Collagen Peptides Plus – 12 g Grass-Fed Collagen Powder
Collagen Peptides Plus
Twelve grams of collagen. And nothing in the scoop that isn't on the panel.
Connective tissue is not built from spare protein. It is built from a specific, repeating amino acid pattern found in skin, tendon, cartilage and bone — the exact parts of the animal the modern plate stopped including. This is that raw material, unflavored and unsweetened, at a dose you can verify by reading three lines.
12 g Bovine Collagen Peptides
13.33 g Serving
About 51 Servings
Other Ingredients: None
Unflavored & Unsweetened
Why we formulated this one
The protein your grandparents ate and you probably don't.
For most of human history, eating an animal meant eating the whole animal. Skin. Tendon. Joint. Marrow. Bones simmered down into stock. Those tissues carry a wildly different amino acid signature than muscle meat does, and the body used that signature to maintain its own connective tissue.
Then we started trimming. A modern high-protein diet can be excellent on paper — chicken breast, whey, egg whites, lean beef — and still deliver almost none of the glycine and proline that collagenous tissue is actually assembled from. You can hit your protein target every single day and never once supply the pattern.
Meanwhile the demand side rises. Connective tissue turns over more slowly with age, and training, standing, lifting, and mileage all draw on the same tissues. Tendon and ligament also carry famously modest blood supply compared with muscle, which is part of why they are slow to adapt in the first place.
So we built the simplest possible answer to that gap. Twelve grams of hydrolyzed bovine collagen peptides from grass-fed, pasture-raised cattle in Argentina and Brazil. Enough glutamine and bamboo fiber to round out the powder. Nothing else — the label's Other Ingredients line reads None, and it is accurate.
No flavor system, because a flavor system is a commitment. Unflavored means it disappears into black coffee at six in the morning and into a smoothie at four in the afternoon without you having to plan around it. Consistency over months is what matters with this category, and the easiest supplement to be consistent with is the one you don't have to think about.
I put it in my coffee before the first swim of the week and I don't taste it. That is the entire reason it stays in my routine.
The difference
Same category. Very different label.
Collagen is one of the most commoditized aisles in the supplement business. Which means the label is where the real differences live.
The industry standard
- A flavored, sweetened blend where collagen is the headline and sucralose, natural flavor, silicon dioxide and anti-caking agents fill out the rest of the scoop.
- "Grass-fed" printed on the front with no country of origin anywhere on the package.
- Secondary ingredients added at token amounts, then described in the same confident language as the main active.
- A proprietary blend line that lets the manufacturer move amounts around without changing the label.
- Serving directions written to move product rather than to match how the ingredient has actually been studied.
The IOH standard
- Three ingredients. Twelve grams of collagen peptides, 666 mg of glutamine, 666 mg of bamboo fiber. Other Ingredients: None.
- Source named on the page: grass-fed, pasture-raised cattle from Argentina and Brazil.
- Where a secondary ingredient sits below the amounts used in published research, we say so on this page instead of dressing it up.
- No blends. Every milligram in the 13.33 g serving is itemized and the three numbers add up.
- Made in the USA in an FDA-registered, cGMP-compliant facility.
What it's for
Four reasons it's in the cabinet.
01
Connective tissue substrate
Collagen peptides supply the glycine, proline and hydroxyproline pattern that collagenous tissue is assembled from. Supports the body's own maintenance of cartilage, tendon, ligament and bone matrix.
02
Skin, hair and nails
Type I collagen is the dominant structural protein in the dermis. Supports skin elasticity and hydration and supports the keratin structures of hair and nails from the inside rather than the shelf.
03
Joint comfort through training
Hydrolyzed collagen has been studied in active adults for joint comfort during and after activity. Supports comfortable movement in people who train, stand, or carry mileage.
04
A protein that disappears
Unflavored, unsweetened, and soluble in hot or cold liquid. Adds 10.8 g of protein and 43 calories to coffee, oatmeal, yogurt or a shake without changing the taste or the texture.
The signature science
Every third amino acid has to be glycine.
Collagen isn't just another protein. It is a triple helix, and the geometry of that helix imposes a rule that no other dietary protein has to follow.
GLYevery 3rd
Xoften Pro
Yoften Hyp
GLYevery 3rd
Xoften Pro
Yoften Hyp
GLYevery 3rd
Xoften Pro
Yoften Hyp
GLYevery 3rd
Glycine, in the center
Three collagen strands wind around each other so tightly that only the smallest amino acid fits at the core. Glycine is the smallest. So it lands in every third position along the chain — not by preference, by geometry.
Proline and hydroxyproline, on the outside
The X and Y positions are heavily occupied by proline and its hydroxylated form. Their ring structure is what locks the helix into a stable rope rather than letting it relax into a floppy coil.
Which is why substitution fails
Whey, egg and lean meat are excellent proteins with a completely different amino acid distribution. They are not rich sources of the Gly-Pro-Hyp pattern. You cannot get there by simply eating more protein.
What we are not telling you. We do not publish a per-serving glycine or hydroxyproline figure for this product, because we do not have a lot-specific amino acid profile in hand for it. The Gly-X-Y repeat above is the structural biochemistry of collagen itself, not an assay of this canister. When a lot-specific profile is available, it will go on this page with the lot number attached.
Inside the formula
Three ingredients. All three disclosed.
Bovine Collagen Peptides
12,000 mg / 12 g Load-bearing activeHydrolyzed collagen from grass-fed, pasture-raised cattle raised in Argentina and Brazil. Hydrolysis cuts intact collagen into short peptides, which is what makes it soluble in a cold drink and easy on the stomach — intact collagen would simply be gelatin, and gelatin gels.
Supports connective tissue structure, supports skin elasticity and hydration, and supports comfortable joint movement. At 12 g per serving it also contributes 10.8 g of protein, which is 22% of the Daily Value.
Straight talk on the dose
Published human trials on collagen peptides have used roughly 2.5 g to 15 g per day depending on the endpoint being measured — the lower end in skin studies, the middle in joint comfort studies, the upper end in trials combining collagen with resistance training. Twelve grams sits inside that band. Those studies used specific, characterized peptide materials that are not necessarily the material in this canister, so we are not claiming their results as ours. We are telling you where our dose falls relative to the literature and letting you weigh it.
Glutamine
666 mg Supporting amino acidThe most abundant free amino acid in the bloodstream and the preferred fuel of the enterocytes that line the small intestine. Supports the intestinal lining and supports recovery from training.
Straight talk on the dose
This is an accent, not a therapeutic dose, and we would rather say that than let the ingredient list imply otherwise. Human studies on glutamine for gut lining and exercise recovery generally run from about 5 g to 30 g per day. At 666 mg, one serving of this product delivers a small fraction of that. If a real glutamine dose is what you are after, that is a different product and we make one.
Bamboo Fiber
666 mg Fiber and powder bodyA plant-derived insoluble fiber from bamboo stalk. It gives the powder body and flow so the scoop stays consistent, and it contributes 666 mg of dietary fiber per serving.
Straight talk on the dose
That is 2% of the Daily Value for fiber. This is not a fiber supplement and it will not move the needle on your daily fiber intake. It is here because it belongs in the powder, and we listed it as an active instead of burying it as an excipient. Do not buy this for the fiber.
Every milligram in the scoop
Bovine Collagen Peptides12,000 mg
Glutamine666 mg
Bamboo Fiber666 mg
Other ingredients, flow agents, flavors, sweeteners0 mg
Total, matching the 13.33 g serving size13,332 mg
Three numbers, one serving size, and they reconcile. That is not a marketing claim. It is arithmetic you can do yourself off the panel below.
Supplement Facts
| Amount Per Serving | % Daily Value** | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 43 | |
| Protein | 10.8 g | 22% |
| Dietary Fiber | 666 mg | 2% |
| Bovine Collagen Peptides | 12 g | * |
| Glutamine | 666 mg | * |
| Bamboo Fiber | 666 mg | * |
** The percent daily value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
* Daily Value (DV) not established.
Other Ingredients: None
Panel as printed on the canister. The physical label is also shown in the product images above.
The short version
Everything in four boxes.
What it is
An unflavored, unsweetened powder delivering 12 g of hydrolyzed bovine collagen peptides from grass-fed, pasture-raised cattle, plus 666 mg glutamine and 666 mg bamboo fiber.
13.33 g per serving. About 51 servings per canister. Other Ingredients: None.
What it does
- Supports connective tissue structure in cartilage, tendon and ligament
- Supports skin elasticity, hydration and the appearance of hair and nails
- Supports comfortable joint movement in active adults
- Adds 10.8 g of protein per serving
Who it's for
- Adults over 35 who are noticing that connective tissue takes longer to adapt
- Lifters, runners, cyclists and triathletes putting repeated load through joints
- Anyone eating lean muscle meat and whey with almost no glycine coming in
- People who want a collagen with a label they can read in ten seconds
How to take it
One serving — about 2 rounded tablespoons — daily is the everyday baseline, and it is how I use it. Stir into hot or cold liquid until dissolved.
The label directions allow 2 to 3 servings daily for periods of higher intake. At one serving a day the canister runs about 51 days; at three servings a day it runs about 17. Consult your physician before beginning any supplement.
Honest expectations
Connective tissue moves on its own schedule.
Nobody can promise you a timeline, and this page won't try. What we can tell you is the window the research generally works in, so you know what a fair trial of this looks like before you decide whether it earned its spot.
Weeks 1 to 4
Habit, not headlines
The only job in the first month is finding the drink it disappears into. Most published work on collagen peptides runs eight weeks or longer before measuring anything, so this stretch is about consistency. If something is going to sit wrong with your stomach, you'll know here.
Weeks 4 to 8
The window opens
This is where the shorter skin-focused trials in the literature start reporting their measurements. Individual response varies widely and no outcome is promised. Keep taking it daily rather than reaching for it only after a hard session.
Weeks 8 to 12+
A fair evaluation
The joint comfort trials in this category commonly run three to six months. Ninety days of daily use is a reasonable point to sit down and honestly assess whether this belongs in your routine. Earlier than that is guessing.
Taste and mixability, without the spin
Unflavored collagen is not literally flavorless — it is faint, slightly savory, and mostly noticeable in plain water. In anything with body to it, it vanishes.
Where it disappears
Hot coffee, tea, oatmeal, Greek yogurt, soup, a fruit smoothie, or mixed into a whey or vegan protein shake. It dissolves fully and adds a slight creaminess rather than grit.
Where you may notice it
Straight cold water, especially still water in a large volume. If that's your preference, use less liquid and stir rather than shake, or move it into coffee.
Getting it fully dissolved
Add the powder to the liquid, not the liquid to the powder, and give it fifteen to twenty seconds of stirring. Hot liquid dissolves it fastest. A shaker bottle works fine for cold.
What to look for
How to read any collagen label, including this one.
These are the lines worth checking before you buy any collagen powder. We are not naming competitors — turn your current canister around and check it against the middle column yourself.
| What to check | Typical off-the-shelf collagen | Collagen Peptides Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Other ingredients | Natural flavors, sucralose or stevia, silicon dioxide, anti-caking agents, sometimes gums | None. That is the printed line on the panel, not a marketing phrase |
| Blend disclosure | A proprietary collagen matrix or blend total, with individual amounts hidden | All three actives itemized, and the three amounts sum exactly to the 13.33 g serving |
| Source transparency | "Grass-fed" on the front, no country of origin stated anywhere | Grass-fed, pasture-raised cattle from Argentina and Brazil, named on this page |
| Honesty about the small ingredients | Token amounts of secondary actives described with the same weight as the main one | Where our glutamine and fiber fall below research amounts, we print it on this page |
| Flavor system | Vanilla or chocolate with a sweetener you now have to want every single day | Unflavored and unsweetened, so it works in coffee, yogurt, oatmeal or a shake |
| Manufacturing | "Made in a GMP facility" with no jurisdiction specified | Made in the USA in an FDA-registered, cGMP-compliant facility |
Proof, not promises
What we will actually put in writing.
- 12 g of hydrolyzed bovine collagen peptides per 13.33 g serving
- Sourced from grass-fed, pasture-raised cattle in Argentina and Brazil
- Other Ingredients: None — no flavors, sweeteners, gums or anti-caking agents
- No proprietary blends. Every active is itemized on the panel
- 10.8 g of protein and 43 calories per serving
- Manufactured in the USA in an FDA-registered, cGMP-compliant facility
- Where a dose sits below the published research range, we say so on this page
Quality and manufacturing
What we can document for this product.
Made in the USA
Manufactured domestically in a facility registered with the FDA. Registration means the facility is on file with and subject to inspection by the agency. It does not mean the FDA approves or endorses any dietary supplement.
cGMP compliant
Produced under current Good Manufacturing Practices, the framework governing identity, purity, strength and composition controls for dietary supplements in the United States.
Named raw material source
Bovine collagen peptides from grass-fed, pasture-raised cattle raised in Argentina and Brazil. We name the origin because most labels in this category do not.
Single-ingredient discipline
Three actives, no excipients, no flow agents, no flavor system. Fewer inputs means fewer supply chains to verify and fewer places for a formula to drift between runs.
We are not publishing a certificate of analysis, a batch report, or a third-party certification mark for this product on this page, because we are not going to attach documentation from a different product to this one. If you want lab paperwork on the lot you received, contact us with the lot number printed on your canister and we will tell you exactly what exists for it.
From Dr. Andreas
I have spent thirty-three years putting my hands on joints, and I have spent a lot of my own weekends putting mileage through mine. Connective tissue is the tissue that decides how long you get to keep doing what you love.
Collagen is not exciting. It doesn't give you a buzz, you can't feel it working, and nothing about the first two weeks will convince you of anything. It is a slow, structural, boring input — which is precisely why it is the kind of thing people abandon, and precisely why we made it unflavored and easy to live with. The supplement that works is the one that is still in your coffee in March.
I take this one daily. Not because it does something dramatic, but because at 56, still racing and still competing, I would rather keep supplying the raw material than find out later what happens when I don't.
Dr. Andreas Boettcher, B.S., D.C., C.F.M.P.
Founder, It's Only Halftime
Ironman Triathlete / Master's Men's Physique Competitor / Medication-Free at 56 / 33 Years of Clinical Practice
Stacks
What we pair it with, and why.
Each of these has a mechanical reason to sit next to collagen, not just a category in common.
The cofactor
Liposomal Ultra Absorption Vitamin C
Collagen peptides supply substrate. Vitamin C is the required cofactor for prolyl and lysyl hydroxylase — the enzymes that hydroxylate proline and lysine so the triple helix can stabilize. Substrate without the cofactor is an incomplete setup, and this formula does not contain vitamin C. This is the most mechanically justified pairing on the page.
View Liposomal Vitamin C
The sulfur side
Opti MSM — Joint, Muscle and Immune Support
MSM contributes bioavailable sulfur, which the body uses in the sulfation of connective tissue components. It approaches joint and skin support from a different angle than collagen does, which is why the two are commonly run together rather than as alternatives.
View Opti MSM
The honest caveat
Whey Protein — Dutch Chocolate
Collagen is an incomplete protein. It contains no tryptophan and is low in leucine, so it should add to your daily protein rather than replace a complete source. Whey covers exactly the essential amino acids collagen does not, which is why we would rather sell you both than let you count 10.8 g of collagen as a full protein serving.
View Whey ProteinThis one isn't flashy and it never will be. It is the input you keep supplying so that ten years from now the joints still cooperate. That's the whole pitch, and I take it every morning.
Stay Strong,
Dr. Andreas
Dr. Andreas Boettcher, B.S., D.C., C.F.M.P.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Is collagen a complete protein? Can I count it toward my daily protein target?
No, it is not complete. Collagen contains no tryptophan and is low in several other essential amino acids, including leucine. That means the 10.8 g of protein on the panel counts toward your total grams but should not displace a complete protein source like whey, eggs, fish or meat.
Treat it as an addition to your protein intake with a specific structural purpose, not as a substitute for it. Anyone who tells you collagen is your protein powder is selling you something.
Do I need to take vitamin C with it?
You do not need to take it in the same glass, but you do need adequate vitamin C status overall. Vitamin C is a required cofactor for the enzymes that hydroxylate proline and lysine during collagen synthesis. Without it, the body cannot form stable collagen regardless of how much substrate you provide — that relationship is the entire biochemical basis of scurvy.
Most people eating a reasonable diet already have adequate vitamin C. If you want to be deliberate about it, we make a liposomal vitamin C and it is the pairing we recommend most often with this product.
How many servings a day should I take, and how long does a canister last?
One serving of about 2 rounded tablespoons daily is the everyday baseline and is what I personally use. The label directions allow 2 to 3 servings daily for periods of higher intake.
Run the math before you decide. At one serving a day, the canister lasts about 51 days. At two, about 25 days. At three, about 17 days. Higher intake is a real choice with a real cost, and we would rather you make it with the numbers in front of you.
What does it taste like, and will it clump?
It is unflavored and unsweetened, which is not the same as tasteless. It is faint and slightly savory, noticeable in plain water and essentially undetectable in coffee, tea, oatmeal, yogurt, soup or a smoothie.
It dissolves in both hot and cold liquid. Add powder to liquid rather than the reverse, stir for fifteen to twenty seconds, and it goes clear. Hot liquid dissolves it fastest.
Will it break a fast?
Yes, in any meaningful sense. One serving delivers 43 calories and 10.8 g of protein. If your fasting protocol is strictly zero-calorie, this is food and it goes on the eating side of the window.
If your goal is a longer overnight gap rather than absolute abstinence, many people take it with their first meal or their morning coffee after the window closes.
Medications and safety — what should I actually watch for?
Collagen peptides are a food-derived protein and have a low interaction profile. There are still situations that warrant a conversation with your physician before starting.
Beef sensitivity or allergy: this is a bovine-sourced product and is not appropriate if you avoid beef for allergic, religious or dietary reasons. It is not vegan or vegetarian.
Glutamine and liver disease: people with significant hepatic impairment, including a history of hepatic encephalopathy, should discuss any supplemental glutamine with their physician because of its role in ammonia handling. The amount here is small at 666 mg, but the conversation still belongs with your doctor.
Cancer history or active oncology treatment: talk to your oncology team before adding supplemental glutamine of any amount.
Kidney disease: if you have reduced kidney function and have been advised to manage protein intake, count these grams and clear the addition with your physician.
Anticonvulsant therapy: discuss supplemental glutamine with your prescriber, as glutamine metabolism intersects with pathways relevant to some seizure medications.
Pregnant or nursing: consult your physician before use.
How is this different from your Beef Collagen Rich Chocolate and your Collagen MCT Creamer?
This is the unflavored, unsweetened one, and it is the only collagen in the line with an Other Ingredients line that reads None. That makes it the versatile option — it goes anywhere, including savory food, because it brings no flavor profile with it.
The flavored options exist because some people want the drink to taste like something and would rather not build that themselves. If you want collagen to disappear into whatever you are already drinking, this is the one.
Why isn't there a certificate of analysis on this page?
Because we will not attach another product's paperwork to this one. If a document exists for the lot in your hand, we will tell you what it is — contact us with the lot number printed on your canister.
What we will state on this page is that this product is manufactured in the USA in an FDA-registered, cGMP-compliant facility, and that the three actives on the panel are the entire contents of the scoop.
The close
Connective tissue doesn't announce itself until it's a problem.
Nobody wakes up excited about collagen. It doesn't hit, it doesn't buzz, and it will never be the most interesting thing in your cabinet. It is simply the structural raw material your body has been quietly asking for since you stopped eating the parts of the animal that contained it.
Twelve grams. Three ingredients. Nothing else in the scoop. Unflavored enough to survive contact with your actual morning routine, which is the only thing that determines whether a supplement like this ever does anything at all.
Supply the material. Do it daily. Then let the next ten years be the argument.
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