You've done everything right. So why do your joints still hurt?
If you've typed any of these into Google at 11pm, this check is for you.
What's actually hurting
Between the two bones in every joint sits a smooth white pad. It's called cartilage. It's the cushion.
When people say bone on bone or rusted shut, this is the bit they're describing. It's worn thin, and the two bones aren't gliding the way they used to.
What the cushion is made of
Cartilage is mostly water, held inside a mesh of protein, a bit like a wet sponge.
That mesh is collagen. When the mesh thins, the sponge can't hold water, and the cushion goes flat. That's why you already hear "collagen" and "joints" in the same sentence.
Hold that thought. There's a catch coming.
Collagen isn't one thing
Your body uses different kinds of collagen for different jobs. Two of them matter here.
Have a guess: which one is your knee cartilage built from?
It's Type II. And that's the one nobody sells you.
Don't feel bad. Almost everyone picks Type I & III, because that's what's on the front of every bag and in every advert.
Type I & III do lovely things for skin and hair. They don't go anywhere near the cushion in your knees. That's how people take collagen for years, watch their skin improve, and wonder why their joints never got the memo.
Correct. You're in the minority.
Most people pick Type I & III, because that's what's on the front of every bag.
Your cartilage is Type II. Different material, different job. Which raises a question about what's actually in your cupboard.
Finding Type II isn't quite enough
Most collagen is heated and broken down at the factory so it dissolves nicely in your cup.
Type II has to stay whole for your body to recognise it. Once it's cooked, that recognition is gone. The word on the label is undenatured.
So there are two things to check on your bag: does it name a type at all, and is that type the joint one. Go and get it. It takes ten seconds.
Putting your answers together…
Your answers match the pattern we see most.
This is a count of what you told us. It is not a diagnosis. That last row is the one that matters.
It didn't name a type. That's the answer.
You've been feeding your face and starving your knees.
Type I & III. Exactly what it says.
You've been feeding your face and starving your knees, and the bag told you so the whole time.
Type II is on there. Now check two more things.
Good. You get to skip the part everyone else wasted two years on.
Same joints. Two different mornings.
Today
- Ten minutes before you move properly
- One hand on the rail, every time
- You work out how you'll get back up first
- You quietly stopped saying yes to things
What people describe later
- Up at the first alarm
- The stairs are just stairs
- Down on the floor and back up
- You say yes without doing the maths
What customers describe, in their words. Not a promise, and not typical of everyone.
We're not putting a date on your calendar.
This builds rather than masks, and building is slow. Here's the honest shape of it.
Expect nothing. Really. Anything that works this way works slowly.
Where most customers first mention it, usually the mornings. Less of the ten minute warm up.
The stairs, and getting off the floor. The research on undenatured Type II at 40mg ran 90 to 180 days. That's the timescale to judge it on.
What it sounds like once people flip the bag.
I had been taking the wrong one for three years
Checked my old tub after doing this and it said Type I & III in tiny letters. Six weeks on this one and I'm not doing the shuffle to the bathroom every morning.
The stairs stopped being a decision
Nothing for about a month, which they warned me about. Then I noticed I'd walked down without touching the rail. Unflavoured, goes in my coffee, done.
Got down on the floor with my granddaughter
And got back up without thinking about it first. I'm on my third bag. That's the review.
Individual experiences, not typical of everyone.
More Than Collagen
What 50,000+ people are putting in their morning coffee.
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🦵Whole, undenatured Type II at 40mg. The amount used in the research.
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✨A full dose of Type I & III. So both jobs are covered, not just one.
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🍊Vitamin C and hyaluronic acid. The cofactors collagen needs to be put to use.
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☕One scoop, unflavoured. Into the cup you already pour.