Collagen is the most plentiful protein in your body, and it’s a major part of your tendons, skin, bones, teeth, muscles and ligaments. Collagen gives your skin strength and resilience. It helps the cartilage in your joints remain supple. It provides structure to your arteries, keeping them strong and flexible. It gives your bones structure, too, by acting as ‘reinforcing rods’. Collagen is an amazing construction material.

Collagen comes in many forms, but the vast majority in your body consists of types I, II and III. These types all form relatively long fibers (compared to body cells). Type I collagen is – ounce for ounce – stronger than steel. Type II collagen is thinner than type I, and is used in cartilage all bunched up like springs for shock absorption. Type III is important for the hollow things in your body – like large blood vessels, the bowel and bladder.

It’s important to know that the ‘type’ of collagen is only relevant when it’s already a part of your body. When you eat it, your body just re-makes it into new types.

Collagen is so big and tough that we can’t absorb it ‘as is’ when we eat it. What we can do though, is ‘hydrolyze’ the collagen, which means it’s broken down into much smaller pieces (‘peptides’) by water, making it usable by your body. Collagen Complex provides easy-to-digest hydrolyzed collagen peptides.