This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience while browsing it. By clicking 'Got It' you're accepting these terms.
Most recent
Trending
The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!
By Ana Reisdorf, MS, RD
You've probably heard the buzz around collagen supplements and your skin by now. But is the hype really that promising? After all, research has pointed to both the benefits and downsides of collagen supplements — and for many beauty-conscious folk, collagen isn't vegan.
That's because collagen, a protein found mostly in hair, skin, nails, bones and ligaments, comes mostly from animal sources, such as beef or fish.
But science has discovered a way to make vegan collagen. We're here to answer exactly how that works and how it competes.
How Can Collagen Be Vegan?
Instead of being sourced from animals, collagen can now be made by using genetically modified yeast and bacteria.
Researchers have found that the bacteria P. pastoris, in particular, is the most effective and commonly used for genetically engineering high-quality collagen.
To produce collagen, four human genes that code for collagen are added to the genetic structure of the microbes. Once the genes are in place, the yeast or bacteria then start to produce building blocks of human collagen.
Pepsin, a digestive enzyme, is added to help structure the building blocks into collagen molecules with the exact structure of human collagen.
Once this process is complete, you have yourself vegan collagen!
Benefits of Vegan Collagen
The ability to make inexpensive, safe collagen sourced from microbes instead of animals has many promising applications for human health.
1. Potential Lower Cost for Consumers
Using yeast or bacteria to produce collagen is cost effective and highly scalable in a lab environment. While it hasn't rolled out as a mass-produced product yet, this has potential to lower the cost of collagen for all consumers and make it widely available for various uses from medical treatments to supplements.
2. Lower Risk of Allergies
While the biggest benefit is that no animals are harmed, there are other pros to vegan collagen, especially for folks who may have allergies.
For example, there's some concern over the risk of transmission of illness through animal-sourced collagen. Collagen via microbes would eliminate this potential issue because it's produced in a controlled environment where common allergens or other harmful substances can be removed.
3. Higher Safety Profile for Products
The lab-controlled setting gives manufacturers the ability to improve the safety profile. If the source is easily traceable, it makes it a safer product for all consumers.
4. More and Cheaper Availability for Medical Procedures
There are many potential medical benefits to this technology, as collagen is used for much more than just dietary supplements.
The ability to genetically engineer collagen safely and effectively may be beneficial for many medical procedures. Collagen is commonly used:
- in dermatology for sutures
- to stimulate skin and tissue growth
- to promote wound healing
It can also serve as a vehicle for drug delivery, or for certain tumor treatments.
5. Beauty Benefits for Vegans
The majority of collagen supplements on the market are animal-based, which means people who live an environmentally-friendly or vegan-friendly lifestyle can't access these products.
With vegan options available, they can now take collagen to potentially help reduce the appearance of wrinkles and stimulate their body to produce more collagen naturally as well as support joint and digestive health.
But, science is still building around these products and applications, so at this time, most of the promises around supplements can still be considered hype.
If Vegan Collagen Isn’t Easily Accessible, You Can Turn to These Alternatives
Currently, actual vegan collagen is hard to come by. Most companies sell "collagen boosters" as supplements.
These boosters contain various vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin C and zinc that the body needs to make collagen.
Some may also include plant extracts and herbs that are also found to help stimulate collagen production.
You can add these vitamins and minerals through your diet, instead of a supplement, to help you meet your amino acids needs. The most abundant amino acids in collagen are glycine, lysine, and proline.
Plant-based foods high in all three amino acids include:
- soy products: tempeh, tofu, and soy protein
- black beans
- kidney beans
- many other legumes
- seeds: especially pumpkin, squash, sunflower, and chia
- nuts: pistachio, peanut, and cashew
Another way to get the benefits of collagen as a vegan is to take individual amino acid supplements. These are what many vegan-friendly companies sell instead of pure collagen supplements.
Vegan Collagen Options
- myKind Organics Plant Collagen Builder by Garden of Life, includes: biotin, silica, antioxidants, and several vitamins and minerals. Price: $27.19
- Reserveage Vegan Plant-based Collagen Builder, includes: vitamin C, amino acids, and white tea extract. Price: $39.99
- Genius Liquid Collagen by Algenist, face cream that contains vegan collagen and microalgae. Price; $115
True vegan collagen is still a ways coming, but like the Impossible burger, we have a feeling it's going to roll out in stores near us, faster than we think.
Medically reviewed by Katherine Marengo, LDN, RD.
Reposted with permission from our media associate Healthline.- Vegan Cheese: What's the Best Dairy-Free Option? - EcoWatch ›
- 5 Vegan Foodies to Follow on Instagram - EcoWatch ›
- Top 10 Vegan Sources of Calcium - EcoWatch ›
- Beet It! 11 Nutrition-Packed Smoothies Featuring Beets - EcoWatch ›
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Record flood water levels in Venice hit again on Sunday making this the worst week of flooding in the city in over 50 years.
By Brian Barth
Late fall, after the last crops have been harvested, is a time to rest and reflect on the successes and challenges of the gardening year. But for those whose need to putter around in the garden doesn't end when cold weather comes, there's surely a few lingering chores. Get them done now and you'll be ahead of the game in spring.
By Bailey Hopp
If you had to choose a diamond for your engagement ring from below or above the ground, which would you pick … and why would you pick it? This is the main question consumers are facing when picking out their diamond engagement ring today. With a dramatic increase in demand for conflict-free lab-grown diamonds, the diamond industry is shifting right before our eyes.
(R) The measles virus pictured under a microscope. PHIL / CDC
The Pacific Island nation of Samoa declared a state of emergency this week, closed all of its schools and limited the number of public gatherings allowed after a measles outbreak has swept across the country of just 200,000 people, according to Reuters.
Trending
By Alison Cagle
Rising above the Arizona desert, the Santa Rita Mountains cradle 10,000 years of Indigenous history. The Tohono O'odham Nation, Pascua Yaqui Tribe, and Hopi Tribe, among numerous other tribes, have worshipped, foraged, hunted and laid their ancestors to rest in the mountains for generations.
Native Americans are disproportionately without access to clean water, according to a new report, "Closing the Water Access Gap in the United States: A National Action Plan," to be released this afternoon, which shows that more than two million Americans do not have access to access to running water, indoor plumbing or wastewater services.
Trending
By Nanticha Ocharoenchai
In the Czech Republic, horses have become the knights in shining armor. A study published in the Journal for Nature Conservation suggests that returning feral horses to grasslands in Podyjí National Park could help boost the numbers of several threatened butterfly species.
Despite huge strides in improving the lives of children since 1989, many of the world's poorest are being left behind, the United Nations children's fund UNICEF warned Monday.