Vegan Collagen Capsules

This is the category where the honest conversation matters most, so our naturopaths start by making sure you know what is in the tub and what it can reasonably be expected to do.

A good fit if

• You are vegan or vegetarian and every genuine collagen product is therefore off the table for you
• You want the vitamin C cofactor and the amino acid supply in one product rather than two
• You accept that the evidence here is thinner than for animal collagen peptides and want it stated that way
• You are prepared to judge it over eight weeks or more, which is the shortest window the published work used
• You would rather read an ingredient list than a front-of-pack claim

Check with us first if

• A history of kidney stones or a renal disorder, and the product carries high-dose vitamin C. High intakes have the potential to increase urinary oxalate and uric acid excretion.
• Hereditary haemochromatosis. Chronic high-dose vitamin C could exacerbate iron overload.
• Kidney disease or a prescribed protein restriction. The amino acid load is small compared with a collagen powder, but a plant-protein blend marketed as plant collagen is a different matter.
• Pregnant or breastfeeding. The amino acids are food constituents, but these formulas routinely add herbs, plant extracts, vitamins and minerals that need checking as a whole formula.
• Already taking a vitamin C supplement, a multivitamin or a greens powder. Builders often supply 500 to 1,000 mg on their own and the total is what counts.
• Buying it as a protein source. An amino acid complex at one gram a day is not a protein serve and should not be counted as one.
• You take prescription medicines. Check with your doctor, pharmacist or our naturopaths before starting.

• Amino acid complex, capsules or powder. Best known for: A fixed daily dose of an amino acid blend proportioned to resemble the profile of human type I collagen. Absorption: The amino acids arrive already isolated, so there is no protein to digest first. That is a convenience argument, not an efficacy one. Typical use: Usually around 1 g of the complex a day, as two capsules or a scoop stirred into water. The plainest way to buy the category.
• Builder with vitamin C and mineral cofactors. Best known for: Amino acids packaged with vitamin C, and often zinc, biotin or silica. Absorption: Vitamin C is the one addition with a defined role in collagen synthesis. The others are sold on association rather than on a demonstrated collagen step. Typical use: The most common Australian presentation. Check the vitamin C milligrams against what you already take.
• Plant protein powder marketed as plant collagen. Best known for: Hemp or pea protein carrying an added amino acid complex, bamboo silica and hyaluronic acid. Absorption: You are buying a protein powder with a small added complex, so the protein grams and the complex grams are two separate numbers. Typical use: A meal-adjacent shake. Read the ingredient list order before you compare it with a capsule.
• Silica-only products sold as collagen support. Best known for: Bamboo, horsetail or colloidal silica with no amino acids in the formula at all. Absorption: Not a builder in the sense used here. There is no amino acid supply and no vitamin C cofactor. Typical use: Frequently shelved beside builders. Worth separating in your head before you compare prices.
• Animal collagen peptides: the alternative. Best known for: Bovine, marine or chicken hydrolysates: actual collagen, with the larger body of human trial evidence. Absorption: Digested to amino acids and short peptides, two of which appear in blood and are studied as signals. Typical use: Covered on the collagen entry and its source-specific pages. Ruled out entirely if you are vegan or vegetarian.

Reference values. There is none for collagen or for any builder complex, because neither is an essential nutrient. The reference value that does apply is for the cofactor: the NHMRC sets vitamin C at 45 mg a day for adults, 60 mg in pregnancy and 85 mg while breastfeeding. Most builders supply many times that.

Typical supplemental range. Australian capsules commonly supply around 1 g a day of an amino acid complex, taken as two capsules. Powdered blends run higher, and the published biomimetic trial used 5 g a day in a single sachet for eight weeks. Those are different products at different scales, so a per-gram comparison matters more here than in most categories.

Upper level. No Upper Level exists for the amino acid complexes. One does exist for the vitamin C travelling with them: 2,000 mg a day for adults 19 and over. Worth knowing, because absorption falls below 50 per cent above 1 g a day, and unabsorbed vitamin C draws water into the bowel, which is why diarrhoea, nausea and abdominal cramps are the most common complaints at high intakes.

Worth knowing. Two numbers decide whether you are comparing like with like: grams of the amino acid complex per serve, and milligrams of vitamin C per serve. A tub can be large and the complex small. Your needs depend on your age, diet and health circumstances. Talk to one of our naturopaths.

Food first, where the diet allows it.

• Legumes, tofu and tempeh: everyday serves. Soy foods are among the richest plant sources of glycine, proline and lysine together
• Pumpkin seeds, peanuts and other legume-family seeds: A handful. Useful for lysine, which is the amino acid plant-based diets most often run short of
• Wheat gluten, seitan and oats: regular serves. High in proline, though low in lysine, which is why variety does more than any single food
• Capsicum, kiwifruit, citrus and broccoli: A couple of serves a day covers the vitamin C the build step requires several times over
• No plant food contains collagen: it is an animal structural protein, so a plant diet supplies the parts and never the finished protein

This list is the part of the page we will not shorten. If any of it applies to you, talk to one of our naturopaths or your doctor before starting.

• Anyone expecting collagen. These products contain none; collagen is an animal protein and cannot be plant-sourced.
• Phenylketonuria. Check the label for phenylalanine; an Australian listed medicine supplying more than 500 mg per maximum daily dose must carry a pregnancy warning statement for it.
• History of kidney stones or renal disorder. High vitamin C intakes have the potential to increase urinary oxalate and uric acid excretion.
• Hereditary haemochromatosis. Chronic high-dose vitamin C could exacerbate iron overload and result in tissue damage.
• High total vitamin C. The adult Upper Level is 2,000 mg a day; diarrhoea, nausea and abdominal cramps are the usual complaints above it.
• Soy, hemp, wheat and other declarable allergens in plant-protein blends. Must be declared in bold and in a 'Contains' statement.
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding. The whole formula needs checking, since added herbs and plant extracts are common in this category.
• Kidney disease or a prescribed protein restriction. Relevant mainly to plant-protein blends rather than to capsules.
• Children and adolescents. These formulas are built and dosed for adults.
• Products bought from overseas websites. Not regulated in Australia for quality, safety or allergen declaration.
• Stacking. Vitamin C also appears in multivitamins, immune formulas and greens powders; add up the total.
• If you take prescription medicines, check with your doctor, pharmacist or our naturopaths before starting.