Hello again,

A recurring question I get asked is - "is bone broth the same as taking collagen peptides?"

So I guess this is a question a lot of people have.

The answer is that bone broth is like collagen + because bone broth has more than just collagen, and this is not a small difference.

Bone broth is a great source of collagen but it also contains things like glucosamine (glycosaminoglycan; GAG) and hyaluronic acid (proteoglycan;PG).

In the body a high percentage of the protein is collagen, so having a good supply in the diet is important. The collagen forms into fibres with a helical structure but without other molecules to connect these fibrils together collagen wouldn't have the structural integrity to be useful. See below image:

You can see from this image that collagen fibrils are interspersed with glucosamine, hyaluronan and water. Its the proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans that cross link the collagen and give it strength. Structured, gel-like, water then fills the spaces giving even more strength to the tissue.

Like with collagen, as we age, less glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans are produced by the body - probably because it was more efficient to get it from the diet than maintain the machinery to produce it (this is a recurring principle in human physiology).

So, along with getting adequate collagen in our modern diets, it's also important to make sure we are consuming enough GAG and PG. This will ensure the increased collagen in tissues is well structured and can hydrate sufficiently.

Supplementing with GAG and PG has shown scientifically to have other benefits such as for joints and gut health. But maybe more about that in another post.

Thanks for reading!

Links to Scientific Papers:

Biology of collagen - proteoglycan interaction

Distinct effects of different matrix proteoglycans on collagen fibrillogenesis and cell-mediated collagen reorganization

 *I have simplified the proteoglycan description here for brevity and ease of understanding.