Supplementing your diet with gelatin/collagen

Triathlon Forum
1

I was listening to Outside podcast and they were talking about competing in athletics as we age (June 26th episode). One of the things Jeff Bercovici (author of Play On: The New Science of Elite Performance at Any Age) mentions in the episode is gelatin/collagen (whether in bone broth or as a supplement or from Jello) is one of the few supplements with good promise/research for older athletes. He specifically mentions its benefits in the regrowth/healing of ligaments and cartilage whether it be from injury or just the general wear and tear from running.

Anyone here use it? Thoughts or anecdotal evidence?

2

Many years ago a study was done

I’m pretty sure this is close. Patients who needed knee surgery were feed parts from chicken bones. A number of them after 3 months no longer required the surgery.

The supplement industry came out with glucosamine chodroitin and claimed it did similar things

Gelitine is a third kind is type 1 collagen.

3

Read “Deep Nutrition” by Cate Shanahan if you’re interested in this topic.

Not focused on specific athletic performance (although the author used to work for the LA Lakers), more on epigenetics and general health benefits.

4

I was listening to Outside podcast and they were talking about competing in athletics as we age (June 26th episode). One of the things Jeff Bercovici (author of Play On: The New Science of Elite Performance at Any Age) mentions in the episode is gelatin/collagen (whether in bone broth or as a supplement or from Jello) is one of the few supplements with good promise/research for older athletes. He specifically mentions its benefits in the regrowth/healing of ligaments and cartilage whether it be from injury or just the general wear and tear from running.

Anyone here use it? Thoughts or anecdotal evidence?

Haven’t really needed it with triathlon training since February so only taking protein. But when I did a 11week marathon Aug/Sep/Oct and a 12week half marathon build Dec/Jan/Feb my achilles started hurting so started a regime of a half protein / half collagen shake 30min before doing my eccentric heel drops each night. I also do the heel drops to manage my chronic calf issues (when run training, stop doing when not having issues like now with tri training)

Aim to do heel drops protocol of 3x20 drops each foot twice a day (usually only once a day though…). The half protein/half gelatin shakes before doing the heel drops to encourage collagen synthesis plus keep my protein intake high (http://www.mysportscience.com/single-post/2017/03/15/Using-gelatin-to-improve-performance-prevent-injury-and-accelerate-return-to-play).

2 set straight knee: https://youtu.be/pmA9u0WIUW4
1 set bent knee: https://youtu.be/JJvbvyH8YDY

  • I do the raises with both legs, and the drops a lot more aggressively/fast than the videos in order to maximise eccentric damage (and hopefully healing)
    ** When you’re injured they’ll hurt a bit, but you need to figure out the difference between adding manageable damage to induce healing, vs adding extra damage making recovery longer. You learn what’s appropriate pain levels for the exercise pretty quick.
5

My wife recently convinced me to start taking a collagen supplement from a company she uses called vital proteins. She’s been taking it for 6 or 8 months and feels like she has seen real benefit I however have only started maybe a week and a half ago so can’t say one way or the other sounds like it takes several months to really see any noticeable differences. I will say a hip issue that she’s been dealing with after running for the past couple years is drastically better whether or not it’s the collagen who knows