Type 1 and type 3 collagen: what is the difference?

By Tom Francis·Updated 2026-09-03·3 sources·Editorial policy

What each type is

Collagen is a family of proteins rather than a single substance, and the types are numbered by the order in which they were identified. Type 1 is by far the most abundant in the human body and dominates tendon, ligament, skin and bone.

Type 3 appears alongside type 1, particularly in skin, blood vessels and the walls of internal organs, generally in a smaller proportion. Type 2 is the cartilage associated type and comes from a different source entirely.

Which source provides which

Marine collagen, from fish skin and scales, is essentially all type 1. Bovine collagen, from cattle hide and bone, carries type 1 with some type 3. Type 2 supplements come from chicken sternum.

Futuro Labs Marine Collagen is type 1 hydrolysed marine collagen at 1200mg per two capsule serving, which is the type relevant to the tissue a rugby player is thinking about.

Why the distinction is smaller than it looks

Marketing treats the type as a targeting mechanism: type 1 for tendons, type 2 for cartilage, type 1 and 3 for skin. The implied reasoning is that taking a type delivers it to tissue made of that type.

That is not how protein digestion works. Ingested collagen is broken down into amino acids and short peptides in the gut, which enter the general pool and are used wherever the body is synthesising protein. Nothing about having eaten type 3 directs anything to skin.

What the research actually proposes

Not type matching. The collagen and vitamin C literature proposes that raising circulating amino acid availability at the moment tissue is loaded may support that tissue's own synthesis, given that tendon and ligament have poor blood supply.

It is a more careful idea than take type 1 for type 1 tissue, and it is still research rather than an authorised claim. The protocols use doses of several grams and measure markers of synthesis rather than injury rates or performance.

The claim position, which is identical for both

Collagen carries no authorised health claim in the UK, of any type, from any source. Vitamin C carries the claim available here: it 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.

Futuro Labs Marine Collagen includes 12mg at exactly 15 percent NRV alongside 1200mg of type 1 marine collagen and 1.5mg of zinc, for 28p a day. The claim holds at the full two capsule serving because the vitamin C sits precisely at the threshold.

So does the type matter at all

It matters as a specification rather than as a mechanism. Knowing a product is type 1 tells you what the source material was and that it relates to the tissue rugby loads, which is worth knowing.

It does not tell you the amino acids will end up in a tendon rather than anywhere else. A product offering type 2 for a tendon question has answered the wrong question, and a product implying type matching directs delivery has overstated what is known.

Why products advertise type 1 and 3 together

Bovine collagen naturally contains both, so a bovine product listing type 1 and 3 is describing its source material rather than combining two ingredients deliberately.

It gets presented as a feature, usually alongside skin claims, because type 3 is associated with skin. The presentation implies a targeting mechanism that does not exist, since ingested collagen is broken down before anything reaches skin or tendon.

Futuro Labs Marine Collagen is type 1 only, because marine collagen is essentially all type 1. That is a fact about the source rather than a deficiency, and it is the type associated with the tissue a rugby player is thinking about.

What hydroxyproline has to do with it

All collagen types are unusually rich in glycine, proline and hydroxyproline, and hydroxyproline is close to unique to collagen, which is why researchers use it as a marker when tracking collagen in the body.

That shared amino acid profile is what the types have in common rather than what distinguishes them, and it is the profile the loading research is actually interested in. It is also why collagen is an incomplete protein: low in tryptophan and modest in the essential amino acids, so a 1200mg serving does not usefully count towards a daily protein target and is not offered as doing so.

Where to go next

• Marine or bovine collagen for rugby players?The source decision, and what genuinely differs.
• Which type of collagen is in ligaments?The same question applied to one tissue.
• How to read a marine collagen labelType, source, hydrolysis, dose and the vitamin C that decides the claim.

Questions players ask

Sources

• EFSA register of nutrition and health claims
• Vitamin C enriched gelatin supplementation before intermittent activity augments collagen synthesis
• Food supplements guidance, gov.uk