Bad Reaction To Hydrolyzed Collagen/Gelatin (great Lakes And Custom Collagen)

[Demyze]

A couple days ago I got two different hydrolyzed gelatin products; the green can from great lakes and a jug of custom collagen.

Over a three day span I started with the GL and ramped the amount from 2 tablespoons a day to 6 with no issues.

One night I tried the custom collagen powder (2 tbs) When I woke up the next day my entire face was puffy and bloated and I had no energy. When I made my coffee that morning and for at work I used the GL instead.

When I got home I noticed in the mirror that I had a ton of acne on my nose and mouth and weird bumps all along my hair line.When I rubbed my hair a lot fell out. I had deep lines on both sides of my face running from my nose outward. I have had great skin after a couple weeks of following Dr. Peat's dietary advice and also using Estroban and Solban as well as aspirin so I was pretty angry when this issue resurfaced.

The only change I had made to my routine that week was trying the hydrolyzed collagen/gelatin.

I think that the custom collagen caused an allergic reaction and that now i may be reacting to the great lakes product because of it. The dose (6 tbs a day) may have also caused an issue.

I am going to stop taking both for the time being until things clear up. After awhile I am going to slowly try the great lakes again and see if the dosage was an issue.

I wanted to post this to see is anyone has had similar experiences, or if someone runs into similar issues to know that someone else did to. I'll update when I find out more

 

[XPlus]

I had a slightly negative experience with the hydrolised gelatin.
Sometimes the non-hyrdolised version gives me little trouble to some extent, too.

The hydrolised gelatin has a couple of inherent problems:
1. Probable use of bacterial enzymes in production;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatinase
http://iws2.collin.edu/dcain/CCCCD%20Mi ... olysis.htm
1. and it's not easy to dissolve

The non-hydrolised version is okay when dissolved well in my experience. It could be a little difficult to digest when it's too concentrated.

6tbsp is a lot, specially if you have digestive issues.
I'd suggest you take it easy on the hydrolyzed version and experiment more with the dilution of moderate amounts of the non-hydrolised one.
Once digestion becomes better, you'd be able to have more of both.

 

[FredSonoma]

6 TBSP is only 36 g of protein - if I'm eating a diet with 150 g of protein, wouldn't I want to get at least get 36 g from gelatin?

 

[jyb]

6 TBSP is only 36 g of protein - if I'm eating a diet with 150 g of protein, wouldn't I want to get at least get 36 g from gelatin?

Are you sure you need 150g of protein...? I know some people seem to enjoy that kind of amount, but there's a difference between 150g and being protein deficient I would think. Haidut's recent thread on protein utilisation in food vs powder gives some perspective.

 

[FredSonoma]

6 TBSP is only 36 g of protein - if I'm eating a diet with 150 g of protein, wouldn't I want to get at least get 36 g from gelatin?

Are you sure you need 150g of protein...? I know some people seem to enjoy that kind of amount, but there's a difference between 150g and being protein deficient I would think. Haidut's recent thread on protein utilisation in food vs powder gives some perspective.

I have no idea tbh - I highly suspect I have some issues with digesting protein. Cutting back on eating protein and adding in hydrolyzed collagen seems to have helped my bloating / white tongue coating a lot. I just crave a lot of protein - that's where I'm getting the 150g number from.

 

[XPlus]

6 TBSP is only 36 g of protein - if I'm eating a diet with 150 g of protein, wouldn't I want to get at least get 36 g from gelatin?

For someone who doesn't tolerate hydrolysed gelatin I meant.
Eating more is fine as long as you have no trouble handling it.
Also, I think well prepared non-hydrolysed gelatin is a better choice.

 

[mujuro]

I have a bad reaction to either one, hydrolyzed or not. I added gelatin in yesterday, 10g with every protein meal, amounting to about 40g all up. I came out of the shower this morning and once the residual moisture evaporated I was left with really dry skin on my face and flaky skin on the hands. My sweat odor and general body odor was also different during my workout this afternoon - olfactory sensations are linked closely with memory, and it is the same smell I was struck with during my heavier "Peating" days late last year, during which time I was also plagued with horribly dry skin and dandruff.

I was using the Great Lakes brand red can in both instances.

 

[XPlus]

I hope you're dissolving the red one well in hot water first.
It'd be easier if you start dissolving it in cold liquid first and then heating the liquid.
The liquid must be clear to tell whether the gelatin is dissolved.
If any bits left undissolved, it will still feed bacteria.
Also, if you dissolve too much in too little liquid, it will be too concentrated for your digestion.
I'd try a level tbsp. for every 500ml of liquid and use clear hot liquids to make sure everything is dissolved. You can use a strainer if you have trouble dissolving the gelatin fully.

 

[answersfound]

I've had problems with hydrolyzed collagen before. Not with great lakes however. That stuff is gold. The key for me is 2 tbsp with boiling hot water.

 

[EIRE24]

I had an awful reaction to the red can of gelatin from Great Lakes. Vomiting and head aches. I do fine on the green can and mix it into my coffee or juice and smoothies. I guess it's finding one you can tolerate. Have you tried pure glycine powder instead of the gelatin?

 

[tomisonbottom]

I have no idea tbh - I highly suspect I have some issues with digesting protein. Cutting back on eating protein and adding in hydrolyzed collagen seems to have helped my bloating / white tongue coating a lot. I just crave a lot of protein - that's where I'm getting the 150g number from.

Do you still find the collagen helps with bloating and white tongue?

 

[FredSonoma]

Do you still find the collagen helps with bloating and white tongue?

I actually don't. Gelatin definitely has some positive effects on me, but I haven't noticed the bloting / white tongue benefit since that one time right before I wrote this post haha. I still often have a white coating on my tongue and always bloated.

 

[mujuro]

I just wanted to say that the body odor (i.e. from sweaty workout) I spoke of earlier in this thread has amplified significantly. The only change was I ran out of glycine and had to buy more. The bulk supplier I buy from sometimes uses different sources for batches and results in different consistencies. The previous glycine I had was granular, like sugar. The current glycine is extremely fine, like icing sugar. The odor is WAY more intense now than it was before. Perhaps absorption is the reason for the odor increase. Or maybe I left the other batch for so long that its quality degraded significantly and the last 3 months I've just been consuming powdered garbage. I didn't realize it would take so long to consume 1kg of glycine.

 

[Birdie]

I tried the green can and had two nights of Spastic colon flare ups. Vomiting the second night about 12 times. Never had such a bout of vomiting. My husband had two nights of esophageal reflux.
How much did we use? About a half a teaspoon the first day and 1/4 tsp the second day.
I think it was well dissolved.

Reading Amazon reviews led me to consider the possibility that hydrolyzing might change glutamine into a form similar to MSG. Some people with strong reactions to MSG, said they had bad reactions to the hydrolyzed gelatin.

 

[aniciete]

I tried the green can and had two nights of Spastic colon flare ups. Vomiting the second night about 12 times. Never had such a bout of vomiting. My husband had two nights of esophageal reflux.
How much did we use? About a half a teaspoon the first day and 1/4 tsp the second day.
I think it was well dissolved.

Reading Amazon reviews led me to consider the possibility that hydrolyzing might change glutamine into a form similar to MSG. Some people with strong reactions to MSG, said they had bad reactions to the hydrolyzed gelatin.

Do you still use gelatin?

 

[Birdie]

Do you still use gelatin?

Yes I do.