Did you know that oral collagen supplementation leads to improved skin hydration and elasticity? This means that you can finally kiss premature wrinkling goodbye. If you have ever seen those women who look nothing over 40 and are above 50 years, collagen is the secret.
It is the protein that holds everything together. It plays an important role in intracellular structural integrity. You just have to commit to taking the collagen supplements religiously.
It’s the main element for all the connective tissue in the human body. It’s estimated that consumers use up to $122 million in collagen products. Want to know why?
Here are a few uses of collagen you probably didn’t know about.
Benefits of Collagen
What is collagen good for other than wrinkle prevention? Here are the additional collagen supplement benefits that will make you order your bottle immediately.
1. Nail And Hair Growth
Due to its abundance in amino acids, collagen makes your hair follicles stronger, which in turn leads to hair growth retention. It also nourishes your hair, making it strong by providing the necessary amino acids for keratin production.
The protein is responsible for faster hair growth.
2. Beautiful Skin
Collagen ingestion stimulates your body to increase the production of natural collagen. It also promotes the production of elastin and fibrillin, which are the two key proteins that help keep your skin looking young and soft.
It has also been shown to reduce the appearance of wrinkles. You have to admit the idea of reversing wrinkle formation as a key benefit. There are also claims that collagen helps your skin fight other skin conditions, such as acne, and reduces the appearance of acne scars.
3. Muscle Mass Increase
A part of your muscle mass is composed of collagen. This is because it makes up all the connective tissues, such as tendons and ligaments. They both help hold muscles in place.
Arginine, one of the most abundant amino acids in collagen, helps increase strength and grow muscles. Another essential amino acid found in collagen that helps grow muscles faster and larger is hydroxy prolylglycine.
4. Healthy Gut
Collagen heals and seals the gut. The amino acids glycine and proline heal the stomach lining, which in turn prevents and heals stomach ulcers. The same benefits help your gut lining repair and heal, thus preventing irritable bowel syndrome as well as a leaky gut.
Collagen also contains a hydrophilic molecule that attracts water and acidic molecules. These molecules then help break down complex foods such as carbohydrates and proteins.
This leads to improved digestion that ultimately leads to less bloating.
5. Bone Loss Prevention
Collagen helps stimulate the formation of bone cells that are essential for protection against bone density loss. It also improves your absorption of calcium, an important mineral that helps keep your bones healthy and strong.
The amino acid lysine helps to produce more collagen that causes your body to generate more bone cells on their own, thus preventing bone loss.
6. Joint Health
The amino acid proline helps produce cartilage, natural padding that prevents your bone joints from rubbing against each other, which is the main cause of severe joint pain. Collagen also contains threonine, which helps to build strong elastic connective tissues.
Collagen is also shown to accumulate in your joints and promote the generation of natural collagen that in turn regenerates worn-out cartilage tissue.
7. Heart Health
Collagen provides the necessary structure to your arteries. This helps to pump blood to your heart more efficiently. Weakened blood vessels lead to atherosclerosis, which can lead to stroke or heart attack.
Taking collagen supplements daily significantly reduces baPWV (brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity), the main cause of cardiovascular disease and mortality.
Where Does Collagen Come From?
Collagen is extracted from the hides, bones, skin, and scales of land animals and fish. There is also a vegan option made from genetically modified yeast and bacteria. The lab-made vegan collagen is cheaper than animal collagen and is less likely to cause an allergic reaction as compared to animal-derived collagen.
Vegan collagen, however, does not provide the same benefit profile as animal collagen.
How To Consume Collagen Supplements
Collagen supplements come in many forms. You can buy collagen capsules or collagen powder. You can consume the powder in more versatile ways. Some of them include adding it to your drinks and using it as a thickener in your soups.
Side Effects of Collagen Supplements
While everything is good in moderation, there are some people who would reap more pain than benefits from collagen consumption. Despite the research on collagen side effect still being in its infancy stage, it is better to be safe than sorry.
Some collagen supplements are linked to side effects like nausea, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal issues. This could have a lot more to do with one’s digestive issues and less to do with the product itself.
Needless to say, you also need to find out if the company uses parts from animals raised unethically to extract the collagen. The diet of the animal determines the quality of the collagen extracted.
An animal with high creatinine content will result in collagen with high creatinine content. High creatinine levels in your kidneys will damage them in the long run.
There have been reported cases of animal products containing heavy metals, such as copper and arsenic. These toxins could very well carry into the final collagen product.
The bottom line is if you consume collagen supplements and experience any gastrointestinal issues or other symptoms, discontinue use immediately.
Get The Best Collagen Supplements
The market is flooded with counterfeits, some of which are full of fillers and other ingredients. You will need to weed through the options before you can find a brand that actually delivers quality collagen supplements.
To find a variety of supplements, be sure to check out our page.
