Gelatine

Food · Pantry & Condiment · Food, Typed Supps

Eighty-four per cent protein and one of the least useful proteins you can eat.

Stage by stage

Texture (Mouth): Melts near body temperature, which is why jelly gives way in the mouth.
Digested normally (Stomach): Broken into amino acids like any protein — the problem is which amino acids are there.
The gap (Small intestine): Essentially no tryptophan, so it cannot support tissue synthesis on its own.
Poor quality (Muscle): Protein quality scores near zero, because the missing amino acid governs the result.

Timing

Nothing nutritional. Technically: cold water to bloom, gentle warmth to dissolve, and no fresh pineapple anywhere near it.

Time to effect

Minutes: Blooming and dissolving.
—: No useful protein contribution accumulates.

Allergens

None of the fourteen major allergens. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Keto, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Halal, Kosher, Low-FODMAP.

Satiety

Not scored: the satiety index is measured on 240 kcal servings, and nobody eats a 240 kcal serving of this. The question does not apply rather than the answer being unknown.

Cost band

Mid — roughly £5 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Protein
Calcium

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 346
Protein: 84.4g
Carbohydrate: 0g
Fat: 0.4g
of which saturated: 0.2g
Sodium: 330mg

Food vs. supplement

Collagen supplements are gelatine with the same amino acid gap and a better story. If they work at all, it is proposed to be through specific peptides acting as signals rather than through supplying protein — which means the 84 g on the panel is not the mechanism either way.

Kitchen tip

Never set gelatine with fresh pineapple, kiwi or papaya — their enzymes digest it and it will simply never firm up. Tinned fruit works, because the heat killed the enzymes.

Common myth

“Gelatine is 84% protein, so it’s a great protein source.” In reality: It is the clearest case of a high protein number meaning nothing. Collagen has essentially no tryptophan, an amino acid the body cannot make, and protein quality is governed by whichever essential amino acid is scarcest — so gelatine scores close to zero despite the figure on the panel. Collagen supplements share the same gap.