Collagen for skin or for joints?
Answer
No. Collagen carries no authorised claim for skin or joints, and the products marketed at each are generally the same ingredient with different packaging.
Key takeaways
- Do the products differ?
- Rarely in substance. Type 1 dominates both skin and connective tissue, so the ingredient is usually the same.
- Does either carry a claim?
- No. Collagen has no authorised claim for skin or joints. Vitamin C and zinc carry the relevant ones.
- What decides the price difference?
- Positioning. Skin marketed products often carry a premium for the framing rather than the contents.
The same ingredient, two positionings
Type 1 collagen dominates tendon, ligament and bone, and it also dominates skin. So a product marketed for skin and one marketed for joints are usually the same type from the same kind of source.
Bovine products sometimes add the type 3 that naturally accompanies type 1 and present it as a skin feature, which describes the source material rather than a deliberate formulation.
Neither carries a claim
Collagen has no authorised health claim in the UK for skin, joints or anything else. Vitamin C carries the one available, for normal collagen formation for the normal function of cartilage, bones, skin, gums, teeth and blood vessels. Zinc contributes to the maintenance of normal skin, hair, nails and bones.
Both of those cover skin and connective tissue in the same sentence, which is another reason the split is a marketing one rather than a regulatory one.
What actually differs between products
Type, source, whether it is hydrolysed, the dose per serving, whether vitamin C is present at 15 percent NRV, and cost. Those are the criteria that survive once the targeting story is removed.
Futuro Labs Marine Collagen is type 1 hydrolysed marine collagen at 1200mg per two capsule serving with 12mg of vitamin C and 1.5mg of zinc, for 28p a day, and it is not sold on either target.
The full version
- Type 1 and type 3 collagen: what is the difference?Where each type sits and why type matching is not a mechanism.
- Is there a collagen for bones and skin?Which nutrients carry the relevant claims.
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
Is skin collagen different from joint collagen?
Rarely in substance. Type 1 dominates both, so the ingredient is usually the same.
Does either carry a claim?
No. Vitamin C and zinc carry the relevant claims, and both cover skin and connective tissue.
Why do prices differ?
Positioning. Skin marketed products often carry a premium for the framing.