The wellness business has an obsession with youth. So naturally, collagen has develop into and continues to be an enormous pattern for anti-aging and general well being.
There has been some new analysis on collagen within the years since I wrote my first assessment on collagen dietary supplements, so I’m bringing it to you right here, together with my ideas (have they modified?) on taking oral collagen dietary supplements.
The situation with quite a lot of the research on collagen and pores and skin is that they’re carried out on animals, they’re sponsored by makers of collagen dietary supplements, or they’re simply poorly carried out usually.
What is collagen?
Collagen is a protein that’s made up of the amino acids glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline. It’s discovered within the pores and skin, bone, tendons, and ligaments of people and animals. Collagen is a inflexible structural protein, like scaffolding for our pores and skin and different physique elements.
We don’t have to devour collagen to supply it – our our bodies produce collagen from the vitamins we eat, particularly vitamin C, copper, zinc, and meals which might be excessive in protein like rooster and fish.
Collagen can even assist our pores and skin look plump and hydrated, which is why, as we age, our pores and skin tends to sag and isn’t as elastic. Pores look bigger due to the lack of firmness.
Other elements, similar to smoking, stress, genetics, solar publicity, and poor food plan,additionally have an effect on the standard and fee at which we lose collagen within the pores and skin.
Collagen manufacturing begins declining within the mid-twenties by round 1% per yr.
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, ladies lose as much as 30% of their collagen manufacturing within the first 5 years of menopause, which is simply sh*t luck. This results in crepey pores and skin, weakened muscular tissues, and stiff ligaments and tendons.
It’s simply a part of getting older. Nothing – apart from surgical procedure – can repair these indicators of growing older.
What occurs once we take collagen?
When we devour collagen, what occurs is similar as once we devour any protein.
Protein meals are made up of chains of amino acids. When we digest these meals, the amino acid chains get damaged down into particular person amino acids.
The physique then takes these particular person amino acids and reassembles them into configurations that swimsuit its wants, then sends them the place they’re wanted. It’s not a certainty that the amino acids can be despatched to your pores and skin as collagen. We can’t management the place the proteins we eat, find yourself in our physique.
Although there are particular amino acids in our diets that construct collagen, these can be utilized in processes aside from collagen.
For instance, proline – which we will devour in collagen dietary supplements however can be made by our physique out of one other amino acid known as glutamic acid – is utilized in pores and skin and joints, but in addition in muscle, in addition to the formation of different amino acid chains. So all the proline you eat doesn’t essentially develop into collagen.
The opinions and science of how collagen in our food plan impacts our pores and skin are pretty blended. If collagen breaks down into its elements with digestion, how then will consuming collagen lead to improved pores and skin look?
This is the place I left my final collagen assessment. However, I typically change my opinion when the science modifications and will get up to date. This could be the case with collagen dietary supplements.
Drumroll, please!
Do collagen dietary supplements enhance pores and skin?
Let’s check out the most recent analysis round collagen and pores and skin.
Firstly, the simplest collagens look like derived from fish and cows (aka bovine collagen).
Several critiques and meta analyses (right here), (right here), (right here), have been launched exhibiting that hydrolyzed collagen aka collagen peptides, improves the looks of pores and skin, growing hydration and elasticity. However, the difficulty is the meta analyses are sometimes solely pretty much as good because the research they use – and ought to be taken with a grain of salt.
Other current research on collagen (right here), (right here), (right here) additionally discovered beneficial outcomes by way of pores and skin look/hydration, though we now have to acknowledge the battle of curiosity in one of many research with a researcher working for a collagen complement firm. All three research had been additionally very small, with underneath 100 topics complete.
The dosages in these research weren’t constant, and the ratio of glycine to proline and hydroxyproline had been distinctive. Some research used collagen merchandise that additionally had different components. All of that is problematic when you’re utilizing this analysis to show that collagen works, or when you’re trying to discover the optimum dosing for a collagen complement.
There simply doesn’t appear to be any consistency throughout research.
What we now have right here, is a number of research which might be a blended bag of sponsored, small, and doubtlessly flawed. However, because the years have passed by, I haven’t seen many research on collagen which have not discovered beneficial outcomes the place pores and skin look is anxious.
It’s a traditional case of, ‘where there’s smoke, there’s hearth.’
If collagen dietary supplements assist with pores and skin hydration, it’s a logical rationalization for the looks of fewer wrinkles. More hydrated pores and skin is much less crepey and wrinkly.
Given that collagen dietary supplements look like secure, right here’s my backside line about collagen and pores and skin:
More analysis must be carried out. I’m speaking, bigger research with consistency in product and dosing and much more individuals, together with no sponsorship.
Make positive you get the correct kind of collagen. Beware of useful meals like popcorn and protein bars that comprise components like collagen extra for advertising than anything.
Ensure your collagen complement that has third-party testing for security. There have been points with heavy metallic contamination of some collagen dietary supplements. Don’t simply purchase stuff off of Amazon; get a good model from a good retailer.
Hydrolyzed collagen is one of the best type of collagen to take, because it has already been damaged down.
Lastly, be life like about growing older. No complement or food plan goes to forestall growing older or enable you ‘age in reverse.’ We all age, and all of us present indicators of growing older. Unfortunately, we’ve been fed a dangerous narrative round ladies and growing older that stokes insecurity and sends us in search of the holy grail of youth.
The Galveston Diet e book assessment – learn it right here.
Is collagen an excellent protein powder?
Collagen protein powder isn’t one of the best supply of protein. For one, it has a limiting amino acid – tryptophan – which prevents collagen from being a whole protein. Whey continues to be the gold normal for protein powders, because it has probably the most beneficial bioavailability and absorption fee.
Still, when you’d like to make use of collagen as a protein powder, simply ensure your food plan is full. That will make sure that you get that tryptophan from one other supply.
How about plant-based collagen?
This doesn’t exist. Collagen is current solely in animals. ‘Plant-based’ collagen dietary supplements comprise nutritional vitamins and minerals which might be wanted for collagen manufacturing within the physique. Calling these dietary supplements ‘collagen’ is deceptive, which is why quite a lot of them are named ‘collagen boost.’
Most of us get sufficient of what we have to make our personal collagen. I wouldn’t suggest vegan collagen merchandise until your food plan is severely missing.
What about among the different claims round collagen?
Collagen and joint ache
One of the collagen advantages that appears fairly stable by way of analysis (right here), (right here), and (right here) has been using collagen kind II for joint ache. This is a special kind of collagen from kind I, so in case you are fascinated about attempting it, you’ll need to search for undernatured or kind II collagen.
Collagen and intestine well being
Does collagen repair leaky intestine?
Numerous different well being practitioners appear to suppose so. Bone broth does comprise collagen, though the quantity can fluctuate throughout merchandise.
The GAPS food plan assessment: does leaky intestine trigger illness?
While bone broth could also be soothing, to say that the collagen in it might probably ‘seal up’ leaky junctions in intestine cells is a gross oversimplification. That’s a typical theme with these kinds of claims: the physique is much more complicated than how they make it appear. The cells of the intestine aren’t like bricks which have simply misplaced their mortar; to assist with elevated intestine permeability (that’s the precise prognosis, not ‘leaky gut’), it’s necessary to take away the trigger, no matter that’s in every case.
I wrote about leaky intestine right here.
Should you are taking collagen on your pores and skin?
It could also be price a attempt, however don’t anticipate miracles. There appears to be quite a lot of constructive analysis round hydrolyzed collagen for pores and skin hydration and look, however the preponderance of that analysis appears to be decrease in high quality.
Still, possibly there’s something to it?
What I don’t suggest you do is take heed to individuals or corporations making big guarantees about collagen and the way it may help you ‘age in reverse’ or any of that nonsense. We have to normalize growing older and never use it as a advertising device.