Extraordinary Health Magazine EHMagazine Vol 38_Final | Page 35
What Every Body Needs
by Dawn Thorpe Jarvis, Sr. Director of Nutrition Science & Educational Content
We now offer nine collagen products with targeted ingredients,
all from traceable sources with third-party certifications.
Collagen makes up 30% of the body’s protein; it gives structure to very important
tissues such as skin, muscles, bone, hair, tendons and cartilage. As we age, the body’s
ability to make collagen diminishes significantly starting at around age 30. This new
line is designed to bring clean, high quality, absorbable collagen to consumers, for
skin elasticity, strong hair and nails and for joint support and mobility. †
Recently we have seen a tremendous demand for collagen products and there are
various options available. So, let’s start with: what’s the difference between Collagen,
Bone Broth and Collagen Peptides?
Collagen is a very large protein; it consists of three very long chains of amino acids.
These chains are made up of 18 different amino acids including three important ones
called Proline, Hydroxyproline and Glutamine. Each collagen molecule has three long
chains wrapped around in a triple helix structure. Because it is such a large molecule,
the body needs to break it down in order to digest it. Bone broth is a partially-digested
form of collagen (made by boiling bones for hours). When collagen is completely
digested, it is in the form of small chains of amino acids called collagen peptides,
which are easily absorbed and are very bioavailable to the body. They travel in the
blood stream to deliver the amino acids to the tissues for building collagen.
GARDEN OF LIFE GRASS FED COLLAGEN
The entire world gets its collagen as byproducts from the meat/beef industry and
hence the supply chain for ethically, humanely-raised, grass-fed beef is very tiny and
the market is full of sketchy claims. Garden of Life has worked very hard to find the
cleanest source of collagen available. For us, this was the most important part of the
process, working with farmers with the same values that we uphold. Healthy cattle
roam free, feeding on Non-GMO grass, being treated humanely and not being treated
with antibiotics and hormones. All of this matters to us.
Where there are extremely large herds of cattle such as in South America, complete
traceability of the animals in the herd is not possible. So, we needed to partner
with smaller farms with more traceable systems before we could bring our
collagen to market. We are sourcing our collagen from Germany where we
worked with smaller farms; we went to Europe because GMOs are not allowed
there and the herds are much smaller and more traceable.
Our entire Collagen line is third-party Certified
Paleo Certified and Certified Keto, plus NSF
Gluten Free. As we worked on building a
supply chain for our collagen, we learned
of the challenges of obtaining other third-
party certifications for livestock (versus plant
and dairy). For example, Non-GMO Project
Verification does not have methods available
yet for livestock, although they are working on
them for us. Although we know that there are
no GMOs used for our cattle and the grass is
Non-GMO, we needed third-party verification
to meet our own standards. Our new Collagen
line is tested by IGEN™ which stands for the
International Genetically Modified Organism
(GMO) Evaluation and Notification Program.
IGEN is a third-party certification program
developed to test for the presence of
genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
❖ IGEN tests products using direct analysis.
❖ IGEN adheres to ridged European
standards and to receive certification,
a product must contain undetectable
amounts of GMOs.
❖ IGEN is a fully transparent certifier
with full consumer reports available on
all products tested.
We now offer you Collagen in various formats
so you can pick and choose the right one for
you. From super beauty formulas, to turmeric,
to MCT creamers, our powders are great for
shakes, smoothies, lattes and in baking. The
possibilities are endless!
Extraordinary Health ™ • Vol 38 33