In short marine collagen is NOT vegan.
It is not suitable for vegetarians and vegans as it is extracted from fish collagen, more specifically, from fish scales.
Being on a vegetarian or vegan diet means to not eat any meat, fish, seafood or animal by-products such as gelatine.
Collagen is typically a by-product of the animal industry.
As marine collagen is a type of collagen that has the highest bio-availability, meaning that the body can absorb it the best, it is regularly used for collagen products such as tablets, pills as well as creams, face masks lotions and more.
Another reason why marine collagen is used is because it contains type 1 collagen which is the most abundant collagen in your body, accounting for nearly 90% of all the collagen in your body and is found almost everywhere from your hair to your bones.
Marine collagen helps to target and restore / rejuvenate the following :
- Wrinkles on the skin, improving skin hydration and elasticity.
- Weakening of muscles.
- Weak and brittle nails.
- Tight ligaments and tendons by improving flexibility.
- Joint pain by replenishing the connective tissues between joints and reducing inflammation.
Please check the labels and ingredients of any collagen products you may be considering to buy or using.
Are there vegan collagen supplements?
In short, yes, however, there is no such thing as a plant-based collagen.
Instead you can feed your body the nutrients and vitamins such as vitamin C and copper, that it needs to boost its own collagen production, but as we know, collagen production naturally declines over time.
Vegan collagen supplements however are still in there infancy, and are currently made from genetically modified yeast and bacteria making it animal-free.
Human genes that are specific to collagen production are added to a bacteria known as P. pastoris. The yeast or bacteria then starts to create, with the human genes, the amino acids the body needs to create collagen on top of its existing production.
By creating collagen this way it ends up being lower cost and makes collagen available to those with various allergies, however, you must consider that it is a genetically modified product.
