teestub said:The study that D Mac references is the one that’s cropped up before
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5183725/
Collagen is only compared to a maltodextrin placebo rather than another protein source, so doesn’t provide any comparison, but it does have this nugget in from mouse studies
Mouse studies that used 14C-labeled gelatin hydrolysate (33) further demonstrated that, although tracer from proline could be incorporated into skin collagen at the same rate as tracer from gelatin, tracer from the gelatin was incorporated into the collagen of cartilage and muscle twice as much as tracer from proline (33). These data suggest that musculoskeletal collagen synthesis is greater in response to gelatin than to individual amino acids.
I try hard not to be cynical about nutritional research but then read studies like this where n=8 and the controls have fasted and lose the will to continue.
More generally, is there any evidence that collagen synthesis is a limiting factor in soft-tissue healing? Or that more is actually better? Collagen synthesis is one part of the repair process, it might be that remodelling the new collagen is the pinch point for example (it’s a much longer duration phase of healing).
As above, there is a theoretically plausible mechanism and anecdotal reports of association between Dupuytren’s and Glucosamine / Chondroitin sulphate. I’m not aware of anything in relation to collagen supplements but they are relatively recent development/fashion.