Collagen vs. Protein Powder for Gut Health
Nowadays, protein powder is a staple in most pantries. People add it to their smoothies, oatmeal, pancakes, baked goods, or just mix it with water and take it after a workout. I take it often and add it to snacks for my kids as well. Collagen is also all the rage these days. There’s bovine collagen, marine collagen, collagen with probiotics added, collagen capsules, you name it. Should one use protein powder or collagen, or both? Well, that depends on your goals. But, if you’re reading my blog you probably suffer from GI issues. If you don’t want to read the whole article I’ll give you the quick answer: collagen! I’ll discuss the differences between protein powder and collagen, and why collagen is so beneficial for gut health.
Protein Powder
Protein powder is a general term referring to a powder that contains protein from a number of sources. Protein powder can be plant based or animal based. What they all have in common (usually) is they are a complete protein. This means they contain all nine essential amino acids. Essential meaning the human body cannot make them on their own and they must be consumed. The essential amino acids are: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. The non-essential amino acids (meaning your body can make them) are: alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, proline, serine, and tyrosine. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. They are essential for many functions in the body including muscle growth, repair of tissues, production of enzymes, production of hormones, maintenance of a strong immune system, and many others. Complete proteins are a fantastic addition to your health repertoire, but when it comes to gut health, collagen takes the lead.
Collagen
Collagen makes up about 30% of the protein inside our bodies. Collagen supports the gut, bone, skin, hair, joint, nail, cartilage, tendons, and connection tissues. The difference between collagen and protein powder is their amino acid make-up. Protein powder generally refers to a complete protein, where collagen is not a complete protein because it lacks tryptophan, one of the nine essential amino acids. You’re probably thinking, “ok…. I’m just going to take the whole protein, thanks.” Well, collagen excels in two amino acids that are vital to gut health: proline and glycine. As stated above, these are non-essential amino acids meaning your body can make them. So, why take them?
This is where physiology gets confusing. Above I listed the 9 essential amino acids that we can’t make and the 11 non-essential amino acids that we can make. But, 7 of the non-essential amino acids fall into a category called conditionally essential amino acids. In times of health we can make them, but due to severe illness, stress, or injury our body can lose the ability to produce them. These conditionally essential amino acids are: arginine, cysteine, glutamine, glycine, proline, serine, and tyrosine. If you are someone suffering severely from gut health issues, then your body is likely struggling to produce some of these conditionally essential amino acids.
The two we care about for gut health are glycine and proline. Collagen contains high amounts of glycine and proline which are responsible for building a healthy gut lining. Glycine is significantly reduced in patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease. Studies have shown that glycine protects the stomach lining from damage, fights oxidative stress in the GI tract, lowers inflammation, and even modulates stomach acid secretion. Proline fuels certain immune cells, protects against stress and helps with nutrient adaptation. Proline helps fight harmful bacteria, controls inflammatory cytokine secretion, and therefore helps maintain the integrity of the intestinal wall.
Supplement with Collagen or Protein Powder?
There’s no reason you can’t do both! But, when it comes to gut health specifically, collagen is the supplement I recommend to almost every patient who is suffering with digestive issues. Supplementing with collagen can help restore the integrity of your intestinal wall, heal damage, and greatly improve painful symptoms over time. Collagen is a very versatile supplement and can be taken in many different ways. The American diet usually avoids things like tendons, skin, cartilage, and ligaments and focusses on mainly muscle meat. Muscle meat only contains bout 2% collagen. This is why many people need to supplement with collagen, especially if their body starts slipping into the danger zone where they can no longer produce those conditionally essential amino acids.
Capsules/tablets are not my favorite as they are mixed with excipients and you often have to take multiple tablets to receive a useful dose
Bone broth is a very soothing way to consume collagen in the winter months. Heat it up and drink it like tea.
Powder is my personal favorite. You can mix it in water, coffee, or smoothies. You can add it to baked goods, oatmeal, or pancakes. The possibilities are endless as it is virtually tasteless.
If you want more information on my favorite gut health supplements, sign up for my newsletter below!