MULTI COLLAGEN PROTEIN POWDER ?

[janvog]

MULTI COLLAGEN PROTEIN POWDER: Does it produce beneficial effects ? What are precautions and for whom and with what conditions ?

[cllady01 Former Volunteer]

I assume you are using the powder and I assume you have an answer in regard to your own experience along with the usual okay from the PA of your hematology team?

[janvog in reply to cllady01]

I only use a few spoons sometimes mixed in food. The powder is pure and derived only from bones of organic green grass fed cattle. My concern is whether the costs warrant to buy it. In the literature appear no opinions about negative impact.

[cllady01 Former Volunteer in reply to janvog]

There is no regulation of the quality or the substance of OTC supplements in US, and from what I read, the studies of this and similar powders have been done by the industry producing them for financial purposes, so it is difficult to make a statement as to the efficacy.

I would say that the money spent is a waste if the foods that have the same proteins along with those foods that contain the elements that support the production of collagen in the body can be afforded and acquired.

The following Harvard School of Public Health site is quite informative and suggesting plant derived proteins that meet the needs of our bodies. The information is complete in regard to the Protein "Package". The protein powders are addressed.

There is a lot of valid nutritional information as to the foods that can provide a healthy dose and quality of protein with the supportive ingredients from other foods for the absorption and subsequent use of the proteins our body needs.

hsph.harvard.edu/nutritions...

[HappyCatUK]

I have been using this product for about two years now to help with inflammatory arthritis symptoms and extremely weak nails. I only take half the recommended dose as I am a small woman. After about a year I saw a great improvement in my nail health, which continues. My arthritis flares have stayed the same in frequency, every two to three weeks, but most are now manageable with OTC pain relief, rather then me having to start taking DMARDS, which I really hope to avoid. I don't think my CLL has been affected as my blood counts have been stable over this period. I am in W&W nearly 12 years.

I like to think the collagen has also improved my skin, but I have no way of really measuring that as every day I am getting older, so who knows what I'd be like without it! 😜

[janvog in reply to HappyCatUK]

Thank you ! Very informative !

[LeoPa]

I just read an article a few days ago from one of our specialists in this area. To sum it up it's best to obtain collagen from natural sources,that is your diet. Collagen supplements are unnecessary and a waste of money. Just Google foods high in collagen.

[janvog in reply to LeoPa]

Very interesting and useful to know ! Thank you !

[HappyCatUK in reply to LeoPa]

Thanks for that LeoPa. So I have now looked up which foods are best for collagen and I'm pleased to find that my normal diet regularly contains all of the foods recommended, except for bone broth, which I have tried to make and use in the past but never could take to for some reason! 😬

I generally avoid sugar and we grow our own veg on our allotment, I have an active lifestyle with plenty of exercise and fresh air and my weight has always been stable at around 100lbs. I am blessed to live surrounded by green fields and with comparatively little stress in my life.

Unfortunately all of the above hasn't stopped me from getting inflammatory arthritis or very weak nails, or CLL for that matter, all of which I've had for about 11 years! So, I guess that I am just one of those people whose body can benefit from supplementation?

[LeoPa in reply to HappyCatUK]

Hi, benefit from which supplement in what way? If your diet already provides you with enough collagen then you do not need a collagen supplement. If your diet is deficient in something then I would first try to get that something from natural foods. The reason is that good quality natural foods always contain a lot of other beneficial things that our bodies need. Isolated supplements can be considered too quickly rectify a deficiency. But as a long-term intervention I would consider them only if there was no other way. Myself I only take magnesium from time to time and vitamin K2 because this one is quite difficult to get in sufficient quantities from the diet. And thanks to covid I'm supplementing with zinc and vitamin d now that there isn't enough Sunshine for me too produce enough of it naturally by Sun exposure. Congratulations on your low stress lifestyle and green surroundings 👍 there is nothing like homegrown veggies that is for sure!

[HappyCatUK in reply to LeoPa]

Well, I feel that I have quite reasonable evidence that the collagen supplement is working for me, as my nails are now growing strong and healthy and my palindromic rheumatism is now under better control. I have seen these improvements happen over the two years I have been supplementing, and I can't attribute them to anything else I have changed in my life. So, unless these considerable improvements in my daily wellbeing cease, or my CLL status deteriorates, I shall carry on with the collagen powder and, of course, the lovely veggies! 🥦

[LeoPa in reply to HappyCatUK]

If it works it works! But you still eat lots of hives, cartilage, tendons and chicken feet? 😁

[HappyCatUK in reply to LeoPa]

Not sure what the hives are, but I do make my own chicken stock and soup!🍲

[LeoPa in reply to HappyCatUK]

All kinds of skin with the underlying fat. Like pork knuckles. I might have messed the word up. If so then sorry!

[mrsjsmith in reply to LeoPa]

Yes wrong word ! Hives are a skin rash.Not too many chicken feet eaten in the U.K. either, it’s a Chinese delicacy.

[HappyCatUK in reply to mrsjsmith]

I think I would be too squeamish to eat a chicken's foot! 😬

[mrsjsmith in reply to HappyCatUK]

Me too 🙄

[LeoPa in reply to HappyCatUK]

It's tasty just don't swallow the claws 😁 lots of collagen in it. Only a few small bones left once I'm done.

[janvog in reply to LeoPa]

The only meat I consume is canned salmom : What is your opinion in regards to collagen and protein ? The only other animal protein I consume is non-fat plain yogurt. My CMP is perfect. But at 87 I have not much collagen and thin skin: Perhaps unavoidable at 87 .... ? My nails and hair is brittle, perhaps due to Imbruvica plus age.

[LeoPa in reply to janvog]

Then your diet seems to be deficient in collagen. This is an animal based protein which is abundant in cartilage, skin and connective tissue. If you are not willing to eat pork knuckles with crispy skin including the fat underneath and similar items, you will likely have to pay up for the supplements. I would definitely replace the low fat plain yogurt with a high-fat plain yogurt. And if you can, please consider animal livers at least once every 2 weeks a small portion. Those are real vitamin bombs. But who am I to tell you what to eat 😁. It's unlikely that I will ever make it to 87. You must have been doing something right if you made it this far! If you would like to broaden your understanding of what a proper human diet should be and you have the time and inclination I would recommend reading the new book of Dr Lustig which I mentioned a few times already. It's called Metabolical. Everything you ever wanted to know plus much more information you will find in it.

[janvog in reply to LeoPa]

I got my awakening about diet 50 years ago at age 37 from Dr. HAROLD ELRICK. Look for his name in the internet. Diet and exercise was his call in the age of "Eat meat for health!" He still ran three hours on Sundays at age 85. His book: EXERCISE IS THE BEST PRESCRIPTION . I was pre-diabetic at 37 and he scared me into diet and exercise. Currently my A1c which measures blood glucose average during three month, is in the normal non-diabetic range. ---Dr. Elrick of Harvard, went to Ecuador to study why people in a mountain village all reached 100+. His and the conclusion of other researchers was: "The eat mostly vegetables!". Partially true, plus life in a remote mountain village. More researchers came and the cluster of people over 100 became an international sensation. Decades later - it was discovered that birth records were altered after the villager concluced that this would stimulate more visits by researchers who brought revenue to the village economy.

[LeoPa in reply to janvog]

😄 good tourist booster idea. And of course good genetics are the most important thing.

[LeoPa in reply to mrsjsmith]

Oh my, skin rash! That definitely doesn't sound tasty 🤣

[mrsjsmith in reply to LeoPa]

Only if your middle name is Hannibal ?

[LeoPa in reply to mrsjsmith]

😂😂

[SofiaDeo in reply to HappyCatUK]

As we age, and for other reasons, our ability to absorb nutrients can change. If this works for you, it works! Speaking as someone who has had absorption issues from childhood (cavities in baby teeth! from inability to absorb calcium, iron deficiency anemia) necessitating the doc prescribing half of an adult strength multivit/multimineral supplement starting when I was mmmm 3-4? and all the milk/dairy products they could stuff in my gullet ), like most things in life, some will benefit, some won't. (P.S. all that calcium, and conscientious dental hygiene, gave me lovely strong adult teeth, haven't had a cavity since my childhood)

No one has really studied "optimum nutrition" with regards to nutrition, only "absolute minimum amount that generally prevents overt disease". That's what the RDA of vitamins/minerals is, the amount recommended to prevent an overt disease. There's quite a bit of leeway IMO between that value, and the optimum value for any particular person. But as Teddo mentioned, excessive anything can cause problems, and if one decides to experiment it should be discussed/supervised with one's docs.

[HappyCatUK in reply to SofiaDeo]

Yes Sofia, as you say, some will benefit and some won't. We are all different.

My husband has eaten the same food as me for over twenty years and has a similarly active outdoorsy lifestyle. Even though he is several years older then me, in his mid-seventies, he has no joint problems and has super strong nails. I guess he's just got better genes than me and can absorb nutrients more effectively!

[Teddo]

How are your kidneys? Too much protein is not good for kidneys if one has impaired kidney functions.

[janvog]

Thank you for your thought! I will keep it in mind. I get my protein from salmon and plain non-fat yogurt drained into "farm cheese". No meat.