Why Should I Take Collagen Supplementation?
Why Should I Take Collagen Supplementation?
Why Should I Take Collagen Supplementation?
The use of nutraceuticals such as collagen for skin care has been rising, however, regulations are still lacking on quality, absorption, and efficacy. It is constantly asked about collagen, so this essay explains what Collagen is and what the research says about its effectiveness.
What is collagen?
Collagen is a type of protein. It is one of the most abundant proteins in the human body and is a significant building block of bones, muscles, skin, ligaments, and tendons.
There are 28 known types of collagen. Type I collagen accounts for 90% of the collagen in the human body.
Collagen consists mainly of the amino acids glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline. These amino acids form three strands, which compose the triple-helix structure characteristic of collagen.
Cells in our connective tissue called fibroblasts generate and maintain collagen. As we grow old, collagen becomes fragmented, its function becomes impaired, and collagen generation slows down.
Elastin is another structural protein. while we grow old, we start to lose elastin as well. And these lead to signs of aging such as sagging skin and wrinkles.
Supplementation with Collagen
There is a wide range of topically applied skin care products such as serums and creams to help with aging, however many of these fail to reach the deeper layers of the skin, the dermis.
In order to casually and lastingly influence the skin aging processes, we need more bioavailable, short-chain nutritional collagen peptides. These are essential for the restoration of collagen synthesis.
A number of studies have now shown that oral collagen peptides can significantly improve skin hydration, appearance, elasticity, roughness, and density after 3 months of supplementation.
We summarized a recent meta-analysis that reviewed the available evidence from randomized controlled trials, using collagen supplementation for the treatment of skin quality, anti-aging benefits, and potential application in medical dermatology.
Choi et al. (2019)
