In this episode, I’m breaking down collagen and why it matters more than you might think as you age.

After a conversation about my own eyesight, I started digging into how collagen declines over time and how that impacts skin, joints, bones, and more. This episode walks through the different types of collagen, what to look for on labels, and how to actually use it in a way that makes sense.

I also share what the research shows, how much you need to see results, and why consistency matters if you want to notice a difference.

I’m inviting you to join me in a simple 30-day collagen challenge so you can test this instead of guessing.

👉 Join the collagen challenge: https://www.christabiegler.com/collagen

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

✨ How collagen declines with age
✨ The most important types of collagen and where they work
✨ What to look for in a quality collagen supplement
✨ How much you actually need to see results
✨ Why consistency matters

📢 Sponsor Shoutout: Jigsaw Health

This episode is sponsored by Jigsaw Health. I’ve personally been to their warehouse and seen the level of care they put into their products.

Their collagen is grass-fed, includes hyaluronic acid for added hydration support, and is third-party tested with results available for full transparency.

If you’re looking for a high-quality option, this is one I trust and use.

👉 Get 10% off your order with code LESSSTRESSED10 at jigsawhealth.com.

❓Questions for Christa? Submit them here: https://www.christabiegler.com/questions

WHERE TO FIND CHRISTA:
Website: https://www.christabiegler.com/
Instagram: @anti.inflammatory.nutritionist
Podcast Instagram: @lessstressedlife
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lessstressedlife
More Links + Quizzes: https://www.christabiegler.com/links
Protocols: https://www.christabiegler.com/protocolshop

NUTRITION PHILOSOPHY OF LESS STRESSED LIFE:
🍽️ Over restriction is dead
🥑 Whole food is soul food and fed is best
🔄 Sustainable, synergistic nutrition is in (the opposite of whack-a-mole supplementation & supplement graveyards)
🤝 You don’t have to figure it out alone
❤️ Do your best and leave the rest

TRANSCRIPT:

[00:00:00] Christa Biegler, RD: I'm your host Christa Biegler, and I'm going to guess we have at least one thing in common that we're both in pursuit of a less stressed life. On the show, I'll be interviewing experts and sharing clinical pearls from my years of practice to support high performing health savvy women in pursuit of abundance and a less stressed life.

One of my beliefs is that we always have options for getting the results we want. So let's see what's out there together. 

Hey, and welcome back to The Less Stressed Life podcast. I got so excited getting prepped for this show. I procrastinated recording it for a while, but as I was digging in to the behind the scenes, the labels, et cetera, for this show, I figured out some things that I didn't realize before. So I can't wait to share them with you and for us to start anti-aging together because I'm going to suggest we have a little accountability challenge around this, and I'll get to the point here in a moment, but.

It has been about 10 years since I've done any kind of accountability challenge and in this world of robots, I could use some real interaction with humans. So we're gonna do that together. Okay, so here's the story on collagen and while we're having this conversation about collagen today, several months ago I was driving home with my optometrist friend.

We were on a long road trip home together. And I was complaining about my eyesight. I was lamenting about my eyesight and my aging and my second eyeball surgery, and she said, so she's. Such a lovely nerd, my favorite kind of person, and she said, so matter of factly and simply, and I hope I don't butcher it too much, she said, oh, it's just because you are the prisms and your eyeballs are collapsing because you're losing collagen.

And it was like a light bulb went off. Has anyone ever said something to you that you can't stop thinking about? And it reminded me of, I knew that our collagen declined with age, but it got me thinking. Is collagen, the actual answer to aging. And so I wanted to dig into, I've been wanting to dig into the types of collagen for a long time, so let's dig into the types of collagen, why and why it matters where it matters, and especially for those of us that are now over 20 or over 30, or approaching our forties and what it means for us.

First up, I don't know about you. I am the kind of person who is more likely to do something. When my interest has been renewed around it, right? When I know the why, and so we can know the, that protein is good for us. We can know that we need enough protein and sometimes we still need someone to like.

Tell us something new and interesting to be, to have our interests renewed. So I hope that this episode does that for you because it certainly did it to me. Okay, so let's talk about collagen in general. And this is timely in a way because everyone's talking about peptides all the time, and we've been using peptides in the world of nutrition and health and pharmaceuticals, et cetera, for many years.

And so collagen is a few types of peptides. In fact, collagen is the most abundant protein in the body. It makes up about 30% of the body's total protein, and it provides structure overall to the skin, to the bones, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, gut lining, blood vessels. So there's actually about 28 different types of collagen, but most of what's in the human body is type one.

And very often the press or what we hear about collagen. Is in type one or type three, you don't hear about type two as much. I didn't even know that there was a type five. Obviously there's 28 types, but really you just hear about type one and type three. And what can be a little bit confusing sometimes is on labels.

It doesn't always say type one and type three. It may actually use the brand name. So I'm gonna go talk about that a little bit today as well. So here's why I am more interested in this topic than I have been in the past. So when you know something, it's different than when you're experiencing it, right?

So in our mid twenties, collagen production decreases by about 1% per year, and by the time we reach our forties and fifties, hello, I'm there. The decline becomes more noticeable. This is what's holding our hair follicles in, right? This is the stuff that's affecting. When people start having crepey skin or more thin skin, women lose up to 30% of their collagen within five years after menopause because of estrogen decline.

And then there's certain things that will accelerate the loss of collagen s like the normal oxidative stress type things like smoking, chronic stress, which is really any of us at any given time because it will impair collagen production overall. Of course, poor sleep or even lots of sugar intake.

So let's talk about the types of collagen. So I mentioned that type one and type three are the most common. So type one is the structural strength, like joints and bones, whereas type three is more. Tissues vessels, intestinal lining. And so it is it can also be like, it can also be considered for skin health, but both type one and type three work for skin health overall.

And so when they're combined, they actually help each other have good help. You have good skin health as well as hair and nail strength. Both types are dec decreasing as the body ages, so that's, I already talked about the crepey skin, the thinner skin, less flexible connective tissues, and I'm curious about other things as well.

So when I'm inviting you to my free collagen challenge, I put in there. So my things that I would like is I have like crackle and pops in my joints, which when I Google this, it's related to mobility and just sit after sitting. It just happens after sitting. But if I've been up and moving for a while so I'm really curious if I can make a difference from this.

Okay. So we talked a little bit about type one and type three, really like type two is also joint type five, it's eyes, et cetera. I looked into. The types of collagen a little bit more in the eyes because of my friend's comment about my collagen collapsing in my eye, and that's the reason my eyeballs are aging and declining, but.

There's actually all the types of collagen in the eye, so it depends. I'm gonna have to dig, I'm gonna have to ask the optometrist Hey, is it my cornea that I'm really interested in? Because that's mostly type one, but it also has type five, whereas we're not really seeing type five in supplements, and so you're really just getting like type one and three most of the time, maybe a little bit of type two.

Okay, so this episode in Full Transparency, as is the podcast right now sponsored by Jigsaw Health and I do, but I dug into something and I found this really interesting. So Jigsaw, I've been to their warehouse actually pretty recently. I was at their warehouse visiting Ashley and Patrick. They were giving me a tour around, I was checking out all of the things, and they do have a commitment to really high standards for health.

So even though they don't blaze, it's not blasted really in huge letters on their collagen boost. It is a grass fed. Collagen peptide mix and it also has hyaluronic acid. Now a lot of, I started to look up other collagens that I have used in the past, and so for example, there's one, I won't name any other names, but there is a collagen I have used in the past.

It's a professional grade collagen, and it says very clearly on the label type one and three. I think it said type one, three. I knew it did in the label when I was using it, and I had used it really intentionally once with an injury. And I saw a really significant improvement in that injury really quickly with the tissue healing overall.

So as I was digging into the behind the scenes. The labels are identical. It appears that they are coming from the same source. It appears that the bottles are the same size, and I don't know that jigsaw would appreciate me highlighting this, but Jigsaw's collagen boost for the same product is $20 cheaper than the other professional grade one that I ha I know had worked really well.

The only difference is that jigsaw's adding hyaluronic acid and when you add hyaluronic acid. The collagen is like the structure and the hyaluronic acid will hold a lot of fluid weight, and so it'll provide the moisture or the hydration so it can actually improve. It'll probably, when you put those two things together, it probably helps with skin hydration and elasticity a little bit better, and overall joint elasticity working better.

So essentially just getting a little more bang for your buck overall. When you're picking out your collagen, it's amazing if the back of label. And so for anyone looking on video, it's amazing if the back of the label where the nutrition facts are, gives you the exact source or name of the collagen.

They don't have to, it's optional information. So when you're seeing that, it's a really good sign for transparency. And I love also, I don't know if you've ever looked up products online, but a lot of times the label is buried on the website if the label is front and center or easy to find, very good sign, or if there's third party data there.

One thing I do love about Jigsaw is that every single one of their products is third party lab tested, and they'll give you the results posted online for everyone to see. So I love that about them. Anyone can say what you can't say whatever you want on front of package labeling. But it's not pr it's not super regulated, right?

It's a little bit of an honor system on front of package labeling, but on the backside that is technically regulated. There is again, a little bit of scouts honor scenario until the FDA comes after you. But anytime you're, they're actually labeling what kind of peptide complex. So this one says.

Collagen peptide complex, and it says from these trademarked types of collagen, and they're called forti gel for bone and rasol. So it doesn't, I couldn't find, it doesn't clearly say like type one or three. So I looked this up. I got, I dug into these types of trademarked collagen. So again, this is a grass fed collagen.

A European grassfed co European source grad Grassfed collagen. And the rasol is for, it is type one and three collagen, and it's for skin and nails and hair. And the for to bone is for, as you could probably guess, the bone stability overall. And the for to gel is for joint mobility. And so they, the reason they trademark these things is because then I think this is how it works.

When you trademark these things, you can then, it's. It has to do with how they're doing research around the product. And as you can imagine, there's some challenges when you're in the nutraceutical space. Who's paying for the research typically, and usually the company needs to pay for the research.

So they'll trademark their product to try to make it a little more proprietary. That proprietary that way. Because the challenge is maybe you have done something like this. Maybe you said, I tried this thing but it didn't work. And my argument is, what were you trying to see? Did you take an efficacious dose and did you take a high quality product?

What do we know about that product? Some of the other more mainstream collagens. I was looking at their labels. There's no transparency around the peptide version or the collagen peptide version that's in the label, and so we don't actually know where it came from or anything about it overall, whereas these.

The trademarked versions of these peptides. We've got like specific studies overall, and so like forti L for example, is one of the most studied collagen peptides on the market for joint health. It's got about 20 studies and 2,500 participants, and they do that again, so that way they can pro it's, it's just how the world works, right?

It's Hey, if I'm gonna pay for research on this, I wanna be able to sell my own product. And as you probably know, with any kind of supplement or nutraceutical product, there is the person who connects it to you and I, the person who's curating the best quality sources. And then there's the actual source.

So this particular company is coming from this grass-fed source of this specific company. So they provide this collagen product to multiple different supplement companies, and they put their own label and price, et cetera on it. And Jigsaw over here puts their price on it and another professional company.

I have used, puts their price on it, which is 20% higher for the same product. Alright, let's talk about how much collagen is usually in these clinical studies at least. Five to 10 grams. I was surprised by this because so often. The back of package labeling is closer to 15 to 20 grams overall, and what I wanna point out is that every single collagen brand, you do need to look at what it says.

So one of the most common popular brands in the collagen industry. And I think it's probably good for me to say this. Had a lot of press around plastic in their product. It was because the packaging broke. I, is how I understand it. And so there's, there was plastic in the product and I think that could happen to anyone, but especially when you're a big name.

They got a, I think they got a lot of heat for it. I wasn't really paying attention, but they did go to. More paper or cardboard packaging, and now they don't have a scoop in it anymore, which is not really my favorite. So their label says like four tablespoons. I'm pretty, yeah, it's four tablespoons to get this, 20 grams of collagen.

Now as a human, I know what humans are like, and we think that putting putting our hand in something four times is a lot of work. It's just how we are as humans. Whereas if you get a product that has a big old scoop and there's four tablespoons already in it, we're like, no big deal. It was just one scoop, right?

It's like we're hilariously irrational sometimes, and so I. Always check your label at the top of the serving eyes. I know, duh. But just check anyway. Because for example, Jigsaw's two scoops is 17 and a half grams. And this other professional product that is literally has the exact same amount, 17 and a half grams is one scoop.

And so make sure you're getting I, because I recommend to everyone to get around 20 grams of protein for breakfast at least. Shoot for that ballpark. We wanna make sure we're, and you can go higher of course, but we wanna make sure we're getting both of those scoops because half of that I was I was surprised to see that the clinical dosing was often just five to 10 grams overall.

I'm a fan of taking a very significant efficacious dose so I can actually see a big difference. A lot of these studies, they look of course, as many studies do. They actually look at quite a long period of time, at least three months typically. But there are some studies that show some initial improvements within three to four weeks.

Mi makes sense because especially like intestinal lining, for example, that will regenerate like every single week. Whereas different parts, body parts they'll regenerate a little bit longer over time in general. For me, what I've seen as a trend overall, a pattern overall in helping clients is that it usually takes between three to four weeks of really consistent use of an efficacious dose to see a difference.

And so that's the initial benchmark I like to have around people, which is why. I wanna invite you to hang out with me for a month. Just totally no, like you don't even have to give me, I'm not even gonna put your name on my email list. I just put a Google form, my web, my website, krista bigler.com/collagen.

And I just did a really quick survey for both of us because sometimes what we don't track a little bit. We, it's, we're blind to it, right? So I just, I think I put seven questions just rate your, like skin health or rate your joint health or whatnot. And I think I put one freeform thing and on the thank you page it just links out to a group in a separate app.

And so you can join me there. But I have been wanting to do an experiment where I did intentional daily collagen, like every single day. I always think if you're trying to do a habit, just do it in the morning. It's easier to remember, but it doesn't matter what time you do. A lot of people, I'm always surprised to learn that a lot of people don't realize collagen is flavorless.

Unless it's a flavored collagen, which I don't recommend, I've tried. It's flavorless and it's not sensitive to heat up to like many degrees. You can cook with it as well. Now, I would not say don't go put it in your muffins or your pancakes. And call it a day on your scoops, in my opinion for this particular experiment, you can normally, but for this experiment, if you wanna do this experiment with me, I want us to get a good dose, like 15 to 20 grams every day.

I don't care what time of day it is, I don't care how you get it, but it's flavorless. You can put it in food you can heat it in baked products and I definitely recommend that like for sure. Put collagen in your baked products, but it's gonna be hard to get two full scoops in a muffin.

Like it's not gonna happen, is what I'm saying. So if you decide to do this with me, I want us to rate ourselves before we start. And I want to invite you to do this with me because I am a person who thrives with accountability and. I have not gotten around to doing this experiment on my own for months.

In fact, that was part of the reason I was waiting to record this because I wanted to do this for myself for a month and have my family members do it and get data. And so we're just all gonna do it together so I can report on our data after the fact. If you join me one month in May. If you start a little late, who cares?

It's all fine. Like close. Close enough. I'm not, I'm like, if it's close enough good enough. Okay, so we're gonna do that together. You can go to krista bigler.com/collagen. Let me review. So we've got rasol that's for joints and cartilage. Most studied for joint health. We've got the forta bone for the bones, so for anyone that wants to target their bone building cells.

There was a 12 month. Randomized control trial with 131 postmenopausal women with low bone density. And the for to bone group, like people who took this specifically showed a significant increase in bone density. Which is pretty crazy because a lot of the information we're fed about bone health is don't use it, you lose it type thing. But it's like over the time that they were doing collagen, it improved. And I have people ask me stuff like this all the time, so I think this is amazing. It's like it's not over until it's over. And they showed a 4% improvement in the spine and about an 8% improvement in bone mass density in the neck than the control group overall.

They actually followed up with them four years later and continued to, and saw this about the same improvements in those areas compared to the control group overall. So this is pretty, awesome since bone decline can happen, like even before our forties overall. So I'm really leaning in to this topic and it's so funny that this just started by someone nonchalantly saying it's just because the prisons in your eyes are falling apart.

Decaying. I'm like, oh, thank you. I'm decaying. Yes. I forgot. That is actually real life. I am decaying. I'm. I adjust slightly. All right, so the rasol, again, the skin, hair, and nails. This one is this one is stimulating different like collagen and elastin overall. And so this actually worked at a dose of two and a half grams, which is.

Bonkers because we can get like 17 grams. I don't see a negative to this overall. In a double-blind randomized control trial, two and a half grams for two months, produced a signi, a significant reduction in eye wrinkle. What, it's amazing, I think and an 18% elastin increase in the skin, which I'm not sure how they would've measured that overall, but pretty impressive.

I think in a six month study, this rasol increased hair cell division, so like hair growth, essentially like the thing that promotes the hair growth by 31% and hair thickness improved 5% now, six months of Cs, 5% growth. I don't know if everyone would notice it, right? But women's women ages 35 to 55, experience a 10% improvement in skin elasticity in just one month with better hydration overall younger looking skin.

So we better take our before and after pictures. Okay, so we've got a little bit, I had to talk about eyes for a moment. It has every type of collagen overall, the type one and the type five, especially in the cornea, which I think is the thing that affects the eyesight the most. But. I have never seen type five in a product, as I already mentioned.

Okay. What else? So I have to say, what is clinically tested at these specific types of peptides? Is in the literature, but we cannot make any guarantees, which is why we should all take experiments. And I think taking one experiment at a time per month so you can actually see what is going on is absolutely amazing.

So as I mentioned before, usually three to four weeks is a very bare minimum to see a change. And I think like we've gotta go in small chunks of time. But a lot of the research was around two to three or even more months overall. Okay. So I've wanted to do this forever. We're doing it together. We now have a reason.

We are all trying to age less, have better skin elasticity, better eye health, better joint health. I can't wait to see what happens for us. So if you also wanna join me anytime around May is fine. Just go to krista bigler.com/collagen and I've got the form right there. There's also a direct link to the Google form.

In the show notes. As always, you can get 10% off your order from Jigsaw Health. Doesn't matter if it's your first order or your fifth order, they will give you the same discount and the code is less stressed. ten@jigsawhealth.com. I thank you so much for supporting Jigsaw because they support me and they allow me to do this work and ask people nerdy questions, and I cannot wait to see you inside the college and challenge.

So get over there and let's hang out in the month of May.