There’s a high chance you’ve heard about collagen and its importance for anti-ageing, skin/nail/hair health, bones, muscles, and pretty much every part of the body. Collagen is a protein (which your body makes naturally) and as a matter of fact it is the most abundant protein in our bodies. It’s naturally found in our bones, skin, muscles, and tendons.
There’s five types of collagen, quite conveniently named type I-V! The main ones are type I-IV. There’s a couple of acronyms to remember what each type is responsible for.
One of them is SCAB (also note that collagen helps in the wound healing process).
Type I: Skin
Type II: Connective tissue
Type III: Artery
Type IV: Basement Membrane
Another one is Be So Totally Cool, Read Books.
Type I: Bone, Skin, and Tendon
Type II: Cartilage
Type III: Reticulin, and Blood vessels
Type IV: Basement membrane
So, from a first look collagen is quite important for many aspects of our body! The bad news is that around mid-20s our natural production starts to decline at a rate of 1.5% per year, meaning in our 60s we have lost around 80% of our natural collagen. And this is another factor of ageing, with wrinkles and skin sagging due to the lack of it it.
Before you start panicking and booking in a Botox appt, the good thing is you can do things to boost your collagen productions. One of them is increasing physical activity, as when you exercise your circulation is increased and hence the production of collagen. For the face, you can do facial exercises or use a gua sha to once again stimulate circulation and hence collagen production. With the gua sha you will also get added benefits of reduction of puffiness and inflammation, and you also get to release tension and apparently can shape facial muscles too!
External Source of Collagen
There’s a few ways you can actually consume and get collagen, which simply is (i) directly from food or (ii) collagen powder (derived from animal).
The richest food in collagen is bone broth; if you’ve ever made homemade broth you notice how when it has cooled down it’s kind of jiggly like a jello - well that is the collagen. You can say that bone broth is nature’s collagen supplement. I’ve been actually consuming it for quite a few months now, and I feel like its benefits are much more than the ones associated with the collagen naturally in our body. A big benefit of it is the positive effect on the gut lining, which itself is very important for overall health. A healthy gut ensures a good microbiome (the bacteria living in your gut), which in turn means a better immune system, so less inflammation, and so less disease.
Going a tad on the gut tangent, but it has been also proven a lot that it helps with food sensitivities (not quite allergies but when you have a reaction to certain foods, e.g., dairy).1 Second tangent, is that it also helps people that have allergies and histamine sensitivity.2 Nowadays, it’s very easy to purchase at local supermarkets (here in the UK at least), but you can also make your own - the downside is you will probably need a minimum of 24hrs of cooking those bones (chicken or beef - make sure they’re organic!). Outside of a collagen powerhouse, it is very good at hydrating you this is because it has a lot of naturally-occurring electrolytes (sodium, magnesium and potassium) and you also drink it so naturally increasing in your fluid intake. And one last benefit, is that although it’s a liquid it’s high in protein.
Small tip: if you don’t really like the taste to sip it, you can also use it for cooking, add it in soups, when cooking rice, stews, etc. it will enhance the flavour and you still get the benefits :)
Now, as for collagen powder there’s a few things to note. Not all powdered collagen contains all types of collagen, the post typical ones are Type I and Type III. Same as if you were to make your own bone broth, ensure that the source is from organic (grass-fed) beef bones - sorry to announce but this is not very veggie friendly… One thing you might notice on collagen powders is the term hydrolyzed - although it sounds quite processed it’s actually for better digestion and absorption of the collagen. Hydrolysis breaks down the collagen into smaller peptides, which means that their bioavailability is enhanced, and hence the absorption by our body is easier. In simpler terms, it’s easier and more efficient for our body to absorb smaller peptides rather than larger collagen molecules. So, long-story-short, don’t be alarmed if you see it, en contraire the opposite!
For collagen powder, you can either dissolve it in any hot drink or add it in food, like oatmeal. Probably might be able to even add to a smoothie as well. I personally like to add it my morning coffee so I get extra protein with my breakfast! :)
If (i) you thought those were the only benefits and (ii) I would not tie in women’s health, sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you’re wrong!
Fertility
As I’ve already hinted, the consumption of collagen does boost fertility. It ensures that you have enough levels of collagen and if you’re trying to conceive, a healthier pregnancy too. During pregnancy, it would also support the physical changes more (tummy growing → skin stretching → better elasticity and appearance).3 Remember, how type IV is important for base membrane? Well, all organs have base membranes, so the female reproductive organs also directly benefit. And for when one is pregnant, collagen also contributes to the formation and function of the placenta. A healthy placenta = healthy baby (probably the most important factor in pregnancy).
When it comes to hormones, oestrogen (the main female hormone) actually influences the production and degradation of collagen. When a woman is in her reproductive years, her oestrogen levels are very high, so collagen synthesis is promoted. While when she enters menopause, then her hormone levels decline, and so does the collagen production. And hence why postmenopausal women tend to have issues with bone loss, as collagen is a critical part of bone health.
To sum up, and supplement (pun-intended ofc) the female health benefits, collagen is important for (i) menstrual cycle regularity, (ii) follicular development - meaning development and maturation of egg cells, (iii) embryo implantation & placenta health, (iv) a healthy pregnancy, (v) better outcomes on fertility treatments (similar reason to the better egg quality - medically it is due to the quality of collagen in the ovarian extracellular matrix), (vi) hormonal regulation, (vii) reproductive organ structures.
To be honest, at the beginning I was quite the sceptic, however, after consuming collagen daily for probably four months now, and bone broth too I definitely feel healthier and more nourished. If you’re interested in reading more about hydrolysed collagen and its association with skin, arthritis, bone health, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes I would suggest this article by Dr Rhonda Patrick. I first came across her in 2020-21, on a 2019 podcast about longevity & telomeres (when I was super into the topic of longevity), and then again more recently and her stuff is v good!
So, if you’re also a bit doubtful about it (like I was) I say give it a shot and see if you notice any changes and how you and your body feels. Of course, this won’t be a “one time off experiment” so give it some time, just like bone broth needs time to be created. :) If you don’t want to go for the collagen powder, you can try incorporating cuts of meats that are high in collagen, like osso bucco and oxtail. Use those cuts for soups or stews, just make sure that the braising lasts for at least 4 hrs so all the collagen found in the bones and marrow can become gelatine and then be best absorbed. Or even bone in ribs that are slow cooked will definitely be high in collagen - but you also need to be consuming the liquid / sauce part not just the meat in order to get the maximum amount of collagen. This also roots back to nose-to-tail eating of animals where you consume as much as you can from the animal, so outside of the meat, the collagen from the bones, bone marrow, and the organs (liver, intestines, heart etc). At the end of the day the meat part of the animal is not the majority proportion wise! And, I think with that diversion I will wrap this post up. I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences with collagen and bone broth! :)
I hope you enjoyed, thank you for taking some time out of your day to read my posts! See you next week! :)
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I've been hearing a lot about it recently but your post just made me finally order some 😂 thank you!!