Is there such thing as vegan collagen?
Many of my clients are vegan or vegetarian, and I get asked about this a lot, so just getting the info out there – Vitamin C ๐๐ is what you'll find as the main 'active' ingredient in most 'vegan collagen products. If there is a form of protein in the ingredients, it is usually a pea-protein or other plant-based protein.โ โ
โ โ
๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ, and is a protein found mostly in joints and skin. At this point, ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ฑ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ. There is some research into extracts from seaweed, but nothing on the market yet. โ โ
While you can get most of the amino acids found in collagen in other protein sources (animal & plant-based), the abundance of glycine (Gly), hydroxyproline (Hyp), proline (Pro), and alanine (Ala) is what makes collagen special.ย Also, keep in mind that hydroxyproline is an amino acid that isnโt found in other proteins. It is only found in collagen.ย
โ โ
Vegan collagen products are actually aimed at amping up your vitamins and antioxidants to help your body's own production of collagen and don't actually contain collagen themselves.โ โ โ
โ โ โ
๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ .
Make sure you read the fine print. You will often find “vegan collagen" in big bold letters and then the word “builder" drifting somewhere underneath. for my vegan/veg friends, my recommendation is to take a good quality vitamin C rather than spending extra money on collagen-building powders.โ โ
โ โ
Nutrients that can help with collagen production: โ โ
โข Vitamin C – Citrus foods and peppers are a great sourceโ โ .
โข Zinc – Sprouted pumpkin seeds are great!โ โ
โข Aloe Vera – Buy fresh, cut & freeze, pop into smoothies!โ โ
โข Antioxidants – Green tea is my choice here!โ โ