UC-11 Undenatured Collagen
Collagen has been taking the health and fitness industry over by storm due to its pleather of benefits, but it is important to distinguish between all the various forms of collagen along with their method of extraction. 
Overall, there are three forms of collagen available in dietary supplements, Type 1, Type 2 and Type 3. Type 1 and Type 3 collagen are commonly found in beauty products for maintaining skin, hair and nail health, while Type 2 collagen is known for its regenerative properties on joint function.
Type II Collagen
Dating back to 1993, Type 2 collagen has been illustrating its clinical efficacy as an oral medication approach for rheumatoid arthritis. Additional research published in 1998 furthered this notion as it been illustrated its ability to ameliorate arthritis in animal models of joint inflammation
While numerous clinical studies have demonstrated the benefits of Type 2 collagen for athletes with activity related joint pain over the years, recently there have been several advancements made on the method of extraction.
Initially, all Type 2 collagen came in the hydrolysate form, which involves utilizing high heat during the extraction process and unfortunately causing a degradation of chemical properties of the extracted collagen. In order to combat this chemical degradation, and experience the full pleather of benefits collagen has to offer, larger doses where needed in the range of 1200mg to 10,000mg per day.
Due to the light powdery texture, these larger doses often resulted in chalky and flavorless drinks that few would enjoy, luckily in 2005 researchers discovered a new method to extract the collagen that would preserve the chemical properties and allow consumers to take a fraction of the dose.
What Makes UC-11 Undenatured Collagen So Special
This new form of Type II collagen, termed UC-11 was developed under a patented process that involves low heat over a long duration of time resulting in an untainted form of the collagen. This form retains a higher percentage of its regenerative properties allowing users to experience the many benefits with a daily dose as small as 40mg.
It’s benefits were first illustrated as a treatment for arthritic dogs, where dogs receiving 1 mg or 10 mg of UC-II per day for 90 days showed significant declines in overall pain and pain during limb manipulation and lameness after physical exertion.
These positive results lead to the investigation of the therapeutic benefits of UC-11 on arthritic horses in comparison to the standard glucosamine and chrondrotin therapy over a period of 150 days. In this study researchers determined that horses receiving UC-11 exhibited a statistically significant reduction in arthritic pain in comparison to the glucosamine and chrondrotin therapy.
Research on UC-11 was expanded following this study to determine its effectiveness on osteoarthris symptoms of the knee in comparison to the combination of glucosamine and chondroitin. Over a 90 day period the UC-11 treatment group experienced a significant reduction in osteoarthris symptoms and improved mobility while these same benefits were not observed in the glucosamine and chrondrotin test group.
How Patented UC-11 Undenatured Collagen is Changing Lives
Due to the revolutionary impact that UC-11 could have on improving the quality of life for individuals suffering from joint pain or discomfort, researchers wanted to confirm all the positive results with larger test groups and over longer durations of time. In 2016 scientists did just that by chartering a randomized, double-blind placebo controlled study on 191 subjects over a period of 180 days. Over this 180 day period the volunteers receiving a daily dose of 40mg of UC-11 experienced a significant reduction in joint pain and stiffness allowing for vast improvements in mobility.
Similar results were illustrated in a 12 week study where prior to UC-11 supplementation 13 out of the 17 participants were taking medication for joint pain in comparison to only 4 out of the 17 participants at the conclusion of the study. Out of the 4 remaining patents taking medication for joint pain, two of them had reduced their dosage.