Collagen supplements! In the supplement market, the demand and sale of collagen supplements are regularly increasing. Especially after a lot of users have shared their positive feedback about the supplements, more and more people are thinking about including them in your diet. The main purpose of using any supplement is to fill up the gap of nutrients in the body. Collagen is naturally produced in the body. But with growing age, our body automatically reduces the production of collagen, and as a result, we experience a number of health conditions.
Studies have found that including good quality collagen supplements in one’s diet can improve those health conditions. Collagen supplements have shown impressive results in increasing skin hydration levels, reducing wrinkles and fine lines, improving joint pain, and a lot more. And these are the reasons why more and more people are looking for top-quality collagen supplements so that they can get the benefits of it.
What Is Collagen?
We will go into collagen supplement efficacy really soon, but before that, let’s get some basic knowledge and understanding about collagen.
In case you are into skincare, you might have heard about collagen before. It basically helps to hold your skin’s hydration level, firmness, and elasticity. But it is a lot more than that.
Collagen is basically a family of proteins, which are the most abandoned proteins in the animal kingdom. Our body produces various types of proteins. At least 28 different types of collagens are there in vertebrates.
Among them, Type I, II, and III collagens are the most common types that are present in the human body. Collagen Hydrolysate is really beneficial for skin and body care. The role of collagen in our body is both complex and simple. By complex, we mean today at a cellular level. Basically, collagen assists in making up the architectural matrix or the structure of our bone, muscle, cartilage, and skin with the purpose of assisting tissues to become more elastic and capable of withstanding stretching.
As a result, collagen helps you get young-looking, supple skin. Via our cells’ fibroblasts, our body synthesizes our own supply. During our entire lifetime, this process happens, but with aging, it also decreases. Our bodies always maintain a balance between collagen production and degradation. During our young age, our bodies produce more collagen that we can break down. With age, that balance tips the wrong way, and it is because tissue regeneration decreases. By several environmental factors and stressors, natural levels also can be reduced.
Do Collagen Supplements Work?- What Science Is Saying
Collagen supplements basically are hydrolyzed collagen. They are broken down into digestible forms of collagen that are derived from animals, such as fish, chickens, and cows. They are usually available in powder form.
Here are some more common and known terms that are used for collagen supplements.
- Collagen peptides.
- Collagen hydrolysate.
- Hydrolyzed collagen.
- Gelatin.
Here, collagens are broken down using a controlled process called hydrolysis. In this process, the water molecules rupture the chemical bonds in all these collagen proteins that are derived from animals.
Natural collagen is a complex protein that is made of 3 amino acid chains. But collagen supplements or hydrolyzed collagen is a particular type of collagen, which is broken down into small protein chains and they are all made of a few amino acids.
Those amino acids are things such as alanine, lysine, proline, and glutamine. All these short amino acids and collagen peptides get absorbed into the body through our small intestine. Then, within the entire body, they travel throughout, supporting your body’s natural production of collagen.
The Science Backed Benefits Of Collagen Supplements
Now, let’s have a look at all the science-backed benefits of collagen supplements.
- Collagen supplements will support the skin’s hydration level and elasticity, along with promoting youthful skin texture.
- There is evidence to support that the best-quality collagen supplements support joint movement. However, there is no evidence to justify the concept that collagen supplements improve joint function levels or any other physical function.
- Collagen supplements are also believed to increase bone density. Along with that, it also helps in gaining more muscle mass.
If you want to get all the skin-supporting benefits of collagen, you need to constantly use collagen for 1 to 3 months at least. For muscle and strength improvement, a 3-month training with collagen intake.
