Did you know that in its pure form, collagen isn’t something we humans can easily digest? That’s why most collagen supplements first go through the process of hydrolyzation. It breaks down the collagen into peptides, which are smaller and more digestible.
The product is what we call hydrolyzed collagen, which comes in many forms. Among its popular forms are powder and pills, but what’s the difference between them? How do you know which one should you take to achieve your goal?
Whatever you’re hoping to achieve with collagen supplements, the differences between collagen powder vs pills should be the same. Keep on reading to find out what makes them different and how you can choose between them.
Collagen Powder vs Pills: Advantages and Disadvantages
Collagen powder and pills, at their core, are the same. The only major difference is the delivery method. You take a collagen pill like any other pill, while you mix collagen powder to a liquid, which you then drink.
Aside from that obvious observation, though, let’s look at its other differences that can help you decide which side you should take in the collagen powder vs pills debate.
Portability
This is a measure of how easy it is to bring a collagen supplement when you have to travel. You have to follow a routine to keep enjoying the benefits of collagen. You have to make sure you can take it everywhere you go.
Collagen Pills
Collagen pills are so small that you can bring it everywhere you go. When you need to take it, you only need a sip of water. This is better when you’re always on the go or when you’re on vacation. The disadvantage is that you generally wont see more than 500-600mg/capsule, without it becoming the size of a horse pill. If you’re consuming 10,000mg of powder/day, that would require about 20 pills/day. Type 2 collagen is fine in a capsule because the body requires less/day.
Collagen Powder
Collagen powder can be hard to bring with you on trips outside your home. If you need to bring it with you, you need to bring the whole can or at least a portion of it. Still, that’s a sizable amount that you can’t call it portable and practical.
If you need to take it while out, you can dump the powder into the water. You need to make sure it mixes evenly.
Convenience
When you’re excited, it’s easy to motivate yourself into drinking a supplement. But when it becomes a chore, can you make sure you can stick to your routine?
Collagen Pills
Taking a collagen pill is, by far, more convenient than mixing the powder into your drinks. You can have it anytime – during your breakfast, lunch, or your 15-minute break in the office. If you remember not taking it as you’re walking out the door, you can hurry back to the kitchen to fetch a glass of water and take a pill.
It’s also an incentive for you to religiously follow your routine. If it’s easy to do in a few seconds, you won’t mind popping a pill at the designated times, even when you’re stuck somewhere else.
Collagen Powder
Powdered collagen, on the other hand, takes a few steps before it becomes edible. You need to make sure to have enough time to mix it properly. To its credit, though, it dissolves quite quickly.
Bioavailability
Bioavailability refers to the absorption rate of a supplement. In particular, it represents how much of the product makes it into your bloodstream. Note that a supplement needs to be in circulation to have an active effect on your body.
The better its bioavailability is, the better the body absorbs it. If it has low bioavailability, that means much of the product goes to waste. The best Hydrolyzed Collagen (HC) products have a low molecular weight with a a 95% bioavailability. Your typical meats have a 27% bioavailability, so HC is almost 4 times more bioavailability.
Collagen Pills
The pill form also hinders bioavailability. The body needs to break down the form first before the collagen molecules become able to enter the bloodstream.
Collagen Powder
The body digests liquids quite well. This means you’re getting more out of the powder form than the pill form with the same dosage.
Dosage
How does the form of collagen affect the dosage? We’ll learn below.
Collagen Pills
With collagen pills, you can increase or decrease your daily dosage by adding or reducing the number of pills take. However, that’s pretty much all you can do about it. You’re stuck with how much one pill contains.
If you want to take 10g of collagen per day, for instance, but the pill has 500 mg (0.5g), there’s no easy way to divide a pill so that they all add up to 10g. The most you can do is halve it, which isn’t even possible in some cases.
Collagen Powder
In powder form, a collagen supplement is much easier to measure. You can use the scoop for measuring. If you need to be more accurate, you can take out a kitchen scale to get your dose for the day.
Versatility
How can there be versatility in taking supplements? Well, you have to be creative in taking medications and vitamins sometimes, right?
Collagen Pills
There’s not much versatility in collagen tablets, like with any other tablet. You either take it or you don’t. You can’t mix it with other food items to make drinking one easier, for instance.
This can become a problem for the 40% of Americans who have a problem swallowing a pill. Although there are techniques some people use to make taking it easier for them.
Collagen Powder
The powder form makes it very versatile. Collagen supplements, in particular, can go with any cold or hot drink. You can mix it with your coffee, protein shake, orange juice, or a plain glass of water.
It’s tasteless for the most part, too, so mixing it with your drinks won’t ruin the drink. You can even mix it with your soup, as long as you finish it all. This also makes it easy to take your supplement during meal times.
Buy High-Quality Collagen Supplement
In collagen powder vs pills, the right answer is the one that works best for you. You have to consider your personality and your lifestyle to see which one best fits you.
Whichever you choose, though, the more important thing is that you only buy high-quality supplements. Make sure you’re getting what you pay for. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.
