skin, bones, cartilage, gums, teeth and blood vessels. In other words, your body cannot build its own collagen properly without vitamin C - which is exactly why a sensible collagen product includes it. That pairing is the honest reason the two belong together.
The bottle, in your hand
Our collagen is paired with vitamin C and taken daily, with water, as part of a varied diet - not instead of one. People who take it tend to be minding their general upkeep as the years pass; that describes who reaches for it, not a promise of what it does.
Honest caveats
Marine collagen comes from fish - not suitable with a fish allergy; bovine is not suitable for vegetarians or vegans, nor is collagen halal/kosher unless certified. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or on medication, check with your GP.
If you have read this far, thank you. A structural protein, a vitamin that helps the body make its own, and one honest claim between them.
- Vitadefence
— Vitadefence