When it comes to health and fitness, people only talk about vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. Nutritionists recommend leafy green vegetables and fruits since they have antioxidant properties.
Likewise, many even give multivitamins to cover deficiencies, but that’s not all your body needs. Often, doctors forget about the role of collagen in the body, considering it to be a beauty product ingredient.
In reality, collagen is a protein that acts as a building block for your muscles, skin, bones, and ligaments. It keeps the muscles intact, promotes gut health, and reduces joint pain. Similarly, collagen keeps the skin from aging, giving you a youthful and plump look.
It smoothens the skin, reduces wrinkles, and develops skin elasticity. After all, the skin also needs a handful of nutrients and some pampering. Therefore, supplement your diet with collagen to maintain your health and skin.
If you are not sure about this, have a look below. Here we are highlighting different ways how collagen transforms health inside out.
1. Reduces Wrinkles & Boosts Elasticity
Unsurprisingly, collagen is a crucial element of the skin. It strengthens skin elasticity and hydrates the skin from the inside. In addition, collagen avoids the formation of wrinkles because high elasticity ensures the skin doesn’t crumble. It can also help people suffering from different skin conditions such as acne, inflammation, or blemishes.
Although the human bodies make collagen naturally, its production slows down with age. Even in the mid-20s, people start losing collagen because of their first menopause.
Instead of letting your skin suffer, you can begin taking collagen supplements to keep your skin and body intact. Alongside reducing signs of aging, these supplements can promote the production of other proteins. Perhaps, it might stimulate the production of elastin or fibrillin that can structure the skin better.
2. Reduces Joint Pains
Many people don’t know, but collagen provides support to cartilage. The collagen in the body slowly accumulates in the cartilage and stimulates tissues to make more collagen. It is a rubber-like tissue that protects joints and muscles from inflammation and infections. Hence, the more tissues protect your joints, the lesser the chances of joint and muscle injuries.
Thus, whenever you suffer from joint pains or muscle injuries, collagen helps in healing your body. After all, it has an anti-inflammatory effect on the body. According to some research studies, having a sufficient amount of collagen in the body can improve symptoms of osteoarthritis and reduce joint pains. If you want to boost collagen production, start with a daily dosage of 8-12 grams of collagen.
3. Promotes Gut Health
There has always been a ‘gut healing’ theory about collagen. Some research studies have found that collagen can significantly improve gut health, especially during stomach problems. Hence, people suffering from inflammatory digestive conditions like irritable bowel disease can increase their collagen consumption. Even though your body might be producing collagen, stomach problems create an imbalance between the formation and breakdown of collagen fiber.
Some additional collagen intake will help in correcting the deficiency while improving gut health and physical wellbeing. Remember, collagen is part of every person’s connective tissue, producing the GI tract and colon – the healing agents. Thus, ensure your body doesn’t have any collagen deficiency.
4. Keeps Bones Healthy
Collagen accounts for 1-10% of the muscle tissue. Since it is a type of protein, it keeps muscles strong and improves flexibility. Research studies can boost muscle mass as people start to age, keeping the bones healthy. Researchers also suggest that having a sufficient amount of collagen in the body can stimulate muscle growth after exercise. In addition, it promotes the synthesis of bone proteins such as creatine, boosting muscle strength.
Moreover, collagen can have a positive impact on bone metabolism. It supports the body’s process of maintaining bone strength by stimulating osteoblasts – cells that form bones. Likewise, collagen inhibits the production of osteoclasts – cells that cause the bones to break down.
Other Health Benefits of Collagen
In addition to being responsible for healthy joints and skin elasticity, collagen provides numerous other health benefits for the body. Have a look below.
- Weight Loss: Many people argue that collagen can lead to a faster metabolism, helping with weight loss. However, no studies support this claim as yet.
- Heart Health: Collagen provides structure to arteries. These are the blood vessels that transfer blood from your heart to the body. Having sufficient collagen in the body will strengthen arteries, boosting blood circulation in the body. Also, it can improve cholesterol, ensuring optimal heart health.
- Brain Health: Although none of the research studies have verified that collagen improves brain health, many people believe it does. Some individuals reported that collagen enhances mood and reduces the symptoms of anxiety. In short, it can improve mental health and wellbeing.
- Hair & Nails: Surprisingly, collagen can increase the strength of your nails by eliminating brittleness. Likewise, the proteins in collagen can stimulate your hair and nails to grow faster.
Final Words
Even though collagen isn’t one of the popular proteins, it offers many health benefits to people. For starters, it improves skin by reducing aging signs and wrinkles. Similarly, it helps in increasing muscle mass, relieving joint pain, and preventing bone damage. Research studies have even proved these benefits, leaving you with no excuse to turn a blind eye to this topic. Additionally, collagen can help with weight loss, brain health, etc., but there isn’t any evidence yet.