How to take collagen powder properly
Answer
Mix it into anything cold or warm rather than boiling, take it with a vitamin C source, and pick a time you will keep to. Heat above simmering degrades the peptides.
Key takeaways
- What can it be mixed into?
- Water, juice, coffee once cooled below boiling, yoghurt or a shake. It is largely flavourless when hydrolysed.
- Does heat matter?
- Boiling water degrades the peptides. Warm rather than boiling is fine.
- What should it be taken with?
- A vitamin C source, because vitamin C carries the only authorised claim in this category.
- Powder or capsules?
- Powder gives the research sized dose. Capsules give a fixed dose that gets taken more consistently.
Mixing it
Hydrolysed collagen dissolves readily and is largely flavourless, which is why it goes into coffee, water, juice, yoghurt and shakes without much trouble. Unhydrolysed collagen does not, and a powder that clumps badly is worth checking on that basis.
Heat is the one genuine constraint. Boiling water degrades the peptide structure, so a coffee left to cool below boiling is fine and stirring it into something on a hob is not.
What to take it with
Vitamin C, deliberately. Collagen carries no authorised health claim in the UK. Vitamin C contributes to normal collagen formation for the normal function of cartilage, bones, skin, gums, teeth and blood vessels, at 15 percent of its reference value or above.
The research protocols include vitamin C for that reason, and a great many collagen powders contain none at all. Orange juice, a piece of fruit or a product that includes it all solve the same problem. Futuro Labs Marine Collagen includes 12mg at exactly 15 percent NRV in the capsule, which removes the question.
| Powder | Capsules | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical dose | 5 to 10g per scoop | About 1.2g per serving |
| Matches research protocols | Yes | No |
| Dose accuracy | Drifts with the scoop | Fixed |
| Vitamin C included | Often not | Yes, at 15 percent NRV in the Futuro Labs product |
| Needs equipment | Scoop, shaker or a drink | Water |
| Cost per gram of collagen | Lower | Higher |
| Cost per day | Often higher | 28p |
Timing, if you are following the research
The protocols place the dose with vitamin C roughly an hour before a short bout of loading exercise. That is research rather than an authorised claim, and it is the only timing argument anywhere on this site.
On non training days there is no loading bout to time around. A player following the protocol takes it before training on training days and at the usual point otherwise.
Getting the dose right
Scoops vary and a rounded scoop is not a level one, so the stated dose drifts in practice more than most people assume. Weighing it once against a scoop tells you how far out you are.
That drift is the practical argument for capsules, which state a dose that does not move. Futuro Labs Marine Collagen is 1200mg of type 1 hydrolysed marine collagen per two capsule serving at 28p a day, and 1200mg is 1200mg however the day goes.
Flavoured against unflavoured
Flavoured powders add sweeteners, flavourings and sometimes colours, and they usually contain less collagen per scoop as a result. Comparing them on scoop weight rather than on collagen content is how a flavoured product looks equivalent when it is not.
The check is the same as everywhere else on this site: find the collagen figure per serving, and divide the pack price by servings rather than by scoops.
Adherence, which decides more than any of this
Across an eight month season the total intake is decided by how many days the serving actually happens. A powder needing a scoop, a shaker and a drink gets taken on organised days.
A player realistically choosing between a research sized dose taken twice a week and a smaller dose taken daily should recognise that is the actual choice. Neither is wrong and the second is the one most club players will keep to.
What a scoop actually weighs
Scoop sizes are set by the manufacturer and stated on the tub, and the gap between a level scoop and a heaped one is larger than most people assume.
A 10g scoop filled generously can carry 12 or 13 grams, which means a tub sold as 30 servings runs out in 24. That changes the cost per day by a quarter without anyone noticing, and it works the other way too: a cautiously filled scoop delivers less than the label says while the buyer assumes they are getting the stated dose.
Weighing one scoop on kitchen scales, once, tells you which way you err. It is a thirty second check that most powder buyers never do, and it is the main reason a fixed dose capsule is easier to reason about. Futuro Labs Marine Collagen is 1200mg per two capsule serving at 28p a day, and the figure does not move with how the day went.
Storage and shelf life
Collagen powder is stable and undemanding compared with a fish oil, and the two things that affect it are moisture and time.
Moisture causes clumping, which is a texture problem rather than a safety one, and it comes from a wet scoop going back into the tub or a lid left off in a humid kitchen. Keeping the scoop out of the tub between uses solves most of it.
Beyond that, check the best before date against how long a tub will realistically last. A large tub bought on a per gram saving is poor value if half of it is still there in eighteen months, which is the same reasoning this site applies to capsule pack sizes.
Where to go next
- Collagen powder or capsules for rugby players?The dose gap and the adherence argument in full.
- How to read a marine collagen labelType, source, hydrolysis, dose and the vitamin C that decides the claim.
- When to take collagen around rugby trainingThe timing argument and what it rests on.
The product
Futuro Labs Marine Collagen
Futuro Labs Marine Collagen is the 1200mg type 1 marine one with the vitamin C that carries the claim, at 28p a day, fish derived and UK made to GMP standards.
- 1200mg type 1 hydrolysed marine collagen
- 12mg vitamin C and 1.5mg zinc, both 15% NRV
- UK made to GMP, lab tested for purity
- Fish derived. Collagen carries no claim
Sharper Rugby is published by Futuro Labs. If you buy through this link Futuro Labs earns from the sale. Prices are set by Amazon.
Questions players ask
Can collagen go in hot coffee?
Warm is fine, boiling is not. Boiling water degrades the peptide structure.
What should it be taken with?
A vitamin C source, because vitamin C carries the only authorised claim in this category.
Does the scoop matter?
Yes. Rounded scoops drift from the stated dose, which is the practical argument for capsules.
Are flavoured powders worse?
They usually contain less collagen per scoop, so compare on collagen content rather than scoop weight.
Does it dissolve?
Hydrolysed collagen does readily. A powder that clumps badly may not be hydrolysed.
Which is better overall?
Powder for the research dose, capsules for a fixed dose that actually gets taken.
How much does a scoop really weigh?
Often more than stated when heaped, which can cut a 30 serving tub to 24. Weigh one once.
Why does the powder clump?
Moisture, usually from a wet scoop returned to the tub. It is a texture problem rather than a safety one.