What is up with Collagen?

What is up with Collagen? 

What exactly is the story with this miracle protein we just cannot get enough of?

It is all the craze.

We eat it. We drink it. We inject it. We digest it. 

Collagen, the anti-aging miracle we've all been waiting for. Or is this just a trend? Personally, trend or not, if there is hope in stopping aging, aiding weight loss and promoting overall health, I am not opposed to it. But lets get down to some of the details. Yes there is a trend factor that many companies are riding off of, but there is also cold hard evidence that collagen enhancing products are really worth the fame and fortune they have been receiving. I’ve done a little research of my own to find out what the benefits are of this miracle word we read at every page turn in the beauty world. Here is what I found out….

What is collagen? The word itself comes from the greek word Kolla meaning glue and the french word gene meaning gene. Kollagene… to glue genes. Just stick those cells back together and never wrinkle or sag … I know thats what you were thinking! While the actual definition of collagen looks something more like; “the most important and dominant structural protein that can be found in skin”. It can also be found in other connective tissues of the body, but for the sake of this article we will focus on the skin craze and how dominant collagen has become in the surgical and non surgical world of cosmetics, beauty, wellness, health and weight loss. 

Collagen is found naturally in the body. We can eat a number of foods that help the body produce more collagen which is awesome and easy to do. Some of these include things we eat every day, like vegetables, beef broth, fish oils, lean protein meats, berries, garlic. These increase the natural collagen production and some contain collagen from their natural state (example beef broth). Since we don't want to put too much pressure on our bodies that are already in the middle of detoxing themselves from chemicals, pollution, alcohol and other no no’s we inevitably consume, there are a number of products and procedures on the market now with collagen just to make our lives that much easier. 

Collagen is widely used in cosmetic surgery. Not just for us beauty and wellness driven individuals. It can be used to heal skin burns, reconstruct bone, and highly used in dental procedures to name a few. But what the protein most receives its hype for is of course in dermal fillers treating wrinkles and aging.  We all know of lip fillers & line fillers. Most (if not all) of these products contain collagen that is injected in the body during the procedure.

I have yet to try botox or any line fillers but there are so many benefits to preventative botox that it may be next on my list……

Besides beauty injections and medical uses, there are also a number of ways to ingest collagen, the most popular and beneficial being through collagen peptides. Collagen peptides are processed in a way that allows the amino acids to be broken down and ready for digestion. The process lets your body absorb the collagen faster. This is the most common type of collagen we would find in our beauty products. 

So after all of that, why do we want to take collagen is still the question. Yes it fills lines and helps with cosmetic surgeries, but for the day to day what benefits can we get from the protein. So here you have it, there are tons of benefits of actually ingesting, drinking or eating collagen. Below are some of my faves ;) 

1. Keeps you full 

Because collagen is so high in protein (18g of protein per 2 scoops) you're body will remain full longer. I always suggest having it at breakfast and head into your day nourished and energized. 

2. Weight Loss 

Since you are full longer, your lunch and other meals for the day will reduce in portion sizes and lowers day long cravings. Snack attacks get a little easier with this protein filling you up!

3. Stronger Bodies 

Collagen is known to help protect and aid in the strength of cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. Ideally creating stronger healthier bones and bodies, preventing and healing injuries. Sounds pretty good right? 

4. Fewer Wrinkles and Fine Lines
Collagen improves skin smoothness, increases skin moisture which ultimately helps to reduce wrinkles and enhances skin clarity. The increase of collagen in the skin will fill out the skin naturally as it smoothes and hydrates, improving skin elasticity, leaving skin tones even and rich.

5. Promotes Healthy Skin, Hair and Nails. 

Collagen works to create strong hair and nails. This ties back to the moisture of the overall body, skin, hair and nails allowing them to bond together rather than break.

6. Better Digestion

We always hear about proteins being hard on the body to digest, especially animal derived proteins. Well collagen has actually been known to help improve the body’s digestion. Why? Our digestive track is made up of the same amino acids found in collagen.

7. Collagen helps to add back into the body what has been stripped by mass food production!

Food processing across the world has become so severe in the foods we eat that nutrients we need to survive and maintain health are being stripped from daily consumption. By having collagen proteins added back into our diets we are adding back in essential components to ligament and muscle health and production. Our bodies can recover faster from work outs, staying healthy and on track.

So there you have it. Plenty of reasons why this protein does merit all the hype that has been coming to it.