Type-II Collagen

Collagen supplements are taken in one of two different forms, either in the form of hydrolyzed collagen or in the form of an undenatured type II collagen; both forms have different dosing strategies and while their benefits may share some similarities can be considered two different supplements.

Hydrolyzed collagen is taken in doses of around 10g a day for skin health and some benefits to joints, and can be taken with meals. It should not be taken in higher doses as a protein supplement (for muscle gain and fat loss) due to having less efficacy than other protein sources and a lackluster amino acid profile.

Undenatured collagen is taken at a lower dose of approximately 40mg once daily for the treatment of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis when there is an autoimmune component to it, and while it doesn't need to be taken at any particular time of the day it may be ideal to take it on an empty stomach before breakfast.

The Human Effect Matrix looks at human studies (it excludes animal and in vitro studies) to tell you what effects type-ii collagen has on your body, and how strong these effects are.

Grade	Level of Evidence [show legend]
	Robust research conducted with repeated double-blind clinical trials
	Multiple studies where at least two are double-blind and placebo controlled
	Single double-blind study or multiple cohort studies
	Uncontrolled or observational studies only

Level of Evidence ? The amount of high quality evidence. The more evidence, the more we can trust the results.	Outcome	Magnitude of effect ? The direction and size of the supplement's impact on each outcome. Some supplements can have an increasing effect, others have a decreasing effect, and others have no effect.	Consistency of research results ? Scientific research does not always agree. HIGH or VERY HIGH means that most of the scientific research agrees.	Notes
	Pain	Minor	High See all 5 studies	Limited research suggests a small benefit for osteoarthritis patients and a modest benefit for those with rheumatoid arthritis. It's unclear what the optimal dose is, and it may depend on the form. 1 mg of solubilized collagen, 10 g of hydrolyzed collagen, and 40 mg of undenatured collagen are all supported by research, while 20 mcg of native collagen actually coincided with a greater reduction in rheumatoid arthritis pain than higher doses in one study.
	Exercise-induced Joint Pain	Minor	- See study	One study in healthy people with joint discomfort during exercise found that those taking 40 mg of undenatured collagen could exercise somewhat longer without getting sore than the placebo group. Notable effects were only seen after taking collagen for 2-3 months but persisted for up to 6 months.
	Symptoms of Osteoarthritis	Minor	- See 2 studies	Limited research suggests a reduction in pain, but the studies available don't provide evidence for an improvement in the other symptoms.
	Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis	Minor	Very High See all 3 studies	Limited research suggested an improvement in pain, swelling, stiffness, and tenderness.
	C-Reactive Protein	-	- See study	One study in rheumatoid arthritis patients reported that collagen didn't seem to influence c-reactive protein, but they didn't provide the data.
	Immunoglobulin A	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study on rheumatoid arthritis.
	Immunoglobulin G	-	- See study	No apparent effect in one study on rheumatoid arthritis.

Studies Excluded from Consideration

Note: The above HEM contains information on both hydrolyzed collagen supplements and undenatured collagen supplements despite significant dose differences between the two

• Used alongside calcitonin injections^[1]

• Confounded with chondroitin and hyaluronic acid^[2]