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Collagen - What's the difference between Type I, II, and III?

Collagen - What's the difference between Type I, II, and III?

What is collagen?
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body and is the main structural protein that forms connective tissues throughout the body including skin, bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments. While there have been over 16 types of collagen proteins identified in the human body, Type I, II, and III are the most prevalent, making up approximately 80-90% of our total collagen.

Differences between type I, II, and III collagen
Type I collagen makes up skin, hair, nails, tendon, bone and ligaments and is found in both Marine and Bovine collagen. It is generally considered the best collagen for the skin and levels of Type I collagen start to decline naturally around 25 years of age.

Type II collagen is less prevalent in the body but is the main component of cartilage and important for the skeletal system. It is derived mainly from chicken or beef cartilage.

Type III collagen is found in skin, muscles, blood vessels, and large hollow organs such as the uterus and intestines. It is also usually found alongside type I collagen in the body and thought to play an important role in wound healing. Type III collagen is found in bovine collagen but not marine collagen. 

Which type of collagen is best for you?
Current scientific evidence has not proven that specific types of collagen will achieve targeted benefits ie. it is not clearly proven that ingesting type II collagen will improve knee cartilage and function. Because all protein, including collagen (regardless of types) is broken down by the body into peptides or amino acids, the quality of collagen is more important than the type of collagen it contains.

This means choosing a high-quality collagen from non-gmo sources that has been hydrolysed. Hydrolysed collagen (a.k.a collagen peptides) is created through enzymatic hydrolysis of collagen. It results in collagen peptides which are a highly bioavailable form of collagen that are water soluble.

Nothing Naughty Pure Marine Collagen contains hydrolysed marine collagen sourced from non-GMO European red snapper and is a rich source of Type I collagen with 10g marine collagen peptides per 11.8g serve.

Our Pure Collagen (bovine) range also contains hydrolysed bovine collagen sourced from non-GMO Argentinian grass-fed beef and is a quality source of both Type I and III collagen peptides with 10g collagen peptides per 10g serve.

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