Collagen Or Whey Protein – Which One Is Better For You?

Collagen Or Whey Protein – Which One Is Better For You?

Wanna know the difference between collagen and whey protein so you can pick the best one for you? Here’s a quick comparison between them.

Any serious gym-goer will tell you that supplementation is one of the key ways to help grow muscle and maximize your workouts’ effectiveness.

As you push yourself to the limit at the gym, the protein and amino acids you get from your regular diet will not be enough to sustain your body.

What many people aren’t aware of is the fact that all sorts of various supplements are beneficial for everybody, not just the gym freaks.

As you begin to venture out into the world of supplementation, you should educate yourself on the differences between each and every kind of supplement, as well as why and when it would be best for you to use them.

From vitamins through protein to amino acids, understanding their characteristics and how they affect your body is key to using them correctly.

Regardless of whether you’re an aspiring bodybuilder or simply want to fix up your health a little, taking supplements without really knowing what your deficiencies are or what these substances can change in your body is likely to yield some undesired results (or no results at all).

The focus of this article will be protein supplements, particularly collagen and whey protein.

According to the experts on holistic health practices from Primalharvest, these two are not only useful in aiding muscle growth but also in making sure your body stays fit and healthy, especially in the later stages of life.

If you want to start supplementing, whey protein and collagen are among the first substances you should look into. If you want to find out more about their specific characteristics and how they differ from each other, just keep reading.

Collagen vs Whey Protein – What’s The Difference?

Many people make the mistake of thinking that whey and collagen protein are interchangeable. After all, both of them are a way to increase your protein intake, right?

That’s only partially true. They come from completely different sources and have very different effects on the human body:

  • Whey protein comes from the liquid that remains after producing dairy products such as milk or cheese.
  • In contrast, collagen is a naturally occurring protein, both in the human organism as well as in various other animals.

Both whey and collagen are rich in essential amino acids, which boost various bodily functions. The fundamental difference between the two is the amino acids contained within each protein source and how they influence your organism.

Collagen

Collagen Supplement

While collagen supplementation is heavily encouraged and important for improving your overall health, it is actually the most abundant protein produced by your body.

Collagen is rich in some very important amino acids: hydroxyproline, glycine, and proline.

They are crucial for the health of your connective tissues, responsible for keeping your body parts together. It is present in your tendons, skin, muscles, and ligaments, just to name a few.

Good For Bodybuilders

Since it’s a building block of the connective tissue found in muscles, increasing your collagen intake could be very beneficial when trying to accumulate muscle mass.

This is why collagen is hugely popular amongst bodybuilders.

Great For Seniors

It is the elderly, though, that benefit from collagen supplements the most.

As your body gets older, its collagen production slows down quite significantly. This contributes to the decay of connective tissue in your body, causing your skin and muscle to age quicker than it would if you had used collagen supplements regularly.

Regular supplementation with this protein can help retain bone density at an older age. And it also slows down the aging of your skin and other tissue, leading to reduced joint pain and more overall strength.

Also For Your Hair And Nails

Hair and nails can also benefit from collagen peptides. They’ll get stronger and much harder to break, retaining the original structure for longer.

Easy To Find It Naturally

If you don’t want to take collagen in the form of protein powder or pills, there are plenty of natural sources where you can find this protein.

Collagen is present in the bone tissue of many animals. If you want to up your intake in the most natural way possible, drinking bone broth is the way to go!

Whey Protein

Whey Protein Supplements

As we’ve already established earlier in this article, whey protein is a byproduct of the milk and cheese production process.

Best For Muscle Building

It is widely popular among gym-goers because it aids muscle building. Still, even if you’re not a bodybuilding aficionado, whey protein could prove to be beneficial for your health in more than just one way.

Whey is known as the “complete protein,” which means that it contains all of the nine essential amino acids.

It’s got particularly high levels of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), which are crucial for muscle retention and recovery.

Due to its high content of these BCAAs, it is recommended that you drink a whey protein shake after working out to ensure maximum muscle-protein synthesis and get the most out of your supplement.

There Are Two Forms Of Whey

There are two fundamental forms in which whey can be turned into a protein supplement:

  1. Whey isolate;
  2. And whey concentrate.

The isolate is more heavily processed, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing in this case: it is “purer” and therefore contains much more protein and less fat and lactose than concentrate, which is directly derived from the production of other dairy products.

It is important to note that while whey is a complete protein source, rich in the nine essential amino acids and can benefit practically anyone who wants to retain their muscle mass whether because they’re getting older or want to maximize their gym “gains”, protein powders and bars cannot be used as a meal replacement. The same goes for collagen.

Protein supplementation only works when it adds more on top of what you’re already getting from food.

The Bottom Line

There you have it: the main difference between whey and collagen protein lies in their amino acid profiles.

So while they can both be consumed in the form of protein powders, one isn’t “better” than the other. In order to get the most out of them, you should supplement with both of them on a regular basis.

Pitting whey, collagen, as well as other proteins against each other is like pitting Vitamin C and D against one another. They’re both vitamins, but with fundamentally different effects on your body.

The same logic applies to the amino acid profile of whey and collagen. Used in combination, they can help you retain your skin, hair, as well as improve your muscle retention and growth.

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