Everyone asks me what collagen to take. Almost nobody asks which type.
I’ve been in this industry since the 1990s. I’ve watched collagen go from a niche joint supplement to a $50-a-tub powder that half of America is adding to their morning coffee. And in all that time, the conversation hasn’t changed much. People ask about dose. They argue about dose. They compare grams per serving like it’s the only number that matters.
It isn’t.
The question you should be asking is: which type? Because 5 grams of the right collagen, correctly sourced and paired, will outperform 20 grams of a generic mixed powder every single time. That’s not marketing. That’s biochemistry.
The Five Types — and Why Each One Is Different
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body. There are 28 known types, but for practical purposes — and for what we put in Perfect Collagen® — five of them matter. Most brands offer one or two. We use all five, each sourced independently.
The Workhorse.
Found in skin, tendons, ligaments, and bone. This is what people mean when they talk about “anti-aging” collagen — it’s responsible for skin elasticity, hair structure, and nail strength. Sourced from grass-fed, pasture-raised bovine and wild-caught marine fish. If your goal is skin, hair, or nails, this is your primary target.
The Joint Specialist.
Found almost exclusively in cartilage. If you have joint pain, mobility issues, or you’re an athlete with high-impact training volume, Type II is doing the heavy lifting. The catch: it needs to be undenatured to work. Heat-processed collagen loses its biological activity. We source ours from chicken sternum cartilage — one of the few tissues where undenatured Type II is reliably preserved.
The Companion Protein.
Usually found alongside Type I in skin, blood vessels, and internal organs. It supports skin hydration and structural integrity — think of it as Type I’s co-pilot. Grass-fed bovine collagen naturally contains both, which is one reason source quality matters so much.
The Cellular Architect.
Found in corneal tissue, hair follicles, bone matrix, placenta, liver, and muscle matrix. It plays a role in collagen fibril formation — meaning it helps organize how the other types are laid down in tissue. Underappreciated. Rarely included. We source it from eggshell membrane, which also provides naturally occurring hyaluronic acid and glucosamine.
The Bone Builder.
Found in cartilage and new bone formation. Especially relevant for joint and bone health — works synergistically with Type II. Also sourced from chicken bone broth hydrolysate in our formula.
Source Is Everything
Here’s where the supplement industry gets sloppy. Not all sources of the same collagen type are created equal. Grass-fed, pasture-raised bovine hide gives you a fundamentally different amino acid profile than feedlot-sourced bovine. Wild-caught marine collagen has smaller peptide chains that cross the gut barrier more efficiently than farmed fish collagen.
When we formulated Perfect Collagen®, I spent eight months sourcing each type individually from five distinct food-based sources: grass-fed bovine, wild-caught marine fish, chicken bone broth, chicken sternum cartilage, and eggshell membrane. I wasn’t looking for a manufacturer who could blend five types together in one vat. I wanted the best source for each type, independently. That’s more expensive. It’s slower. Most brands don’t do it. But it’s the only way to control quality across all five.
“10 grams of poorly sourced, heat-degraded collagen does almost nothing. 5 grams of properly sourced, low-temperature hydrolyzed collagen from the right tissue type changes your skin in 8 weeks.”
The Dose Myth — and Why It Persists
The reason everyone talks about dose is because it’s easy to put on a label. “10g Collagen” looks impressive. “2.5g Type II Undenatured Collagen from Grass-Fed New Zealand Bovine” takes up three lines. Marketing teams default to the big number because consumers have been trained to equate more with better. It’s why the top-selling collagen brands are all selling essentially the same incomplete formula — just in different packaging.
The clinical literature tells a different story. Studies showing significant skin improvement use as little as 2.5g to 5g daily of the right hydrolyzed peptide. The joint studies for Type II collagen use 40mg of undenatured collagen — 40 milligrams, not grams. The dose ceiling is lower than you think. The type ceiling is much higher than most people realize.
What I Actually Take
Every morning, without exception, I mix one scoop of Perfect Collagen® into my coffee or a glass of water. It dissolves instantly — no clumping, no residue, no taste. I’ve been doing this for years. My joint mobility is measurably better. My skin looks better now, in my mid-50s, than it did a decade ago.
I spent eight months building a formula I couldn’t find anywhere else. That’s the only reason I’m telling you this.
We also include Organic Vitamin C specifically because collagen synthesis requires ascorbic acid as a cofactor. Without it, your body can’t efficiently convert the collagen peptides into new tissue. Most collagen products ignore this. We don’t.
The Bottom Line
Stop chasing the highest gram count on the label. Start asking: which types are in here? Where were they sourced? How were they processed? Is there Vitamin C included?
Those are the questions that separate a formula that works from one that just looks good on a shelf.
The supplement industry has spent years training you to look at the wrong number. Now you know which one to look at instead.
