More than just an anti-wrinkle supplement: beneficial collagen effects you weren’t expecting
Collagen plays a significant role in keeping skin smooth and supple, and this is where you might be thinking – collagen is just for wrinkles, that's not something I need. Actually, collagen is so much more than that! As one of the body’s most vital skin protein, it affects the way in which we look, feel, and move. Collagen supplements have so many benefits other than just helping with the appearance of wrinkles. But they support in other areas of the body as well.
You probably already know about its benefits for hair, skin, and nails as we have previously focused on these areas, but its superpowers go way beyond beauty. You might be wondering what these other benefits are, which we are taking you through today. Make sure you continue reading to find out more!
Joints and Pain
As the most common protein found in the body, collagen plays a vital role in keeping the body supple. Collagen helps to maintain the integrity of your cartilage, which is the rubber-like tissue that protects your joints. Over time, your joints wear down and become more prone to issues like arthritis and other injuries.
Collagen is known to help reduce inflammation around joints, which can be beneficial for people with arthritis or other joint inflammatory issues. Using collagen supplements may help tighten muscles and tendons that hold joints together, improve muscle mass, and rebuild cartilage.
Our clinical test on the Bioactive Collagen Peptide® in our joint supplements (FORTIGEL®) has approved its effects on targeting joint pain while improving cartilage tissue as well. It showed that with taking collagen, there was progression in how the cartilage tissue formed.
Another study undertaken looked at the regeneration of cartilage over 48 weeks, where 60 men and women were taking a daily dose of 10,000mg of FORTIGEL® or a placebo. It found that those who were taking a daily dose generated new healthy cartilage tissue around their joints.
You can read more about collagen’s relationship with your joints in one of our previous blogs.
Gut health
We have previously spoken about how you can support your gut and how a healthy gut is essential for a healthy body. The gut can be damaged by several different elements like poor diet, stress, and lifestyle. These factors can cause the digestive lining to become leaky, allowing particles and bacteria into the bloodstream, which in turn causes an inflammatory response.
Collagen plays a role in building and maintaining healthy connective tissue throughout your digestive tract. By adding a collagen supplement into your daily routine, you can give your body access to a supply of essential amino acids that are needed to build, repair, and restore part of the body, including the gut.
One of the amino acids found in collagen, glycine, is particularly useful for gut health as it is helps tame inflammation and supports the digestive lining. Your body uses it to create proteins, and in fact, every third to fourth amino acid in collagen is glycine.
The collagen peptides that are featured in our range of collagen supplements, are an easily digestible and bioavailable form of protein. They are broken down to their smallest molecular structure already, which means that the body can properly absorb all the nutrients and be ready to use them when needed.
Wound healing
Collagen also plays a role in each phase of wound healing. The oral application of some collagen peptides has demonstrated a positive effect on the process. The collagen peptides are absorbed by the gut and distributed into the bloodstream. They accumulate in the skin where they stimulate and attract fibroblasts and encourage the deposition of new collagen to the wound bed.
The NHS says that vitamins and minerals also play a part in the wound healing process. Especially vitamin C, as this plays an important role in collagen synthesis and the formation of new blood vessels.
Zinc also has something to do with the healing process, tissue growth and also collagen synthesis. Zinc is known to be an essential micronutrient in the body and plays a part in growth and development.
Both vitamin C and Zinc are found in our collagen drinks, alongside the Bioactive Collagen Peptide VERISOL®, which promotes healing in acute and badly-healing wounds. In a clinical study, two groups with acute and badly-healing wounds, after surgical intervention, were looked closely at. They were split into sub-groups depending on wound type and treated with either VERISOL B® or a placebo for 12 weeks.
Overall, the study concluded that the patients treated with VERISOL B® had a better outcome regarding their wound healing. Other studies have also concluded that the use of collagen supplements during the wound healing process is promising in both short and long term use.
Now you now some more of the other incredible benefits collagen has to offer, there is no denying that it can have a positive impact and change in your overall wellbeing. Plus, they are so easy to add into your daily routine!
You can see the full range of collagen supplements on our website and find out what one is right for you in our previous blog.