Protein Powder vs Collagen Powder: Which Is Worth Your Money?
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Protein is an essential nutrient for multiple processes and functions in the body, so it is no wonder that the demand for protein supplements keeps going up. When it comes to supplementing with protein, there are a variety of options to choose from. Creatine monohydrate, branched-chain amino acids, protein powder, and collagen powder are some popular ones.
Either option can be worth the money, as protein powder caters to a crowd that prioritizes muscle building, while collagen is more suitable for joint, bone, and skin health. Powdered supplements like protein and collagen powder are particularly easy to incorporate into multiple dishes and meal types.
Some fitness enthusiasts tend to use them interchangeably, but they are quite different. Read on to learn the details about which powder suits your needs best.
Is It Better to Use Collagen Or Protein Powder?
While collagen and protein powder (affiliate link) are both protein supplements, they both have peculiar use cases and merits. So, deciding to use collagen powder or protein powder would depend heavily on your goals.
Apart from your fitness and health goals, other factors that may be important are cost, availability, allergies, and preference. Since you already know this, let’s look at the benefits of both collagen and protein powder to help you make an informed decision.
Benefits of Protein Powder
Muscle Growth and Repair
If you regularly engage in resistance training exercises for muscle growth, protein powder is a great supplement choice. Many processes, such as mechanical tension and metabolic stress, instigate muscle growth during exercise, but what happens after a resistance exercise?
After resistance exercise, the body needs to undergo muscle protein synthesis (MPS), a process that binds amino acids to skeletal muscle proteins. While exercising, your muscles expend a lot of protein, and MPS is the process that replenishes them post-exercise.
To foster MPS, it is advisable to consume some protein not long after a workout. Experts recommend whey protein due to multiple factors, including quick digestion and the essential amino acids it contains. Whey protein is an isolated form of protein that is also in liquid form, so your body can digest it faster than solid dietary protein.
More specifically, however, whey protein powder contains a lot of leucine, which is an important precursor for MPS. Additionally, leucine regulates cell pathways involved in MPS. The presence of leucine in whey protein makes it a superb choice for instigating muscle protein synthesis, which leads to faster recovery from your resistance training.
Also, if you are choosing to only exercise at home, be sure to consider our list of recommended at-home workout equipment (affiliate link) to add variety and resistance to your routine!
Satiety and Weight Management
Protein is the most satiating macronutrient for various reasons, including that ingesting the nutrient releases hormones that reduce appetite, such as glucagon-like-peptide- 1 (GLP- 1), cholecystokinin (CCK), and peptide tyrosine-tyrosine (PYY). These neurotransmitters instigate processes that make you feel full and satiated.
Apart from causing the secretion of hormones that reduce appetite, high-protein diets have also been linked to increased thermogenesis. This simply means that the body uses more energy to metabolize protein than other macronutrients. This increased energy expenditure can contribute to weight loss and management over time.
So, where does protein powder come into all of this? Well, the supplement is a convenient and low-calorie way to increase dietary protein intake, helping to maintain lean muscle mass while lowering body fat percentages. Muscle tissue is metabolically active and burns more calories than fat at rest. Supplementing with protein powder can help to promote muscle gain and fat loss simultaneously by enabling individuals to meet their protein requirements.
Even more, most protein powders are low-calorie, so they offer a good amount of protein in fewer calories. People who want to increase their protein intake while reducing their total calorie consumption can take advantage of this feature.
Convenience and Versatility
In our fast-paced world, maintaining a balanced diet can be challenging, especially for people like bodybuilders and athletes who have high protein needs or dietary restrictions. For such people, protein powders offer a quick and easy solution to meet daily protein requirements without the need for extensive meal prep.
Additionally, protein shakes made with protein powder can be a nutritious meal replacement or snack on the go, providing essential amino acids when whole food options are impractical or unavailable. This is beneficial if you have a busy lifestyle or prefer a post-workout recovery drink as soon as you’re done training. You could take your protein shake along with you to the gym and drink it on your way back.
Aside from convenience, protein powder’s versatility relates to how it can be used in various recipes beyond shakes. You can incorporate it into smoothies, baked goods, and even savory dishes, enhancing meals’ protein content without significantly changing how they taste. This versatility makes it easier to eat a protein-rich diet to foster muscle growth and general health.
There is also a myriad of protein powders available on the market, ranging from whey and casein to soy, pea, and rice. As a result, there are options suitable for most dietary preferences and restrictions, including vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and lactose intolerant. Protein powder’s inclusivity enables all types of people to benefit from protein supplementation, regardless of dietary needs and preferences.
Benefits of Collagen Powder
Supports Skin Health and Aging
Collagen (affiliate link) is an important skin component. It accounts for the skin’s health, elasticity, and overall hydration. However, as we age, the body’s natural collagen production may decline, resulting in visible signs like wrinkles, dryness, and lower skin elasticity. Supplementing the body’s collagen with collagen powder could counteract these effects to an extent and provide the body with more collagen for maintaining and restoring skin health.
Research has shown that regularly consuming oral collagen supplements can help with wound healing and combating skin aging. Oral collagen supplementation, like collagen powders, has also been shown to significantly improve skin hydration and elasticity, reducing the depth of wrinkles.
We can attribute these benefits to collagen supplements’ ability to stimulate the body’s collagen production process. Collagen also facilitates the production of other proteins that support skin health, like elastin and fibrillin, resulting in firmer, more hydrated skin.
Even more, collagen can protect against UV-induced skin damage. Clinical studies postulate that supplementing with collagen peptides can fight irradiation caused by ultraviolet rays, mitigating effects such as moisture loss and wrinkle formation.
Bone Health Enhancement
Bones are primarily made of collagen, and as aging occurs, collagen production decreases. This means that bone mass also decreases. In the long run, this bone mass decrease could result in conditions like osteoporosis and similar joint health problems. Collagen supplements can contribute to bone health by stimulating the production of new bone tissue and mitigating the effects that aging has on bones.
A 2018 study found that collagen peptides can increase bone mineral density (BMD). BMD is a measure of the amount of minerals in the bone, and higher BMD is associated with stronger bones and a low risk of bone and joint problems.
In addition to boosting bone density, collagen supplementation will also support overall bone strength and reduce the chances of fractures happening. Collagen powder is a simple, convenient way to supplement with collagen orally and reap these benefits.
Improves Joint Health
Collagen not only makes up our bones but also our joints. It is an essential structural protein found in various connective tissues and a major component of cartilage, the tissue that cushions joints and fosters smooth movement. Owing to multiple factors, including age and nutrient deficiencies, cartilage can deteriorate, causing joint pain and aches.
Protein supplementation in the form of collagen powder can provide the necessary components to maintain and rebuild cartilage, improving joint function and alleviating pain. For athletes regularly engaged in physical activity, collagen powder could also serve as a way to maintain joint integrity. Activities like heavy lifts, sprints, jumps, and twists would cause wear to the joints over time. In this regard, collagen powder is a great protein supplement.
Do I Need to Take Protein Powder If I Take Collagen?
Collagen powder has specific benefits like joint, bone, and skin health. However, protein powder is a far more effective supplement for muscle growth because it has a complete amino acid profile. Also, protein powder typically contains leucine, which is an important precursor for muscle protein synthesis.
So, if you need supplementation in order to meet your protein requirements or to build muscle, using protein powder, even though you already use collagen powder, is advisable.
Can Protein Powder Replace Collagen Powder?
Collagen powder, obtained from animal tissue, has a unique set of amino acids that protein powders may generally not have. Since it is made from animal collagen sources, collagen powder would provide specific benefits for skin, hair, bone, and even nail health that protein powder may not offer.
So, while protein powder has a complete protein profile, it cannot completely erode collagen powder’s usefulness. If you need collagen supplementation because of its specific benefits, you should go ahead and use collagen powder. If you also need protein supplementation for athletic or muscle-building reasons, you can use protein powder simultaneously.
Will Collagen Protein Build Muscle?
Collagen protein is rich in specific amino acids like glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline. These proteins are essential for the formation of collagen in the body, supporting bone, skin, and connective tissue structure. In resistance training exercises, the bones, joints, and connective tissues also play a part. Because of this, collagen protein can contribute to the muscle growth and recovery process by supporting the musculoskeletal system.
However, collagen protein lacks a sufficient amount of amino acids, especially branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) like leucine, which plays an essential role in muscle protein synthesis. The lower presence of such amino acids in collagen protein makes it less effective for muscle building when compared to other protein sources.
Owing to this, collagen protein may not be a great standalone option for people looking to optimize their bodies for building muscle. Taking collagen protein for specific benefits like joint and bone health is fine. However, for optimal muscle growth, ensure that you ingest a variety of protein sources, especially those with all the essential amino acids.
Usually, protein from animal sources would have what you need. But if you can’t eat animal protein because of dietary needs or preferences, ensure to vary your plant protein sources. One plant protein source is not likely to have all the essential amino acids. Eating a variety of plant protein sources, however, is a better approach to providing your body with what it needs to build muscle.
Check out our Healthy Transformation Grocery List (affiliate link) for a compiled and convenient list of foods we recommend for anyone trying to gain muscle on a clean diet.
Final Thoughts
There are many variables in choosing the right health supplements, one being your health and fitness goals. The same considerations apply to collagen vs. whey or any other type of protein powder. For muscle growth, which is many people’s reason for exercising, protein powder is the more suitable supplement because of its larger amino acid profile, among other things.
Collagen powder, on the other hand, is also a great supplement, but it is more suited to people who want to improve their skin, joint, bone, and hair health. In deciding between either supplement, what’s really important is defining your goals and then supplementing based on them.
Also, you should remember that supplements cannot outrightly take the place of a healthy diet. Natural protein sources have essential amino acids that are important for both muscle building and joint, bone, and skin health. Vegetables and fruits also have important vitamins and minerals like calcium that are essential to bone health. So, as much as you can, eat whole, natural foods.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does collagen powder really make a difference?
Collagen is essential for many processes in the body and particularly benefits joint, bone, and skin health. Research has also shown that supplementing with collagen can improve how the body functions in these areas. So, collagen powder does make a difference. However, it is essential to consult with a medical professional before you start using a new supplement.
Is collagen good for losing weight?
There is no clear scientific evidence linking collagen supplementation to weight loss. However, like any other protein, collagen could promote satiety and help to preserve muscle mass, which all aid weight and fat loss. It is important to note that losing weight is influenced by various factors, including diet and physical activity. So, while supplements may help, these basics are essential.
Should I take collagen every day?
If you aim to promote skin, joint, or bone health by supplementing with collagen, taking it daily is advisable. However, it is important to consult with a healthcare professional on how often to ingest a new supplement. Also, make sure you source your collagen from trusted brands, as quality is important.
This article has been reviewed by our editorial board and has been approved for publication in accordance with our editorial policy.
