Bone broth has been around for centuries. Hydrolysed collagen is a much more recent way of getting collagen into the diet.
Both come from collagen-rich animal tissues. Both provide amino acids such as glycine and proline.
But they're not the same thing.
If you're interested in collagen specifically, the differences in concentration, consistency, amino-acid profile and even potential contaminants are worth understanding.
Bone broth is a food. Collagen is a concentrated ingredient.
Bone broth is made by simmering bones, connective tissue and other ingredients in water.
What ends up in the finished broth depends on how it's made.
The type and amount of bones, cooking time, temperature, water-to-bone ratio and concentration of the final broth can all affect its nutritional composition.
Hydrolysed collagen is different.
Collagen-rich raw material is processed and enzymatically hydrolysed into smaller collagen peptides. The finished ingredient can then be measured into a defined serving.
That gives you something bone broth can't easily provide:
a consistent amount of collagen peptides in every serving.
What does the research say about the amino acids?
This is where the comparison gets interesting.
Collagen has a distinctive amino-acid profile. It is particularly rich in glycine, proline and hydroxyproline, which together account for a substantial proportion of collagen's amino acids. PubMed
A 2018 study specifically investigated whether bone broth could provide these collagen-related amino acids consistently.
Researchers analysed commercially available and laboratory-prepared bone broths and compared them with reference collagen supplements.
The results were revealing.
Standardised bone broth provided significantly lower concentrations of hydroxyproline, glycine, proline, hydroxylysine, leucine and lysine than a 20 g dose of the reference collagen supplements. The non-standardised broths also showed substantial variation in amino-acid content. PubMed
In other words, a bowl of bone broth doesn't necessarily deliver the same amount of collagen-related amino acids from one preparation to the next.
That's important if you're consuming collagen for a specific nutritional purpose.
The amino-acid profile tells an even more interesting story
A separate human study compared 20 g servings of several collagen and dairy proteins with a 300 mL serving of bone broth.
The bone broth used in that study actually contained a very high amount of total protein and total amino acids, so it would be misleading to say that bone broth is always low in protein.
But the type of amino acids was different.
The collagen proteins produced a substantially higher peak in blood glycine than the dairy proteins, while the dairy proteins produced a higher peak in leucine. PubMed Central (PMC)
That's a useful reminder:
Protein isn't just about the number of grams. The amino-acid profile matters too.
Collagen and whey, for example, are both proteins, but they serve very different nutritional purposes.
So how much collagen are you actually getting?
This is one of the biggest practical differences between bone broth and hydrolysed collagen.
With bone broth, the answer depends on the broth.
With a measured collagen supplement, the answer is on the label.
A 10 g serving of hydrolysed collagen gives you a defined amount of collagen protein and a consistent amino-acid profile.
That's particularly useful if you want to make collagen intake part of your daily routine.
You don't have to make a batch of broth, estimate its concentration or wonder how much collagen was extracted from the bones.
You measure it. You consume it. You know what you're getting.
But what about heavy metals?
There's another consideration that is often overlooked.
Bones can accumulate environmental contaminants, including heavy metals such as lead and cadmium.
That doesn't mean bone broth is inherently unsafe. But it is a reasonable consideration, particularly if bone broth is consumed frequently.
A 2013 study investigated lead concentrations in three types of organic chicken broth and found that some broths contained substantially higher lead concentrations than the water used to prepare them. Chicken-bone broth contained 7.01 μg/L of lead compared with 0.89 μg/L in the control water. PubMed
A later study looked more broadly at the extraction of essential and toxic metals from animal bones into broth. It found that lead and cadmium concentrations in the broths tested were relatively low, but noted that frequency of consumption and cumulative exposure from other sources are relevant considerations. PubMed
So the sensible conclusion isn't that bone broth should be avoided.
It's that what is extracted from the bones deserves consideration alongside what you want to extract from them.
For someone drinking bone broth occasionally as a food, this may be of little practical significance.
For someone consuming concentrated bone broth regularly as a source of collagen, it's a different question.
Hydrolysed collagen gives you control
This is ultimately where hydrolysed collagen has an advantage.
You're not relying on the variability of a recipe.
You're not relying on how much collagen happened to be extracted during cooking.
And you're not consuming a broth made by extracting compounds from bones simply to obtain a measured amount of collagen.
Instead, you can choose a clearly identified collagen ingredient, in a defined dose.
The collagen ingredient matters too
There's another reason not to treat all collagen powders as interchangeable.
The source of the collagen, the species it comes from and the way it is processed all matter when you're looking at the research behind an ingredient.
CollagenX uses 100% Peptan® hydrolysed collagen peptides in Pure Bovine Collagen.
That means the collagen ingredient is clearly identified, rather than simply being described as generic "collagen".
And each serving provides a defined 10 g dose.
So which is best?
It depends on what you're trying to do.
Bone broth is a food.
It's enjoyable, versatile and can contribute protein and amino acids to your diet.
Hydrolysed collagen is a concentrated, measured collagen ingredient.
If your goal is to add a consistent amount of collagen peptides to your daily nutrition, it offers a much more precise approach.
And the research gives us another reason to look beyond the word "collagen".
The amount matters. The amino-acid profile matters. The source matters. And what else comes along with it matters too.
That's why a clearly identified, measured collagen ingredient can be such a useful addition to a daily routine.
The simple answer
You don't have to choose between enjoying bone broth and taking collagen.
Have bone broth because you enjoy it as a food.
Choose hydrolysed collagen when you want a consistent, measured dose of a specific collagen ingredient.
Know what you're getting. Every scoop.
