Marine collagen is categorized as type I and III (primarily I) collagen. Type I collagen is the most abundant collagen in the body, found in the skin, tendons, ligaments, bone and blood vessels. However, it is a common misconception that the type of collagen matters when determining collagen quality.
A better indicator of quality when choosing a collagen product is the rate of absorption (bioavailability). Marine collagen has been proven to have a greater absorption rate than other animal sources due to its low molecular weight (1). Research has also shown that marine collagen peptides are efficiently absorbed from the digestive tract, as high levels of peptides are found in the bloodstream following ingestion (2).
Consuming hydrolyzed collagen daily has been shown to reduce joint pain relating to osteoarthritis (3). It is understood that collagen's positive effect on joint pain is associated with its high glycine content, which has been shown to stimulate collagen synthesis (4). Landish marine collagen is a high source of glycine, containing 347 per 1000 amino acids.
Referenced sources:
Vollmer, D. L, et al. (2018) Enhancing Skin Health: By Oral Administration of Natural Compounds and Minerals with Implications to the Dermal Microbiome.
Hitoshi Matsumoto, et al., (2006) Clinical Effects of Fish Type I collagen hydrolysate on skin properties, ITE Letters on Batteries, New Technologies and Medicine.
Health Canada. (2020) Multiple Ingredient Join Health Products, Drug and Health Products.
De Paz-Lugo, P. (2018) Increasing glycine in the diet may well be a strategy for helping cartilage regeneration by enhancing collagen synthesis.
Yazaki, et al., (2017) Oral Ingestion of Collagen Hydrolysate Leads to the Transportation of Highly Concentrated Gly-Pro-Hyp and Its Hydrolyzed Form of ProHyp into the Bloodstream and Skin, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.