DYK, there are actually over 300 amino acids? But the human body only uses 20 of them. These 20 amino acids are used in every cell to build the proteins we need to survive.
Of the 20 amino acids human's need, 11 of which are produced by our bodies. We need to get the other 9 amino acids (aka “essential amino acids”) from the food. When a food contains all nine of these amino acids, it is called a “complete protein. Collagen is missing 1 essential amino acid (tryptophan) so it's not classified as complete.
Why are people always banging on about Collagen not being a "complete protein"? Because it's not. Collagen is missing one essential amino acid: tryptophan.
There are 19 total amino acids in collagen: Alanine, Arginine, Asparagine, Aspartate, Cysteine, Glutamate, Glutamine, Glycine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Proline, Serine, Threonine, Tyrosine, and Valine.
BUT collagen's amino acid profile can't be found in any other food. Meet the Collagen Power Trio.
COLLAGEN POWER TRIO:
Glycine + Proline + Hydroxyproline
50% of Collagen's amino acid make-up is these 3. The other 50% is a combination of Alanine, Arginine, Asparagine, Aspartate, Cysteine, Glutamate, Glutamine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Serine, Threonine, Tyrosine, and Valine.
Wait a minute, what is Hydroxyproline?
Hydroxy (hydrogen+oxygen) + proline. It's the Hydro of in hydrolyzed collagen peptide.
Hydroxyproline + proline + glycine = a bioactive peptide (a peptide string of 2-3 amino acids forming a chain). This trio is then incorporated into collagen fibrils to make the triple-helix structure we call collagen protein...aka the hydrolyzed collagen peptide
Basically the power trio makes the hydrolyzed collagen peptide which signals to the body that it's time for repairs!