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Short Summary
Main recommendation: Get collagen from whole food sources, especially homemade bone broth, rather than relying on collagen supplements, which the speaker argues are heavily processed and not well absorbed. He lists seven food sources, including skin-on salmon, skin-on chicken legs and thighs, rib membrane, egg membrane, and sardines or anchovies eaten whole with bones. According to Dr. Berry, collagen is essential for joints, bones, muscles, and skin, especially as people age or train intensely.
Key Points
- Dr. Berry argues that collagen supplements are digested down to amino acids, so they do not go directly to the joints, and he prefers a bioabsorbable source.
- Dr. Berry presents homemade bone broth as the most bioabsorbable option, made by simmering leftover bones with herbs, apple cider vinegar, and water.
- Skin, cartilage, gristle, tendon, and sinew are described as collagen-rich parts of meat that are often discarded.
- Dr. Berry describes store-bought broths, gelatin, and boxed products like Knox and Jell-O as either not real bone broth or heavily processed, with unknown collagen quality.
- Small whole fish like sardines and anchovies are highlighted because their bones, cartilage, and marrow are eaten along with the flesh.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions: To make bone broth, put leftover bones from chicken, beef (including T-bone or steak bones), or sheep into a pot with herbs, apple cider vinegar, and water, then simmer. The speaker does not specify cooking times or quantities.
- Concrete instructions: Bake, broil, or grill wild-caught salmon with the skin on, and eat the skin.
- Concrete instructions: Eat skin-on chicken legs and thighs, including the cartilage at the ends of the bones and the gristle, tendon, and sinew, rather than skinless breast.
- Concrete instructions: Eat the membrane on the back of ribs, which most people peel off, and eat the membrane inside boiled eggshells, along with the yolk.
- Concrete instructions: Eat sardines or anchovies whole, including bones and cartilage; the speaker suggests adding mustard.
- The speaker recommends making gelatin at home instead of buying processed gelatin, and names two bone broth companies he links in the video description, which he considers a second-best option.
- The speaker mentions sardines and anchovies have low mercury and high omega-3s, and are inexpensive, though he gives no specific figures.
Bottom Line
According to Dr. Berry, whole-food collagen sources such as homemade bone broth and the skin, cartilage, and bones of meat and fish are a better choice than most collagen supplements.
