When it comes to personal health, the benefits of collagen are unrivaled. The new wonder-supplement has both health and beauty experts excited about its many advantages for people of all ages and genders. While collagen is naturally occurring in the body, this supplement will help optimize your collagen levels for added health benefits.
Starting in our 20’s we begin losing about 1% of the collagen in our bodies every year. As we age, our body’s natural ability to produce natural collagen declines and many will look to supplements to yield the many benefits of collagen.Â
Collagen supplements are perfect for those looking for an easy way to improve their beauty routine while also boosting their overall health and wellness. Reaping these benefits doesn’t require expensive treatments or doctors. Collagen is found in bone broth or one can add collagen peptides to your morning coffee. You can also get your daily dose of collagen now in the form of a topical patch. Â
What Is Collagen?
Collagen is a staple in the health community. It is a beauty product and a health product. Most importantly, collagen is a protein. It is the protein most abundant within the human body. This protein helps to create and strengthen skin, tendons, ligaments, and muscles. Studies show that increasing the collagen intake in your body can have massive health benefits.
There are four types of collagen. Each type has different impacts on your health and beauty.
Type I
The majority of collagen in your body falls under Type 1. It supports the structure in parts of the body like the teeth and connective tissue, as well as bones, skin, and more.
Type II
This collagen is looser than the dense Type I collagen. It is part of what supports the elasticity of cartilage between joints.
Type III
This collagen type is integral to the structure of organs and muscles.
Type IV
Unlike the structure-holding Type I or III, and the elasticity of Type II, Type IV collagen is part of the body’s filtration system, embedded within the layers of your skin.
Other Types
Other types of collagen exist, but they are less impactful on the body than the four previously mentioned.Â
Your body produces collagen by combining glycine and proline, which are both amino acids, with the help of vitamin C. Increasing the intake of these ingredients can help increase collagen production.
Why Use Supplements?
If your body is already producing collagen in a large abundance, why do you need to buy supplements?Â
As you age, collagen production decreases. The protein you can produce is of lower quality and less helpful for strengthening structures, filtering, and cushioning joints. This diminished quality is visible, and you can feel it internally, as well.Â
Because of this natural decline in production, collagen supplements are useful to substantiate protein production even as your body slows down with age.
How Collagen Supplements Impact Health
Taking collagen supplements to boost your body’s natural levels helps more than just a few organs. Here are some of the most noticeable changes in beauty and health that are collagen benefits.
Skin and Nails Health
As mentioned above, collagen, particularly Type IV, resides in the layers of your skin and nails. For this reason, taking a supplement can perform almost miraculous anti-aging effects. It can also help heal damaged skin by improving moisture and elasticity. The power of collagen can reduce the appearance of:
- Wrinkles
- Lines
- Dryness
- Discoloration
- Stiffness
- Acne (in some cases)
Studies published in skin Pharmacology and Physiology show that not only does it generate healthier skin, but it also boosts healthier-looking skin. Both men and women find a boost in confidence when they can feel good in their skin.
Joint Health
Joints are a major cause of pain and discomfort for those with injuries, or for those experiencing aging. Damaged or inflamed joints also can prevent the full range of mobility, and they are incredibly easy to injure.
Collagen supplements reduce the impact of aging on joints and cartilage. Typically, as a person ages, their joints wear down from use. Taking collagen can boost your joint health. It can even assist those dealing with osteoporosis and low bone density.Â
Above all else, collagen reduces joint pain, which can be life-changing for anyone dealing with chronic pain or injury.
Muscle Mass
Exercise enthusiasts enjoy the collagen’s ability to help with muscle growth aside from working out at the gym. Adding a dose of collagen to your diet plan drastically increases your muscle mass gains from a workout because collagen is a protein. Proteins are what your body uses to grow muscles and for connective tissue. Thus, collagen can be an effective aid to help lose weight due to increases in muscle mass.
Gut Health
Poor gut health can cause pain, discomfort, and stress. Collagen supplements can help repair gut health and strengthen the structure of digestive organs.Â
The protein also helps to prevent and protect against leaky gut syndrome, which refers to damage to the lining of the gut and digestive tract. Amino acids that make up the protein can improve the strength of the lining, reducing the impact of symptoms that cause leaky gut.
Also, collagen facilitates the absorption of nutrients in the body, which strengthens the gut wall and makes it less permeable. It is anti-inflammatory and reduces the risk of digestive conditions like IBS or inflammatory bowel disease.Â
As you age, your gut health can quickly decline. Collagen halts the damages caused by this aging process.
Hair Health
The reason collagen has a strong impact on the health of your hair is because hair consists of protein. Specifically, hair contains the protein keratin. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, meaning that taking collagen (which consists of amino acids) can help strengthen the protein keratin by providing essential amino acids.
The effects of collagen can prevent damage to your hair follicles. Conditions like stress, smoking, a poor diet, and alcohol can lead to damaged follicles. Supplements prevent this damage by serving as a source of antioxidants that fight off these other factors, known as “free radicals.”
As you age, your hair begins to thin. Collagen can even combat thinning. It does this by strengthening the layer of skin that holds the roots of your hair.Â
With aging also comes graying. Antioxidants from collagen can help offset this as well by helping your hair to retain pigment.
Bone Strength
Age doesn’t just impact the outer appearance of your body. Many of its more difficult impacts target organs and body parts like your bones.Â
The inner structure of your body weakens with age, causing bone loss, especially as your collagen production decreases over time. One study shows that taking a supplement will prevent bone loss and conditions like osteoporosis, which occur as a result of bone loss.
Improved bone density means you get to be more active, feel less pain, and regain quality of life free from discomfort and aches.
Heart Health
Cardiovascular health is perhaps the most serious health consideration as you age. An unhealthy heart has health effects like bad cholesterol, heart attacks, and heart diseases like atherosclerosis and arrhythmias.
Collagen promotes heart health by reducing artery stiffness and bad cholesterol levels (low-density lipoprotein levels). Several studies have shown these promising results.Â
In one study, participants tested the effects of collagen supplements on heart health, and they came back with favorable results.Â
Brain Health
Collagen impacts more than the body’s appearance and bone and cardiovascular function. It also affects one of the body’s largest organs, the brain.Â
Your brain health can change with age, damage, and environmental factors. Collagen is be a preventative measure against mental disorders and diseases, as well as a way of improving mood and coping with the symptoms of mental illness or stress.Â
The benefits of collagen for brain health lies in glycine, one of the amino acids that make up the protein.
Mental Illness and Brain Disease.
Collagen has been shown to protect neurons from Aβ toxicity. These proteins contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease, meaning that taking a supplement may indeed help protect against this disease.
Glycine itself has positive impacts on those who have schizophrenia as well. It has proven to mitigate symptoms and improve cognitive performance.
Aid for Sleep and Stress
Collagen is high and glyceine and studies have shown that increasing glycine intake can help you get to sleep easier. The amino acid formula helps people fall asleep faster and enjoy a greater quality of rest. This deeper sleep, in turn, promotes proper functioning during the day, as the brain has the proper amount of rest necessary for optimal use.Â
Collagen also has shown to improve moods and reduce anxiety among users.
Collagen in Men vs Women
On average, men have a higher natural collagen density than women do. This means that when women begin to lose collagen as they age, supplements can cause more visible improvements with signs of aging.Â
The internal impact is evident in both men and womens health, according to a study in the British Journal of Nutrition. Any person dealing with a dip in body or brain health as a result of a decrease in collagen production with age can benefit from adding supplements to the daily routine.
Collagen for Anti-Aging Benefits
As discussed above, many of the internal and external signs of aging are due to a depletion of collagen that occurs over time. Adding collagen back into your system, therefore, can help combat these symptoms of aging. Common uses of collagen as an anti-aging agent include prevention against:
- Wrinkles
- Hair loss
- Graying hair
- Alzheimer’s
- Cardiovascular disease
- Joint pain
- Bone loss
- Brittle nails
- And more!
In the Journal of Medical Nutrition and Nutraceuticals, women using collagen saw a reduction in wrinkles as a result of the supplement.
Collagen for Pregnancy
All pregnant individuals should check with their specialist or physician before taking supplements. Collagen is a great way to promote your health and the health of the fetus as it grows. Type V collagen can help the placenta grow during pregnancy. Also, sleep aide benefits help to reduce stress, sickness, and restlessness during pregnancy. Collagen also has the power to influence:
- Thyroid health
- Metabolism
- Blood sugar
- Leaky gut
- Stretch marks
- Joint pain
Pregnancy can be a taxing process for women’s bodies and brains. The healing features of collagen supplements can help to reduce the impact of symptoms.
Using Collagen Supplements with Dietary Restrictions
Dietary restrictions can range from allergies to moral, ethical, or religious exclusions to weight loss or health-based diets. It is important to consider how these interact with collagen before taking the supplement. Rest assured, though; there are plenty of ways to add this powerful supplement to your routine no matter what your dietary restrictions may be.
Keto
The ketogenic diet uses the principle of a high-fat, low-carb diet to promote health benefits like higher energy and weight loss. If you are observing the keto diet, collagen supplements are fine to take, in moderation.Â
Collagen is, above all else, a protein. Too much of it can bring you out of a ketogenic state and thereby halt fat-burning. The amino acids that make it up though can supplement your diet and help promote health and weight loss. You can take collagen supplements and still keep the perfect keto diet.
Vegan & Vegetarian
Most collagen supplements are not vegan. They directly use animal products to create a pill or powder. In recent years though, researchers have been able to create vegan alternatives to the supplement that take advantage of other sources of protein. Instead of animal products, these utilize yeast and bacteria.
The advantages of this vegan option include:
- Less likely to cause allergic reactions
- No animals are harmed in the production
- Lower cost for customers
- Allergies
Like any substance, it is possible to have allergies that interfere with your ability to take collagen supplements. If you think you may be having an allergic reaction to collagen, the most common symptoms are:
- Bad taste in your mouthÂ
- Heartburn
- Fullness
Most of the time, these allergies are because someone is allergic to shellfish, fish, or eggs, and are using a supplement that utilizes these animal products in the making of the collagen supplement. Those with allergies can opt for vegan alternatives that eliminate the use of animal products.Â
This way, they won’t have any ingredients that could trigger a typical animal product protein-based allergy. Collagen truly is accessible to all.
How Do You Take Collagen Supplements?
Finding youthful rejuvenation and relief from pain doesn’t have to come from expensive treatments, physical therapy, or other time-consuming methods. Improving your daily health can be as simple as taking one pill in the mornings with breakfast. This is the magic of collagen supplements. Collagen can come in many forms. It is:
- Naturally produced by the body
- Introduced to the system through foods like fish, eggs, chicken, beans, dairy products, and beef
- Taken in the form of a pill or powder
- Taken in the form of a topical patch
You can take oral doses in powder form mixed in with smoothies and shakes, or even soups and other foods. Pills are perfect to take on the way to work in the morning, or to take before bed. If you’re using collagen to help increase muscle gain from working out, try adding some powder to your protein shake before a workout.Â
People with simple healthy routines enjoy how simple it is to take a pill or put the powder in your foods. You get the benefit of better health without having to undertake costly or time-consuming habits.
Be sure to read the dosage instructions on whatever form of medically reviewed collagen supplement you take. There may be a difference between pills, powders, and other forms that mean taking more or less than usual. You should always be able to find the dosage on the back of the bottle or container.
Try Collagen Supplementation to Boost Your Health
It’s easy to obtain collagen to help you heal, boost health, and reduce symptoms of aging. These proteins are available in many stores over the counter, or in an online shop to be delivered right to your door.  There is no need for shots or injections, you can get your daily dose from a convenient patch to be worn for 8 hours.
You don’t need a prescription from a doctor to start seeing the ample health benefits of collagen in your daily life. This substance’s accessibility is part of what makes it such a valuable health resource.
Whatever your source of supplements is, you’ll feel like you’re back to being young again once you start introducing a dose each day to your health routine. Doctors and researchers continue to note the miraculous changes that people of all ages, genders, and conditions see in their physical and mental health. Try collagen today and see how it benefits your body!
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