The recommended intake of collagen per day for a man is between 5 to 20 grams.
Before we get into it, first of all collagen is gender-less. At the end of the day every human body creates its own collagen using amino acids taken from natural foods or from collagen supplements.
This is important to understand as collagen accounts for 30% of the protein in your body – so it plays a major role in your body’s functionality and recovery. Now, whilst men require more protein than woman, the percentage of collagen protein in the body stays the same.
When deciding how much collagen a man should take per day, you should consider the following:
- Amount of collagen you’re already taking in your diet
- Current lifestyle needs and impact on the body
- Future lifestyle goals and impact on the body
Essentially what you want to do is match up the activity with a collagen type that will target that area e.g. skin, joints, hair, with a sufficient intake to support your body in doing that thing:
Formula : Activity + Type of collagen + Intake = Benefits
For example, if you are runner then your knee and ankle joints will come under a lot of pressure, strain and wear and tear. In order to keep your joints fit and healthy, you would take the appropriate type of collagen (Type 1) and the recommended intake per day to give your body the resources it needs to recover and strengthen.
As a rough guide, you can do the following:
- Improving skin health : Take 2.5–10 grams daily
- Improving bone health: Take 5 grams daily
- Supporting your joints: Take 5–10 grams daily
- Helping with arthritis : Take 10 grams daily
- Improving muscle health : Take 15–20 grams daily
Increasing your collagen beyond 20 / 25 grams results in diminishing returns, which is that you aren’t going to see much additional benefit by taking extra collagen.
When do men start losing collagen?
Similar to women, from the mid twenties onwards, men have a gradual reduction in collagen production by the body of 1% per year.
Essentially, there is less collagen to go around and be used in the body.
Whilst a woman’s collagen production does drastically reduce around the age of 40, by 24% alone, and around the time of menopause, men do not experience the same.
There are also lifestyle factors such as smoking, excessive drinking, excessive sugar and sunlight also contribute towards declining collagen.
When should men take collagen?
The ideal time to take collagen supplements is generally when the body’s production levels start to decline, so that is in the mid twenties.
However, if you are an up and coming athlete or work in a labor intensive job, and your skin is getting worn, and your joints are getting worked regularly, then taking collagen supplements earlier than your mid-twenties can also be beneficial.
Now, as collagen has mainly been pushed as a health and beauty product, men can feel like they have missed the boat.
The good thing is there is never a wrong time to start taking collagen peptides in the form of powders and tablets.
The point here is your body is initially limited to one source of collagen which is from the food you eat.
However, if you add a second source of collagen through supplements, then your body has an additional resource to to take advantage of, which’ll help boost the amount of collagen it can make and use.
