I tried 5 collagens that did nothing for my arthritis, until the 6th made me open jars again
I tried 5 collagens that did nothing for my arthritis, until the 6th made me open jars again
(the one word the big collagen brands leave off the bag 👇)
Two years ago my arthritis was so bad that I could not do one single thing on my own.
My husband buttoned my shirts. 👕
My daughter opened my jars. 🫙
I went down our stairs sitting on my bottom, like a toddler.
I was 58.
So I did what everyone tells you to do. I bought collagen. Then another one. Then another.
Five bags. $300. Nothing. 😩
Then I found out why, and it is almost embarrassing how simple it is.
this was me. every. single. morning.
Here's my whole year in one little table 👀
| The bag | Joint type? | Helped me? |
|---|---|---|
 Vital ProteinsType 1 & 3 · skin
|
❌ | 😞 |
 Garden of LifeType 1 & 3 · skin
|
❌ | 😞 |
 Obvia sprinkle of cooked Type 2
|
⚠️ | 😞 |
 Elavatemenopause label, skin formula
|
❌ | 😞 |
 The Collagen Co.beauty shake, no Type 2
|
❌ | 😞 |
 Balmve More Than CollagenType 2, never heated · ⭐ 4.6 Trustpilot
|
✅ | 🙌 |
The five that flopped are not bad products. They are skin products. My nails looked fantastic the entire time I couldn't open a jar. 💅
3 things nobody told me about collagen 🤯
1. There's more than one type
Type 1 & 3 goes to skin, hair and nails. Type 2 is what your joint cartilage is made of. Nearly every bag on the shelf is 1 & 3.
💅 Type 1 & 3 → 🦵 Type 22. Most of it has been cooked
Heat does to collagen what it does to an egg. Once it's cooked, it doesn't uncook. The word you want on the bag is undenatured. It just means nobody heated it.
🔥 hydrolysed → ❄️ undenatured3. The joint dose is tiny
The research used 40mg. A pinch! I'd been buying the biggest bags I could carry because surely more is more. It was just more of the wrong thing.
🥄 giant scoop → 🤏 40mg"Two years on the pink one for my nails and my hands just got worse. Went and read my label after this. Type 1 and 3. I had no idea there was more than one kind."
Sandra W.
the 10 second label check 👀
Why the first 5 bags did nothing for me 👎
Quick and honest. None of these are bad products. They're just not joint products.
1. Vital Proteins
The blue one everybody buys first. Me too.- ❌ Type 1 & 3 only. That's skin collagen.
- 🔥 Hydrolysed, so it's been cooked and smashed.
- 😞 Two months. Nothing in my hands, nothing in my knees.
2. Garden of Life
I really wanted this one to work. Lovely clean label.- ❌ Type 1 & 3 again. Zero Type 2.
- 🔥 Hydrolysed too.
- 😞 Same story, prettier bag.
3. Obvi
"5 types of collagen!" on the front. Sounded like the full answer.- ⚠️ There is Type 2 in it, but barely a sprinkle.
- 🔥 And it's the cooked kind, so there's nothing left for your body to recognise.
- 😞 A name on the label isn't the same as enough of it.
4. Elavate
They talk about menopause and I felt so understood.- ❌ No undenatured Type 2 anywhere.
- 💅 Menopause story on the front, skin formula on the back.
- 😞 Hands just as stiff at six in the morning.
5. The Collagen Co.
The pretty flavoured shake from all the ads.- ❌ No Type 2 at all.
- 🥤 Tastes the nicest of the lot, I'll give them that.
- 😞 A beauty shake. Joints were never in the plan.
Five bags, one problem. Not one of them had whole, never heated Type 2 at the 40mg the research used.
The one that finally had both words on the bag 🙌
Balmve More Than Collagen
Rated 4.6 on Trustpilot. The highest of every brand on my list. Go and look 👀I nearly didn't bother with a sixth. But it was the first bag where I flipped it over and both words were there. Here's what's in the scoop and what it actually did for my day:
-
🦵UC-II · 40mg Whole undenatured Type II. Never heated. The dose used in the research.
This is the joint one. I button my own shirts again.
-
💪8g Type I & III For the tendons and ligaments around the joint. Skin and nails come along for the ride.
My grip came back for the jam jar. My nails are just showing off now. 💅
-
💧Hyaluronic acid · MSM · astaxanthin For the fluid in the joint and that puffy, swollen feeling.
Mornings stopped being a negotiation. Hands awake before my coffee is.
-
🦴Vitamin C · D3 · K2 · calcium So the collagen actually gets built, and the bone underneath holds.
I take the stairs on my feet now, and I'm not scared of them.
-
☕Unflavoured · Made in the USA Dissolves in coffee, tea or water. No taste, no clumps.
I let my coffee cool to sipping warm first. Haven't missed a single day, which is the whole trick.
What happened, honestly 🗓️
It isn't overnight. If you're going to judge it on day four, don't start.
- Week 2My hands woke up before ten for the first time in years.
- Week 6Down the stairs on my feet. Holding nothing.
- Month 3I ran after my grandson in the park. Badly. Laughing the whole way. 🏃♀️
That's my experience. Everybody's different and yours may not look like mine.
me. running. who IS she?? 😂
I'm not the only one 💬
"Got out of the car this morning without that little groan I always do. Small thing. Made me smile though."
"Bought it for my wife. Three weeks in and she's stopped complaining about her knees at night. Happy wife etc 😅"
"Week 6 now and I'm back out in the garden. And it cost less than my old collagen plus my joint pill."
Buy 1 bag, get 1 FREE 🎁
Plus 3 free gifts I honestly use every single morning:
Mini frotherno clumps, ever
Scoop spoon setcute on the counter
Storage tinlives by my kettle
Sold out on Amazon. Their own site is the only place it's in stock.
my little morning ritual ☕
The whole thing in 3 ticks ✍️
- Check the type. Type 1 & 3 is skin. Joints need Type 2.
- Check for "undenatured." Not hydrolysed. Not heated. Whole.
- Give it two weeks. Judge it on the stairs, not on day four.
I didn't spend a year and $300 for nicer nails. I did it to get my own life back in my own hands. Only one bag was ever built for that.
🎁 See today's 1+1 free offerthe only Type 2 on my whole list
planted every one of them myself 🌷
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