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Which is better: Collagen Protein or Whey Protein

Column：Wellness Blogs Time:2021-09-21 Browsing volume:156

Whey protein has been the go-to supplement used by athletes for decades as a nutrient source for protein replenishment, muscle building, and overall recovery. It is the most popular and trusted protein supplement in the fitness industry, while collagen is a relatively new type protein supplement.

Is collagen a passing fad, or does it have real and evidence-based benefits?

Does it have benefits for athletes and bodybuilders? Or is it mostly taken for hair and skin?

Today we are going to go through the facts on both supplements to help you find out which one is right for you.

What is Collagen (Peptides) Protein?

Collagen is a fibrous, structural protein that is abundant in our bodies. The substance makes up about a third (25-35%) of all the protein in the human body; more than any other type of protein in our body by mass.

Collagen is an important building block in bones, ligaments, muscles, and tendons. It plays a vital role in the health of your hair, nails, and skin. Like all protein structures, collagen is built from amino acids. Collagen contains 19 amino acids and 8 essential amino acids. Essential amino acids can't be made by our bodies and must be obtained through our diets. When protein is digested or broken down, amino acids remain ready to be absorbed or used by our bodies. The main amino acids that make up collagen are arginine, glycine, hydroxyproline, and proline

Glycine is a nonessential amino acid that has been considered by some scientists as the “most important and simple, nonessential amino acid in humans…”¹ and scientific studies have it found to be effective in improving the health and strength of both humans and animals.

Arginine is a semi-essential amino acid. This means that although it is produced and synthesized by the body, our bodies sometimes need to consume it from our diet (especially when our bodies are under regular stress, such as athletics and bodybuilding). For this reason, arginine is a common supplement used by fitness professionals. Arginine is the substrate for nitric oxide, which is essential for ensuring good blood flow to active muscles (vasodilation) and regulating blood pressure. Nitric oxide production is essential for overall health because it allows blood, nutrients and oxygen to travel to every part of your body effectively and efficiently. In fact, a limited capacity to produce nitric oxide is associated with heart disease, diabetes and erectile dysfunction.

Both Proline and Hydroxyproline are vital for protein synthesis, structure, and strength².

What this means is that in order for your body to properly use protein for muscle building and recovery, proline must be present. Proline also plays a major role in effective wound and injury healing. Proline is considered a semi-essential amino acid.

Together, these 3 amino-acids plus 8 essential amino acids and 7 other non-essential amino acids build the complex triple-helical structure of collagen protein. In total, a collagen molecule contains an average of 1000 of these aminos. In the human body, collagen molecules make up:

· 30 percent of all protein in the human body

· 65-80 percent of the proteins in a ligament

· 70 percent of the proteins in a tendon

· 60 percent of the proteins in bones

Collagen protein supplements are derived from animal collagen. Yes, that does mean that there are NO vegetarian or vegan collagen options. Sunbio sources their collagen from 100% natural Australian cow bones which contain copious amounts of high-quality collagen. Sunbio supports sustainable farming by ensuring farmers and processors can use all of the cow, thus reducing waste and ensuring farmers get best possible outcome.

What is Whey Protein?

Whey is one of the two main proteins found in milk (the other being casein).

When cheese is made, producers separate the solids in milk from liquid through a process called coagulation, whey is watery liquid that remains after the milk solids have been separated.

In the past cheese producers use to discard whey after making cheese until it was discovered that whey is a valuable source of protein and nutrition.

One of the reasons why whey is so popular is because it contains 20 amino acids, and all 9 essential amino acids, making it a complete source of protein.

Essential amino acids can’t be made by the body and must be obtained from the diet.

As stated above, whey protein comes from milk. More specifically, it is a by-product of cheese production. After the cheese is made, the remaining watery liquid is filtered to remove facts and lactose, leaving on whey concentrate behind. This liquid whey is then spray-dried with hot and cold air until it becomes a powder.

Whey protein doesn't taste very good on its own, as such it's usually flavoured. It's important to read the ingredients list of whey protein supplements, as some products may have unhealthy additives like refined sugar.

How do they Compare? What benefits do they provide?

Let's dive into the scientific research surrounding whey protein and collagen protein and see how they each stack up. From a non-biased perspective, this is how the two proteins compare.

Every Sunbio Collagen Peptides sachet contains a minimum of 4 grams of Premium quality Australian derived Collage Peptides per sachet. Collage Peptides contain 8 (Methionine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Threonine, Tryptophan, Phenylalanine, Valine) of the 9 essential amino acids.

Sunbio Collagen Peptides Muscles & Energy also contains equiv. mgs of magnesium, 1 mcg of vitamin B12 and 100 mgs of vitamin C all of which are vital for muscle development and recovering and energy production.

Collagen Protein (Peptides)

Absorption

While it's often believed that whey protein is absorbed quickly and easily, research has actually proven that it takes the body about 1.5 hours to digest viscous fluids (like whey protein shakes). Not only that, but our bodies can only digest 8-10 grams of whey protein per hour.

What this means is that potentially half of your protein shake is not even being absorbed and therefore wasted.

However, you can boost the absorption rate of whey by adding digestive enzymes. Scientific research has found that consuming whey protein together with certain enzymes can increase amino acid absorption by 127%.

Collagen Protein (Peptides) is already broken down and therefore “pre-digested” so that when it enters the body, it can be easily absorbed and utilized.

Research has found that the hydrolysis of collagen was associated with an enhanced absorption rate of collagen's main amino acids (proline, hydroxyproline, and glycine) 20 minutes post-ingestion³.

How to they compare? If whey is not taken with digestive enzymes, hydrolyzed collagen definitely has a faster and more efficient absorption. However, with the addition of digestive enzymes, whey protein and collagen may have the same benefits when it comes to absorption.

Muscle Building

Both whey and collagen assist the body with building muscle after strength training, but whey is considered to stimulate higher rates of protein synthesis. This may be due to the high concentration of leucine in whey.

Collagen, however, helps to maintain a positive nitrogen balance in the body (anabolic) better than whey. Nitrogen balance refers to the measure of nitrogen output/input. If one is in a negative nitrogen balance, this indicates that the body is malnourished and/or has been pushed into catabolic processes over anabolic. This is generally due to poor nutrition/protein intake and can be exasperated by overtraining.

Collagen also strengthens the extracellular matrix of the muscle cells, allowing for more load to be distributed with more force without adding large size.

Studies have found collagen to improve body composition by increasing fat-free mass, decreasing fat-mass, and increasing muscle strength⁴. Collagen's benefits have been studied mostly in older adults and the elderly.

Benefits: Both whey and collagen protein each provide benefits in their own way.

Injury Recovery and Pain Relief

Due to its high glycine content, collagen has been found to have powerful anti-inflammatory effects on injuries⁵. Several studies have found that collagen peptides (collagen hydrolysate) reduces both inflammation and pain, and speeds up the healing process in conditions such as exercise-induced joint pain, osteoarthritis, and tendonitis/Achilles tendinopathy^{6, 7}.

Scientific research has found that whey protein does not seem to provide favourable effects on circulating inflammatory markers⁸. Whey protein actually seems to enhance the inflammatory response during wound healing by restoring levels of oxidative stress and inflammatory cytokines⁹.

Benefits: Collagen provides more scientifically proven injury recovery and pain relief then Whey

Bone Density

Preliminary research has found that consuming collagen peptides (collagen hydrolysate), which is a major structural protein, increases bone mass during growth periods¹⁰. Studies have found that supplementation of collagen peptides (collagen hydrolysate) may also help to prevent age-related bone loss, increase bone formation, and reduce bone degradation¹¹.

While whey protein supplementation does not adversely affect skeletal health, it doesn't seem to improve it, either.

Benefits: Collagen has clear benefits when it comes to improving our bodies bone density while whey does not seem to any benefits or have any adverse effects.

Amino Acid Profile

The main differences between the amino acid profiles of whey and collagen is that whey contains all 9 essential amino acids, while collagen contains has 8. Whey also contains more branch-chain amino acids (BCAAs) which are key in recovery and muscle synthesis.

Collagen contains three amino acids that are generally lacking in whey and plant-based proteins, and are also not found in typical meat products.

Benefits: Both whey and collagen protein each provide benefits in their own way.

Collagen Protein vs Whey for Bodybuilding

Combined with a healthy diet, both whey protein and collagen peptides (collagen hydrolysate) seem to have promising benefits for bodybuilders. While whey protein may support faster muscle growth than collagen, both improve muscle growth and recovery. Collagen seems to be more effective than whey when it comes to injury recovery and the rebuilding of connective tissues and structures in the body.

Collagen's unique benefit is that it is not as easily obtained from a modern diet as proteins found in whey. You can easily find all essential amino acids in animal products such as lean meats, fish, and dairy. Collagen, however, is mostly found in the skin, connective tissues, and bones of animals.

In the past, it was common for people to use the entire animal and therefore consume plenty of collagen. However modern convenience has slowly but surely changed those dietary trends, and not many people eat the collagen containing parts of an animal anymore.

For this reason, collagen supplementation may be very beneficial to bodybuilders and athletes in general.