Collagen is hot! In magazines and TV commercials, people mainly emphasize the beauty-related properties of collagen, such as more beautiful skin, hair and nails. We therefore notice that collagen is in great demand as a "beauty supplement.
Collagen only does much more and is best described as a building block for your body, consisting of several amino acids (proteins). Together, these amino acids form several varieties of connective tissue. So you have collagen, types 1, 2 and 3, most of which make skin, tendons, organs, vessels, cartilage and support tissue. Connective tissue supports, protects and connects organs, holds the body together, insulates and provides transport of substances (nutrition and waste products between cells and blood). It consists of collagenous, reticular and elastic fibers. Collagen is thus necessary for building collagenous tissues, which consist of tensile fibers. Because these fibers cannot be stretched too far, the body stays in a certain shape.
Proteins as building blocks
It is important to get enough protein in order to make collagen at all, especially glycine, arginine, lysine, valine and (iso)leucine. In addition, vitamin C, MSM (a sulfur compound) and the minerals molybdenum and selenium are very important as building blocks, to support collagen production. Hyaluronic acid is also needed as a building block of specific connective tissue, such as in the eye.
Collagen thus provides strength of and between tissues and provides flexibility. Without collagen, your connective tissue would be like jelly. The production of collagen decreases ever so slightly after age 25. From the age of 40, elasticity declines markedly. And then there comes a time when you start to notice it in your skin. It weakens and small and later larger wrinkles appear. This is often the time when people start thinking about collagen supplements, because they are supposed to be the solution to wrinkles, if the advertisements are to be believed. It is true that hair and nails need collagen and that collagen helps combat skin aging and maintain its elasticity. But what is much more important for a healthy functioning body is the collagen needed inside the body.
Hierarchy
Therefore, the body works according to a certain hierarchy. For example, two people may start using collagen for a more beautiful and firmer skin. For one person, a difference can be seen in the mirror after a month or two, while the other still sees no difference after three months. So how can this be? First, we are all different, that's a clue, and second, the body determines where the collagen is needed most at that moment. Is that to strengthen your tendons, or has the person had a bad flu that broke down muscles, then that body uses the collagen to repair there and not to get fewer wrinkles. Evolutionarily, good quality muscles, blood vessels and tendons are more important for survival than good looks. In contrast, intact skin is very important for health because, together with mucous membranes, it forms the most important barrier between the outside and inside world. Thus, the skin protects us from microorganisms and harmful substances from outside, which we do not want to get into the bloodstream.
Organ
The skin is a large organ which altogether weighs more than any other human organ. It reflects internal health and has several functions. Sensory stimuli such as pressure, including touch, and temperature are communicated through the skin to the brain, which then instructs the body how to deal with them. The different skin layers have a function in the water and salt balance. Furthermore, the skin is sometimes called the third kidney because you can detoxify through the skin, by means of sweat. And not unimportantly, the skin ensures that the whole thing is held together, like a nice little package.
When processes inside the body are out of balance, you can see the effects of this in the skin. A food allergy, for example, can cause troubled skin or eczema. When hormones are out of balance, you see acne or redness of the skin more quickly. But stress, antibiotic use, poor intestinal flora, smoking, processed and unhealthy foods and too many free radicals, for example, also have a negative effect on the skin. Often it already helps to adjust the diet and omit dairy or gluten, for example.
The aforementioned factors affect the quality of the skin in addition to aging, which is why collagen use, as in a supplement, is not the only requirement for improving the skin. The supplement works well when collagen is deficient. It also works with avoiding toxins from cosmetics and cigarettes, eating lots of vegetables and drinking enough water, keeping gut flora healthy and relaxing enough. When it comes specifically to the skin, Biotin (vitamin B8) is an important vitamin. In addition, omega 3 and zinc play a big role for the skin, think wound healing and renewal.