Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body. It accounts for around 30% of your total protein. Not muscle protein, not organ protein — structural protein. The scaffolding that holds skin firm, keeps joints moving, binds tendons and ligaments, and forms the walls of your blood vessels. Without it, the body cannot hold its own shape.
This page explains what collagen does, what happens when production declines, what the research shows about collagen supplements, and — most importantly — why vitamin C is the one ingredient your body cannot make collagen without. It then explains why Kakadu plum provides not just the most concentrated natural vitamin C available, but every other cofactor your body uses in the same process.
What Collagen Actually Does in the Body
Collagen is not one thing — it is a family of structural proteins, with at least 28 types identified in the human body. The most important for everyday health are:
- Type I — found in skin, tendons, bones and connective tissue. The most abundant type.
- Type II — found in cartilage. Critical for joint cushioning and movement.
- Type III — found in artery walls, skin and organs. Works alongside Type I.
Across all types, collagen does five things in the body:
- Gives skin its firmness and elasticity. Collagen fibres provide the structural framework that keeps skin firm. As production falls, the scaffold weakens and skin loses its ability to spring back.
- Cushions joints. Type II collagen is the main structural protein in cartilage — the tissue that prevents bones grinding against each other. Joint cartilage has no blood supply and regenerates slowly; collagen quality matters more than quantity here.
- Supports bones. About a third of bone by weight is collagen. It provides the flexible matrix that minerals crystallise into. Pure mineral without collagen makes bone brittle.
- Holds tendons and ligaments together. Tendons (muscle to bone) and ligaments (bone to bone) are almost entirely collagen. Soft tissue injuries are, largely, collagen injuries.
- Forms blood vessel walls. Vitamin C is necessary for normal blood vessel structure and function — because vitamin C is necessary for normal collagen formation, and blood vessel walls are largely collagen.
Why Collagen Levels Decline
The body produces collagen continuously, but production starts to fall from around the mid-twenties. After age 40, skin collagen drops by roughly 1% per year. The signs — fine lines, slower wound healing, stiff joints, thinner skin — are the visible result of that decline.
- UV exposure — ultraviolet light activates enzymes (matrix metalloproteinases) that break down collagen faster than it can be replaced
- Smoking — impairs collagen synthesis directly and reduces the supply of vitamin C to skin cells
- High sugar intake — glucose and fructose attach to collagen fibers in a process called glycation, making them rigid and brittle
- Vitamin C deficiency — without adequate vitamin C, the body cannot produce stable collagen at all
Do Collagen Supplements Actually Work?
The research is stronger than the sceptics suggest. A 2023 review published in the National Institutes of Health database, analysing multiple clinical trials, found that oral collagen supplements improved skin hydration and elasticity — with significant effects appearing after eight or more weeks of consistent use. [1]
The mechanism: hydrolysed collagen peptides are absorbed in the gut, enter the bloodstream, and travel to the skin. There, they act as signals — telling the fibroblasts (the skin cells responsible for collagen production) that collagen breakdown is occurring and that more needs to be made. The collagen you produce in response is your own body’s collagen, not the supplement itself.
The Missing Piece — Why Your Body Cannot Make Collagen Without Vitamin C
Taking a collagen supplement and expecting results without adequate vitamin C is like providing building materials but no tools to assemble them.
The synthesis of collagen requires two enzymes — prolyl hydroxylase and lysyl hydroxylase — to modify the amino acids proline and lysine into stable hydroxylated forms. These modified forms allow collagen molecules to twist into the triple helix structure that gives collagen its strength. Without hydroxylation, the triple helix cannot form. Without a triple helix, the protein is unstable and cannot function as structural collagen.
Both enzymes require vitamin C as a cofactor. Without it, they stop working. [2]
This is not a theory. The proof is centuries old: scurvy. Every symptom of scurvy — reopening wounds, loosening teeth, bleeding joints, collapsing connective tissue — is the direct result of collagen breaking down because vitamin C deficiency has shut down the synthesis enzymes. The mechanism that killed sailors is the same mechanism that determines whether your collagen supplement produces results.
Beyond enabling the enzymes, vitamin C does a second thing: it directly signals fibroblasts to produce more collagen. It does not just make synthesis possible — it actively drives the process. [2]
Food Standards Australia New Zealand recognises this. The approved wording: “Vitamin C contributes to normal collagen formation for the normal function of skin.” [3]
The Other Cofactors — Iron, Zinc, Copper and Manganese
Vitamin C is the most critical cofactor, but the enzymes that build collagen need more than one tool. Four minerals are also required at different stages:
- Iron — the same prolyl hydroxylase and lysyl hydroxylase enzymes that use vitamin C also require iron. Without adequate iron, they cannot complete the hydroxylation step regardless of vitamin C levels. [2]
- Zinc — required for collagen synthesis and the wound-healing process that depends on it. Zinc deficiency impairs collagen production and slows tissue repair.
- Copper — required for lysyl oxidase, the enzyme that cross-links collagen fibers after they form. Cross-linking gives collagen its tensile strength. Without copper, collagen fibers cannot bond into the tough, resilient matrix that holds tissue together.
- Manganese — required for prolidase, the enzyme that recycles proline and hydroxyproline from broken-down collagen back into new collagen synthesis. Without it, the raw material is lost.
Additionally, vitamin E protects the collagen you already have. Free radical damage degrades collagen fibers over time. Vitamin E neutralises free radicals before they break down existing collagen. [4]
Why Kakadu Plum Provides All of These in One
Our Kakadu plum powder is independently laboratory-tested at 12,100mg of natural vitamin C per 100 grams — over 240 times more concentrated than a fresh orange. One 500mg capsule delivers 60mg of natural vitamin C, more than the adult recommended daily intake of 45mg. That is the vitamin C your body uses to run the enzymes that build collagen.
The Australian Government’s own research, published in 2009 after testing the fruit in full, found that Kakadu plum also contains every mineral cofactor required for collagen synthesis: [4]
- Iron: 4.0mg per 100g dried fruit
- Zinc: 0.57mg per 100g dried fruit (and 6.0mg per 100g in the seed)
- Copper: 0.30mg per 100g dried fruit (and 2.5mg per 100g in the seed)
- Manganese: 3.5mg per 100g dried fruit (and 9.1mg per 100g in the seed)
Our capsules contain whole fruit powder — fruit and seed together. The seed carries the highest concentrations of zinc, copper and manganese of any part of the plant.
Kakadu plum also contains 6.1mg of vitamin E per 100g — the highest of every fruit tested in the Government report — and total polyphenol levels 10.5 times higher than blueberries. Both protect existing collagen from the oxidative damage that breaks it down over time.
Synthetic ascorbic acid gives you one molecule. Kakadu plum gives you vitamin C, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, vitamin E and antioxidant polyphenols — every cofactor your body uses to build and protect collagen, in a single whole food.
Kakadu Plum Vitamin C Capsules — 140 capsules, 60mg natural vitamin C each →
Read the full vitamin C science: why our powder is over 240 times more concentrated than a fresh orange →
What People Are Spending to Support Collagen — and What One Capsule Contains
A quality hydrolysed collagen supplement costs $3 to $10 per day. Most collagen brands then tell you to take vitamin C alongside it, because without vitamin C the enzymes that build stable collagen cannot function. A separate vitamin C supplement: another dollar. Add zinc (collagen synthesis), copper (cross-linking) and manganese (recycling the raw material): more again.
One Kakadu plum capsule costs 64 cents. It contains:
- 60mg of natural vitamin C — from a fruit with 240 times the vitamin C concentration of a fresh orange, and more than the adult recommended daily intake in a single capsule
- Iron, zinc, copper and manganese at significant concentrations from both the fruit and seed
- 6.1mg vitamin E — the highest of any fruit tested
That is every cofactor the research identifies for normal collagen formation, in a single capsule of whole fruit powder including the seed. Not a collagen supplement. The ingredients your body uses to make its own.
Kakadu Plum Vitamin C Capsules — 140 capsules, 64 cents each →
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the benefits of taking collagen?
Collagen provides the structural framework for skin, joints, bones, tendons and blood vessel walls. Clinical research found that oral collagen supplements improved skin hydration and elasticity after eight or more weeks of consistent use. The most important factor is whether you have adequate vitamin C — without it, collagen peptides from supplements cannot be converted into stable structural collagen.
What happens if you take collagen every day?
Daily collagen supplementation is well tolerated. Consistent, long-term use produces the most significant results for skin hydration and elasticity, with effects becoming measurable after eight or more weeks. The body processes collagen peptides as food, and there are no established negative effects from regular use at normal supplement doses.
What are the symptoms of lack of collagen?
The most visible signs are changes to skin — reduced firmness, fine lines, and slower healing of minor cuts. In connective tissue, joint stiffness or discomfort can appear. In severe deficiency (scurvy, caused by vitamin C deficiency), existing collagen breaks down: wounds reopen, teeth loosen, joints bleed. This demonstrates exactly how dependent collagen integrity is on a continuous supply of vitamin C.
Why do you need vitamin C with collagen supplements?
Your body breaks collagen supplements down to amino acids, absorbs them, and rebuilds its own collagen. That rebuilding requires two enzymes — prolyl hydroxylase and lysyl hydroxylase — which cannot function without vitamin C. If vitamin C levels are low, collagen synthesis stalls regardless of how much collagen you take. This is why every major collagen brand either includes vitamin C or recommends taking it separately.
What is the best natural vitamin C to take with collagen?
The most concentrated natural source of vitamin C of any fruit is Kakadu plum — an Australian native with over 240 times the vitamin C concentration of a fresh orange in our lab-tested powder. Unlike synthetic ascorbic acid, Kakadu plum also provides iron, zinc, copper, manganese and vitamin E — all the other cofactors your body uses to build and protect collagen — in a single whole food. One 500mg capsule delivers 60mg of natural vitamin C, more than the adult recommended daily intake.
Why Our Capsules Contain the Whole Fruit — Seed and All
Most Kakadu plum products use only the dried fruit flesh. Ours uses whole fruit powder — fruit and seed kernel together. Processing the seed to the same fine powder as the fruit, with no grit, costs more and takes more work. We do it because the numbers are worth it.
The seed kernel carries dramatically higher concentrations of every mineral the body needs alongside vitamin E:
- Zinc: 6.0mg per 100g in the seed — 10 times more than the fruit flesh (0.57mg)
- Copper: 2.5mg per 100g in the seed — 8 times more than the fruit flesh (0.30mg)
- Manganese: 9.1mg per 100g in the seed — 2.6 times more than the fruit flesh (3.5mg)
- Iron: 6.1mg per 100g in the seed — 50% more than the fruit flesh (4.0mg)
These are not bonus minerals. Zinc, copper, manganese and iron are cofactors your body uses in the same antioxidant and cellular protection processes as vitamin E. A product without the seed leaves the most concentrated part of the plant out.
The powder is smooth — no grit — because we grind and dry the seed kernel to the same fine powder standard as the fruit. That is the extra research and processing cost that goes into every capsule. No other Kakadu plum supplement we are aware of includes the seed.
Why does your Kakadu plum powder include the seed?
Because you get both — the fruit and the seed kernel in every capsule, and the seed carries everything the fruit has at even higher concentrations, plus nutrients the fruit alone does not provide.
The fruit gives you 240 times the vitamin C of an orange, 6.1mg of vitamin E (the highest of any fruit tested), and polyphenol levels 10.5 times higher than blueberries.
The seed kernel adds to that: 32% protein (researchers described it as a potential new protein source), 35% fat — four-fifths of it unsaturated — 21% fibre, and a separate mineral load of 539mg calcium, 421mg magnesium, 669mg potassium, plus manganese, iron, zinc and copper at concentrations 3 to 10 times higher than the fruit flesh.
You are not choosing between one or the other. Our capsules contain whole fruit powder — fruit and seed kernel together, ground to a fine smooth powder with no grit. Most Kakadu plum products use only the fruit flesh and leave the seed out entirely. That means they are giving you half the plant.
No other Kakadu plum supplement we are aware of includes the seed.
References
- Pu SY et al. Effects of Oral Collagen for Skin Anti-Aging: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients, 2023. PMC10180699. Cited by 206 studies.
- DePhillipo NN et al. Efficacy of Vitamin C Supplementation on Collagen Synthesis and Oxidative Stress After Musculoskeletal Injuries. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 2018. PMC6204628. Cited by 350 studies.
- Food Standards Australia New Zealand, Standard 1.2.7 — Nutrition, Health and Related Claims.
- Konczak I, Zabaras D, Dunstan M et al. Health Benefits of Australian Native Foods. RIRDC (Australian Government) Pub. No. 09/133, Sep 2009.
32% protein · 421mg magnesium · zinc 10× higher than the fruit flesh. University-measured in a peer-reviewed study. Most processors discard it.
Our products are food, not therapeutic goods, and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition.