Many people these days are looking to consume more gelatin because of collagen. That’s because collagen is an essential protein for health, especially to keep joints healthy, increase skin elasticity and treat and fight the dreaded cellulite, in addition to increasing hydration, among other benefits of collagen, including some for the intestine.
Gelatin, like collagen, is generally associated with health and beauty benefits, and you can often find them in ways that one replaces the other. However, although they come from the same sources – skin, bone, and tissue – they are not precisely the same things.
Gelatin X Collagen: Similar But Different
As stated earlier, collagen is present in bones and connective tissues. Still, as it is tough to eat ligaments or tendons, they must be cooked through partial hydrolysis, which makes the collagen digestible. When drying and partial hydrolysis of tissues and bones occur, gelatin powder is formed. In other words, gelatin is a cooked form of collagen.
Many people make broth from the bones of animals to consume more gelatin and collagen because when these parts of the animals are boiled in water, they are released from the bones. You can do this by boiling the animals’ tissues and bones for about 20 to 24 hours and then adding spices and aromatics for a delicious, nutritious soup.
Regarding collagen supplements that are present in various pharmacies, supplement stores, and grocery stores, you will notice that the most common ones are hydrolyzed collagen or collagen peptides, which is nothing more than hydrolyzed gelatin that has been processed to form smaller proteins that can be easily absorbed in the digestive tract.
In other words, to put it simply, the differences between gelatin and collagen come down to how they are processed. What gives gelatin and collagen different textures is the method of processing and their health benefits and what allows each to be therapeutic in different ways.
To understand whether you should consume hydrolyzed collagen – collagen peptides – or gelatin, see now details about each of them, their health benefits, as well as their differences to understand which is best for you.
How To Use Gelatin And Hydrolyzed Collagen
There are many ways to use gelatin like bovine gelatin and hydrolyzed collagen to get a beneficial amino acid dosage. As they are tasteless substances, that is, they are very versatile without flavor, but one cannot replace the other, as the hydrolysate does not “gelatinize” like gelatin and should not be used in recipes to replace their gelatin. But unlike gelatin, hydrolyzed collagen dissolves in both cold and hot liquids so that you can add it to almost anything.
