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Collagen Peptides 101: Types, How Much, Which Ones to Take, & More - Ask a Nutritionist

·26 min·2 clips

Leah reveals collagen is like scaffolding for your body, holding everything together with specific Lego-like peptides.

Leah opens by distinguishing this episode from topical collagen discussions: this is entirely about orally ingested collagen, since skin is an inside job and what you eat profoundly affects skin integrity and elasticity alongside joint and gut health. She establishes the basics: collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, providing the structural scaffolding for skin, bones, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and gut lining. Production naturally declines starting in the mid-30s. Using the Lego kit analogy, she explains that collagen supplements provide specific peptides — short amino acid chains assembled in precise sequences — that the body uses to build or repair specific tissue types. Not all peptides are created equal; the specific sequence matters as much as the raw amino acids. Leah reviews the different collagen types and what each supports: Type I (skin, bone, tendon), Type II (joint cartilage), Type III (blood vessel walls and organ structure), and marine collagen for bioavailability. She discusses what to look for when choosing a supplement: hydrolyzed collagen (broken into peptides for better absorption), sourcing (grass-fed bovine vs. marine), third-party testing, absence of fillers, and avoiding products with high sugar content (as blood sugar spikes can actually accelerate collagen breakdown). The episode also covers what supports the body's own collagen synthesis: vitamin C as a necessary cofactor, glycine-rich foods, and avoiding habits that degrade collagen like smoking, excessive alcohol, and high refined sugar intake.

As heard by us

A practical collagen guide that sorts oral forms by use case.

This episode takes collagen as a straightforward consumer question: whether taking it by mouth is worth the money. It keeps the focus on oral collagen rather than topical products, and it draws a clean line between type 1, type 2, and type 3.

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Why you'd press play

Pick the right oral collagen before you spend on the wrong one.

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