Should You Take Collagen and Protein?

By Markita Lewis, MS, RD

Collagen has grown in popularity for its benefits of maintaining muscle mass, helping weight loss, and improving skin, nails and hair. Because of these and other benefits, you may be tempted to switch to collagen and stop taking your go-to protein powder and switch over to collagen. We’re here to let you know that the different ingredients in collagen and protein powders can complement one another to help speed and maximize results.

Differences between Collagen and Protein Powders

You may be asking yourself why you should take a protein powder and a collagen peptide powder together. They’re both proteins, right? But while collagen and protein powders both contain types of protein, those proteins are actually very different in their makeup and function.

Benefits of Protein Powder

Traditional protein powders (either vegan or milk protein-based) use dietary proteins that are complete proteins. This means that they contain all of the amino acids, especially those considered essential amino acids. Leucine, a branched-chain amino acid found in whey powders and other protein powders, preserves muscle mass during calorie restriction and helps regulate blood glucose.

INVIGOR8 Collagen Peptides is a flavorless, easily dissolved peptide powder that can be added to hot or cold beverages along with your protein powder. 

Dietary proteins, such as the ones found in protein powders, are vital in balancing muscle protein synthesis and breakdown, in addition to maintaining other physiological functions within the body. Research shows that consuming protein after resistance exercise increases muscle size, supports fat-free mass, improves body composition and increases strength.

Whey protein powder may promote greater improvements in body composition compared with hydrolyzed collagen. In a randomized study, 37 overweight women took a daily protein powder or hydrolyzed collagen supplement daily for 8 weeks. At the end of the 8 weeks, women who took the whey protein had decreased abdominal fat compared with the collagen group.

The Added Benefits of Collagen Peptides

Proteins powders help the growth of muscles, but collagen is important in protecting your muscles and connective tissues. Collagen is found in the matrix surrounding your muscle fibers, which helps protect your muscles and joints from friction that may cause inflammation and pain.

Collagen also differs from protein powders in its amino acid make-up. Collagen has higher concentrations of glycine, proline and hydroxyproline, but lower concentrations of leucine and tryptophan. It is considered an incomplete protein, so intake of dietary protein is important to meet your body’s nutritional needs.

Intake of collagen is found to be more effective in improving satiety (the feeling of being full) compared with other protein sources, including casein, soy and whey.

Supplementation with collagen may be useful for post-workout recovery and reducing muscle soreness, according to a recent study. With decreased recovery time, this may make it easier to fit in more workouts.

Collagen can also help increase muscle mass and reduce fat mass. In one study, researchers measured the impact of collagen peptide supplementation on older men with sarcopenia (loss of skeletal muscle mass) who participated in a 12-week resistance-exercise program. Researchers found that post-exercise supplementation with collagen peptides significantly increased fat-free muscle mass and muscle strength, and decreased fat mass when compared with the men taking a placebo.

Based on the current research, including both a grass-fed collagen peptide powder and protein powder in your routine can be a winning combination to maximize your weight loss. INVIGOR8 Collagen Peptides is a flavorless, easily dissolved peptide powder that can be added to hot or cold beverages along with your protein powder. 

With one scoop of INVIGOR8 Collagen Peptides added to your daily protein shake, you can potentially shave time off your weight-loss timeline while reinforcing your muscle systems, hair, skin and nails. 

And these days, anything that makes life less complicated is a good thing.