What Are Collagen Supplements?

Ever wondered why wrinkles appear with age? This is because the production of collagen becomes slower than the breakdown of collagen as we age. As collagen decreases, wrinkles appear, and the skin becomes less elastic. These changes, associated with ageing, are some of the reasons why collagen supplements became a major trend today.

But how essential is collagen for your health, really?

Defining collagen

Collagen is a protein and a vital structural component of our bodies that help keep the skin firm, smooth, and young-looking.

It is also a critical element of our connective tissues (which supports and connects other tissues in our bodies), present in the skin, bones and muscles. Study shows that it also helps maintain the integrity of blood vessels and different types of cells.

Why should we care about collagen?

Collagen is vital to our health because it’s required for maintaining the structure of our bodies. Besides keeping the skin firm, smooth, and young-looking, it helps in reducing cellulitis, improve digestive health, and strengthen the bones.

How does collagen does that? Research says that it helps control the growth of new cells and repairs damaged ones.

Collagen also helps boost skin immunity by increasing fibroblast production, which can improve wound healing time.

Other functions of collagen involve:

• The development of muscle mass.
• Reduction of bad cholesterol in our arteries.
• Promotion of mental health.

What are collagen supplements?

The body still makes collagen as we age, but its production becomes limited. Of course, we couldn’t just tell our bodies to make more even if we wanted to. That is how nature works. But we can do something about it, and this is where collagen supplements come in.

With great discoveries and innovations in medicine today, both natural and synthetic collagen supplements can now be created outside of the body. It may be in the form of capsules, pills, tablets, powder, or injections.

Finding the right collagen supplement will practically provide the same benefits that we enjoy from the collagen produced by our bodies.

Most collagen supplements undergo a process called hydrolysation, where collagen is broken down into smaller building blocks of protein called peptides. It sounds complicated, but this just means that the body can better absorb these collagen supplements.

What benefits can we get from consuming collagen supplements?

The following are some of the proven benefits of collagen supplements. While some of these may require further research aside from initial studies done so far, collagen supplements are proven to have shown positive results:

Collagen supplements help in promoting digestive health.

Research says that individuals with inflammatory diseases, such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel syndrome (but not limited to these conditions) are often found to have low levels of collagen in the gut.

Collagen supplements ?help in reducing cellulite.

One study found that dietary supplementation of collagen led to a considerable reduction of cellulite in women.

They make the skin more elastic and hydrated.

Research has shown that taking collagen supplements are beneficial to skin elasticity, roughness, density, and hydration.

Collagen provides mental health benefits.

Researchers found that a certain kind of collagen, called V1, helps fight Alzheimer’s Disease by protecting the brain cells from a harmful protein linked to such disease.

How long will it take for collagen supplements to work?

Unfortunately, there is no single, absolute answer to this question.

How fast collagen supplements work will depend on several factors. In addition to the efficacy of the collagen supplement, environmental factors such as diet and age will impact how fast you see results.

Other factors include skin care hygiene, cigarette or alcohol use, adequate sleep, drinking enough water, extreme sunlight exposure or other harsh elements. Variables such as the ability of the skin to retain moisture collagen levels or the skin cells to regenerate quickly and recover from any skin damage should also be taken into consideration.

Take care of your health with collagen!

You are likely no stranger to the tolls of ageing- it’s not a myth that adults lose skin elasticity, wrinkles creep into corners of the eyes, and sags become more visible. But instead of sitting idly and worrying, anyone can fight back with what might just be one thing keeping them at bay: Collagen supplements.

Remember that growing old is inevitable but looking old doesn’t have to be.