Collagen is the protein that gives skin its structure, suppleness, and stretch. There are many types of collagen, but our body mainly consists of type 1, 2, and 3. 

A great source of collagen is bone broth, which is made by simmering bones for a long period of time extracting the collagen from the bones. I believe this is a great source of collagen if done properly and with the correct bones from quality animals, however, it can be time-consuming and not for everyone.

An easier alternative is adding a collagen supplement to your daily routine.

Collagen has been shown to help increase bone mineral density, reduce joint degeneration, improve nail growth and reduce the appearance of skin wrinkles as well as supporting healthy blood pressure.

Collagen for skin hair and nails

Collagen is what makes your skin supple and plump as it provides strength and structure to the skin. Your body produces collagen naturally, but the collagen in your skin decreases as you get older leading to aging skin.

One study carried out on 114 middle-aged women, taking 2.5 grams of Verisol (a brand of hydrolysed collagen type I) daily for 8 weeks showed a reduction in wrinkle volume by 20%.

Another study carried out on women aged 35–55 daily for eight weeks saw a significant improvement in skin elasticity, skin moisture, transepidermal water loss (dryness) and skin roughness. This makes collagen one of the best natural skin care ingredients available.

Collagen protein is the building block of your fingernails, hair and teeth. Adding collagen into your diet can help keep your nails strong, and could possibly prevent hair loss. 

Collagen is more than good for the skin

Collagen accounts for as much as 30-40% of all the protein in the human body, especially connective tissue, including blood vessels.

Here’s how collagen stacks up as a percentage of the protein in the following tissues:

• Skin: 75%
• Tendons: 65-80%
• Ligaments: 70%
• Corneal tissue: 64%
• Cartilage: 50%
• Bone: 16%
• Muscle: 10-11%

How collagen helps the gut

Because collagen helps form connective tissue, it can heal the connective tissue in the gut lining, helping to heal leaky gut. Leaky gut, also referred to as gut permeability, is where the gut lining has micro holes allowing toxins to seep through from the gut into the bloodstream, this, over a long period of time, can lead to chronic conditions and autoimmune diseases. Making collagen a very helpful tool in reversing leaky gut.

What kind of collagen is best?

When buying collagen make sure you are getting the kind that can be absorbed by the body. Collagen was getting a bad reputation for a while due to poor absorption and therefore not delivering the expected results. However, this has been overcome in recent years by the process of hydrolysation. Hydrolysed means the proteins have been broken down into smaller pieces (called “peptides,” which are two or more amino acids). Hydrolysis means the proteins were broken down using water in the process: hydro (water); lysis (break apart).

Not only can hydrolysed collagen be dissolved in both hot or cold water, but it’s also much easier for your stomach to break down and digest, and can be absorbed into the bloodstream more readily than regular collagen protein. 

The Power of Hydrolysed Collagen Proteins

Adding powdered collagen protein to your daily routine could be a great way to ensure healthy and glowing skin and hair, but more importantly can help maintain a healthy gut lining, preventing toxins getting into the bloodstream causing long term physical problems. There are many collagen powders on the market, but look for hydrolysed collagen also called hydrolysed peptides to ensure optimum results.

The Gut Cø REPAIR contains hydrolysed collagen for the skin at a trialled dosage. The collagen we use has been clinically proven to give visible results within 8-10 weeks if used daily. REPAIR contains other ingredients to improve skin, hair and nails and is specifically formulated for the gut lining. 

References

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1606623/