There are many ways in which you can boost your collagen production by taking supplements. Two of the most popular type of supplementation are liquid form and pills. We explore the differences and reveal which is best.
Boosting your collagen can help you in so many ways.
It can ease stiff joints, it can improve the texture and strength of your hair, and of course it can smooth and add much needed hydration and elasticity to ageing skin, reducing those hated fine lines and wrinkles.
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Is Taking Collagen In A Liquid Form Better Than Pills?
We already know that diet plays a huge part in collagen production, but whats the best way to take it in supplement form?
This article looks at the differences between liquid and pill based supplements.
It has been shown that between 85-90% of the nutrients contained in a liquid supplement is absorbed within 30 seconds of taking.
Collagen Drink or Pill?
Collagen can be supplemented in many forms (1), you can take pill based supplements, use collagen boosting creams, serums and lotions, whats more you can also buy it in liquid form where you drink it straight (like a shot), or add it to coffee and other drinks.
At A Glance Facts
- The body is not required to break down liquid supplements which means that nearly all of the nutrients contained are more likely to be absorbed directly into the system
- Capsules or tablets need to processed and broken down in the digestive system first, so they can enter the stomach in liquid form.
- Supplements in liquid form are usually assimilated in around 4 minutes, where as pills and capsules take up to 30 minutes to break down before the body can even start assimilating them.
Science has find that usually around 98% of any liquid supplement gets absorbed and actually gets to work in our body,
- This is a massive difference to pills and capsules that only tend to be absorbed by the body at the rate of between 39 and 53%, effectively wasting the rest which leave the body as waste products.
- For nutrients contained in a supplement to actually get to work in our cells, they need to be suspended in a solution.
- By taking Collagen ( or in fact any supplement) in liquid form, you are going to see more of the key nutrients actually reach the cells where are needed, and the results should naturally be far better.
Should I Take Liquid Collagen Supplements In Place Of Pill Based Products?
Scientific studies and trials have determined that liquid extracts tend to have faster absorption times, are digested better and are usually more bioavailable to the cells in the body.
They are broken down more readily and whats more they hardly lose any effectiveness in the process.
Another plus point is that many people cannot take, or prefer not to take pills, for these a drink based supplement is far easier to consume.
It has been shown that between 85-90% of the nutrients contained in a liquid supplement is absorbed within 30 seconds of taking.
On the other hand, pills can take several hours to be broken down before they can be absolved, thats more up to 80% of the effective nutrients can be lost in the process.
The National Advisory Board did a study on this and it was found that out of a regular 100mg tablet, only 8.3mg of the ingredients actually got through to the blood stream.
Now there is nothing wrong with a tablet, for ease and convenience, many people prefer them.
There is however, a good reason why emergency rooms tend to use liquid drugs when patients first present themselves.
It’s because the the doctors know that they can get the ultimate effectiveness of the drug into the patient at speed.
It believed that collagen infused drinks can help boost the skins elasticity and boost the natural skins repair processes.
These forms of supplements have been shown to have powerful antioxidant properties helping to reduce the skin damaging effects of free radicals ( toxins in the environment).
As a direct result, drinks containing collagen have been recognised as an effective way to help repair skin damage, boost protection form the environment and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
Benefits Of Liquid Collagen Extract
The key benefit to using a liquid herbal extract is the fact that they don’t need to be broken down in the digestive tract.
The effective components in the extract do not need to be separated from the plant cellulose as this process has already been done for you.
The body does not need to break down a liquid supplement any further, which means that almost 98% of the nutrients can be absorbed directly into the system.
When you take Collagen (or any other supplement in pill form), the body has to first break down and separate the medicinal components. It then can transform them into liquid form so they can be delivered to and absorbed by the cells.
This process takes a lot longer than a liquid, also more of the key nutrients are lost in the processing with up to 80% being passed out as waste, having never reached the intended cells.
Experts feel that a single collagen drink can be up to 20 times more effective than a comparable dose when taken in pill or capsule form.
This is why Collagen drinks can be very effective. They contain either collagen peptides or a hydrolysed form of collagen that is very easily absorbed into the body.
What Is Hydrolysed Collagen?
Collagen forms up to 33% of all our bodies natural protein and up to 75% of our skins total dry weight.
It provides strength and stability to our skin, bones, joints, hair and teeth.
The collagen found in most supplements isn’t identical to the type naturally found in our body. It has had to be processed and broken down to make it more bio-available (easier to absorb) in our body.
The process of hydrolysing collagen (2) is called hydrolysis, it’s a chemical process that breaks the proteins down into smaller components – namely amino acids or peptides.
It’s not uncommon to see the words Collagen Peptides or Hydrolysed Collagen on ingredient labels. Basically they are two names for the same thing.
Collagen which has been prepared to make it easily absorbed by the body.
Are Collagen Drinks Better Than Pills -Summary
If we look at the science it tells us that a liquid form collagen will be more beneficial in several ways.
- Liquid form supplements have a fast absorption rate
- Liquid supplements are absorbed directly
- Less than 10% of the pill based supplement is properly absorbed.
So there you have it.
Are Collagen Drinks Better Than Pills? Yes!
Sources
(1)https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/news/20191212/collagen-supplements-what-the-research-shows
(2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6891674/
