What collagen supplementation is doing
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body and a major structural component of skin. Production declines with age.
Ingested collagen is digested like any other protein. It does not travel intact to your skin and become collagen there. The proposed mechanism is that certain collagen-derived peptides survive digestion in small quantities and may act as signals to fibroblasts, alongside supplying the amino acids used to build collagen.
Hydrolysis and molecular weight
Hydrolysis breaks collagen into shorter peptide chains before you take it. Native collagen runs to around 300,000 daltons. Ordinary hydrolysed collagen typically sits between 3,000 and 5,000. Innour state theirs at 2,000, which places it at the lower end of the range.
The argument is that smaller peptides cross the intestinal wall more readily, so more reaches circulation as peptides rather than being broken down entirely into individual amino acids.
There is reasonable support for this. Specific short peptides, particularly prolyl-hydroxyproline, have been detected in blood after ingestion of hydrolysed collagen, and these are the fragments proposed to act as signals rather than simply as protein.
Worth knowing that molecular weight is an average across a distribution rather than a single value, and that most brands do not publish a figure at all. Quoting one is a point in Innour's favour regardless of the number.
Why marine
Marine collagen is predominantly type I, the type most abundant in skin. Its peptides are smaller than bovine collagen's. Both are cited as reasons for better absorption.
Vitamin C
The flavoured versions include vitamin C. This one does not.
That matters more than it might sound. Vitamin C is an essential cofactor for prolyl and lysyl hydroxylase, the enzymes that stabilise collagen during synthesis. Without adequate vitamin C, collagen cannot form properly regardless of how much protein is available.
Most people get enough from diet, so this is unlikely to be a practical limitation. But if your intake is low, or if you would rather the two came together, the flavoured versions include it.
A single ingredient
This version contains marine collagen and nothing else. No fruit powder, no natural flavouring, no sweetener.
That makes it the most versatile of the three, since it can go into coffee, smoothies or food without changing the taste. It is also the best value per serve, because the flavoured tubs weigh more for the same amount of collagen.
What's in it
Hydrolysed French marine collagen at 5g per serve. Single ingredient, no flavouring, no sweetener.
Every batch is independently tested in a NATA-certified laboratory for stability, nutritional accuracy, and the absence of heavy metals and contaminants.
