What Type of Collagen Is Best? Type I, II, III, Marine, Bovine—and What Actually Matters

When I first started seriously researching collagen, I thought I had a simple question:

Which type of collagen should I take?

Then I started looking.

Type I. Type II. Type III.

Bovine collagen. Marine collagen. Porcine collagen. Chicken collagen.

Then you find multi-collagen products advertising Types I, II, III, V and X.

At some point I wondered:

How many types of collagen are there, anyway?

The answer surprised me.

Scientists have identified 28 different types of collagen in vertebrates. Types I, II and III make up the great majority of the collagen in the human body, while many of the others perform more specialized roles.

So here's a question.

If five types of collagen are better than two, would ten be better than five?

And if scientists have identified 28 types, should we eventually expect the ultimate 28-type super-collagen?

I'm exaggerating, of course.

But that's the point.

More collagen types on a label don't automatically mean a better collagen product.

Once I understood why, it completely changed how I looked at collagen—and eventually how I formulated Epoch Nutrition Sciences Specialized Collagen Peptides.

The Collagen Types Are Real

Those Roman numerals aren't just marketing.

Different collagen types perform different jobs throughout the body.

Type I is the most abundant and is heavily represented in tissues including skin, bone, tendons and ligaments. Type II is particularly important in cartilage. Type III is found in skin, blood vessels and many other tissues.

So inside the human body, collagen type absolutely matters.

But that doesn't necessarily mean eating more different collagen types gives you more targeted support.

That's where things get interesting.

Eating Type I Collagen Doesn't Simply Send Type I Collagen to Your Tendons

It's tempting to think about collagen this way:

My cartilage contains Type II collagen, so I'll eat Type II collagen for my cartilage.

Or:

My tendons contain a lot of Type I collagen, so Type I must be the collagen I need for my tendons.

But that's not how digestion works.

Your body doesn't take the collagen you swallow and simply install it intact into the matching tissue.

And when we're talking about hydrolyzed collagen, the collagen has already been deliberately broken down into smaller collagen-derived peptides.

That's what hydrolyzed means.

The original source can still influence the finished ingredient, so bovine, porcine and marine collagen aren't necessarily identical.

But once we're dealing with hydrolyzed collagen, I become much less interested in simply counting the original collagen types and much more interested in another question:

What peptides resulted from the process?

Even Two Hydrolyzed Collagens Aren't Necessarily the Same

This is another part of collagen that I think is easy to miss.

Hydrolysis isn't one universal process that produces exactly the same peptides every time.

The enzymes used and the conditions under which collagen is hydrolyzed can influence how the original collagen protein is broken apart and the peptide profile that remains in the finished ingredient.

That means two manufacturers could start with similar collagen, and both finished products could legitimately say:

Hydrolyzed Bovine Collagen Peptides

Yet the peptide mixtures in those two products wouldn't necessarily be identical.

That's important.

The animal source tells me something about where the collagen started.

The collagen type tells me something about the original collagen structure.

But the hydrolysis process also helps determine what peptides end up in the finished ingredient.

So seeing “bovine collagen” or “Types I & III” on the front of a container doesn't tell me the entire story.

It tells me where the collagen started. It doesn't necessarily tell me what peptide profile ended up in the scoop.

That's When I Realized I Was Asking the Wrong Question

I started out asking:

Which type of collagen is best?

Eventually, my questions became:

What specific collagen-peptide preparation is this?

How was it produced?

What has it actually been studied for?

What dose was studied?

And am I getting that amount in the product?

That's what led me away from simply trying to collect more collagen types.

It led me toward specialized collagen peptides.

Specific Peptides Can Be Produced for Different Purposes

Controlled enzymatic hydrolysis can be used to create particular and reproducible peptide profiles.

But there's an important distinction here.

A manufacturer doesn't simply press a button marked “tendon peptides” and automatically create a clinically useful ingredient.

The peptide profile has to be characterized, tested and ultimately studied to determine what it actually does.

That's the concept that interested me about GELITA's Bioactive Collagen Peptides®, including FORTIGEL®, TENDOFORTE® and VERISOL®.

All three are collagen-peptide preparations.

But they're not being used interchangeably.

FORTIGEL® — Cartilage

FORTIGEL is a specific collagen-peptide preparation studied for cartilage and joint health.

What interested me wasn't simply that it supplied more collagen. Research suggests these specific peptides can stimulate cartilage cells and increase the production of components involved in the cartilage matrix.

In simpler terms, we're interested not only in supplying nutritional material, but also in the signals these particular peptides may provide to cells involved in maintaining cartilage.

And here's an interesting wrinkle: published FORTIGEL research has used peptides derived from Type I collagen, even though cartilage itself is particularly rich in Type II collagen.

That alone shows why simply matching the Roman numeral you consume to the collagen type in the tissue doesn't tell the whole story.

TENDOFORTE® — Tendons and Ligaments

TENDOFORTE takes the same general concept and focuses it on tendons and ligaments.

Research suggests these specific peptides can stimulate tendon cells and increase production of components involved in the tendon matrix. Human research has also studied these peptides alongside exercise in people with Achilles tendinopathy.

That's what got my attention.

I wasn't looking for another scoop of generic protein.

I wanted specific peptides with research relevant to the tissue I was trying to support.

VERISOL® — Skin

VERISOL applies the concept to skin.

These specific collagen peptides have been studied for their effects on skin cells and in human trials measuring outcomes such as wrinkles and skin elasticity.

So look at what we have:

FORTIGEL → cartilage

TENDOFORTE → tendons and ligaments

VERISOL → skin

All three are collagen peptides.

But the interesting question isn't simply which animal they came from or which Roman numeral described the starting collagen.

The interesting question is what peptide profile resulted—and what those specific peptides have actually been studied to do.

That was a major change in the way I thought about collagen.

What About Marine vs. Bovine vs. Porcine Collagen?

The source isn't meaningless.

Different sources can have different compositions and sourcing considerations, and the source and manufacturing process can influence the finished peptide mixture.

But I wouldn't choose a hydrolyzed collagen simply because the package says:

MARINE COLLAGEN

or

GRASS-FED BOVINE COLLAGEN

and assume that tells me which product will do more for my joints.

I'd rather know:

What is the finished peptide preparation?

How was it produced?

What has that specific ingredient been studied for?

And is there enough of it in the product to match the research?

For me, those questions became considerably more useful than simply asking whether the collagen started with a cow, pig or fish.

Undenatured Type II Collagen Is Different

There's one important exception to this discussion.

Undenatured Type II collagen.

With hydrolyzed collagen, we're deliberately breaking the large collagen structure into smaller peptides.

With undenatured Type II collagen, we want to preserve its natural three-dimensional structure.

Why?

Because research suggests that intact structure is important to the way undenatured Type II collagen interacts with the immune system through the digestive tract—a process generally described as oral tolerance.

That's a very different mechanism from simply supplying grams of collagen peptides.

It's also why researched amounts of undenatured Type II can be measured in milligrams rather than grams.

So hydrolyzed Type II collagen and undenatured Type II collagen shouldn't automatically be treated as the same thing just because both say “Type II.”

How the collagen is processed matters.

I Could Have Made Another Collagen Powder

Once I understood all of this, I could have made another general collagen supplement.

But that wasn't what I wanted.

I've spent decades training and coaching people, and eventually something becomes very apparent:

Muscle isn't always what determines how long you can keep training. Sometimes your joints become the limiting factor.

You may still want to lift.

You may still feel like an athlete.

But your knees, shoulders, elbows, tendons and other connective tissues have to keep cooperating.

So I wasn't asking:

How can I make another collagen powder?

I was asking:

What are some of the best researched ingredients available today that I can put together to provide a higher level of support for the different needs of the joint?

That's where this formula came from.

For the Person Who Wants More Than Regular Collagen

Maybe you're already taking collagen.

Maybe you've taken it for years and you're perfectly happy with it.

But perhaps you're wondering whether you've gotten about as much as you're going to get from a general collagen powder.

Is there another level?

That's the person I had in mind when I developed Specialized Collagen Peptides.

I wanted something focused on maintenance, performance and the normal remodeling of connective tissue.

Cartilage.

Tendons and ligaments.

Joint lubrication.

Undenatured Type II collagen for another approach to joint support.

And skin, because if we're already using specialized collagen peptides, I saw no reason to ignore it.

I didn't want to create another collagen supplement just for the sake of having one.

I wanted to ask what some of the better ingredients science offers today could contribute to keeping joints performing and supporting them as the years and workouts accumulate.

The goal wasn't to collect as many collagen types as possible.

The goal was specificity.

So What Type of Collagen Is Best?

After researching all of this, I don't think that's quite the right question.

If you're comparing hydrolyzed collagen products, I wouldn't automatically choose the one advertising the greatest number of collagen types.

Instead, ask:

What am I trying to accomplish?

Then:

What specific ingredient has been researched for that purpose?

Then:

Am I getting the researched amount?

That's ultimately how I approached the formulation.

I didn't need more collagen types.

I needed more specificity.

That's why I call the product Specialized Collagen Peptides.

Internally, I've sometimes called the concept “Collagen 2.0”—not because there's a newly discovered type of collagen, but because I wanted to take the basic idea of collagen supplementation to another level.

For someone who's already taking regular collagen and wondering what comes next, I think that's a much more useful question than counting Roman numerals on the front of the canister.

---

Michael Wohltmann, CSCS, ACSM-EP
President, Epoch Nutrition Sciences

Frequently Asked Questions

How many types of collagen are there?
Scientists have identified 28 collagen types in vertebrates. Types I, II and III account for much of the collagen in the human body, while many of the remaining types perform more specialized roles.

Is Type I, II or III collagen best for joints?
There isn't a simple “best type” based solely on the Roman numeral. With hydrolyzed collagen, factors such as the resulting peptide profile, processing method, researched application and dose can be more informative than simply choosing a product based on collagen type.

Is marine collagen better than bovine collagen?
Not necessarily. Marine and bovine collagen have different sources and characteristics, but the animal source alone doesn't establish that one hydrolyzed collagen will provide better joint support. The finished peptide preparation and research behind it matter too.

Are all hydrolyzed collagen peptides the same?
No. The source material and hydrolysis process can influence the resulting peptide mixture. Different enzymes and processing conditions can produce different peptide profiles, which is one reason two ingredients labeled “hydrolyzed collagen peptides” aren't necessarily identical.

What is the difference between hydrolyzed and undenatured Type II collagen?
Hydrolyzed collagen has been broken into smaller peptides. Undenatured Type II collagen intentionally retains its native three-dimensional structure, which is important to its proposed oral-tolerance mechanism. They shouldn't be treated as interchangeable simply because both originated from collagen.

Are more types of collagen better?
There isn't good evidence that simply having more collagen types on a supplement label makes the product more effective. It's more useful to consider the specific ingredient, how it was processed, what it has been studied for and whether the product supplies an appropriate amount.

Looking for More Than General Collagen?

If you're already taking collagen but want a more targeted approach, Epoch Nutrition Sciences Specialized Collagen Peptides was formulated around specific researched ingredients rather than simply trying to include more collagen types.

The formula combines specialized collagen peptides selected for cartilage, tendons, ligaments and skin, along with undenatured Type II collagen, joint-lubrication support and vitamin C.

Explore Specialized Collagen Peptides →

References & Further Reading

Ricard-Blum S. The Collagen Family. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology. 2011. Overview of collagen types, structure and diversity.
Read on PubMed Central

GELITA — Bioactive Collagen Peptides®. Background on controlled enzymatic hydrolysis and specific collagen-peptide profiles.
GELITA Bioactive Collagen Peptides

FORTIGEL® research. Published research examining specific collagen peptides in relation to cartilage and joint health.
FORTIGEL research on PubMed Central

Praet SFE, et al. Oral Supplementation of Specific Collagen Peptides Combined with Calf-Strengthening Exercises Enhances Function and Reduces Pain in Achilles Tendinopathy Patients. Nutrients. 2019.
TENDOFORTE study on PubMed

Proksch E, et al. Research examining specific collagen peptides and skin physiology.
VERISOL research on PubMed

Undenatured Type II collagen research. Research relevant to the distinction between undenatured and hydrolyzed Type II collagen and the proposed oral-tolerance mechanism.
Undenatured Type II collagen research on PubMed