It seems like everyone is eating or drinking collagen (we’re seeing it in bone broth, oats, water, gummies, powder, bars, popcorn)….but what is it⁉️ • Collagen is a protein. In fact, it’s the most abundant protein in the body – making up 30% of your protein and essential to maintain your connective tissues (such as your bone, skin, cartilage, and blood vessels). • Like all protein, collagen is made of the protein building blocks called amino acids. There are a total of 20 amino acids, 9 of which our bodies cannot make (these are known as essential amino acids), and 11 amino acids that the body can make. Collagen contains 1️⃣9️⃣ different amino acids, since it’s missing tryptophan (an essential amino acid) it is not considered to be a complete protein. • Your body can not absorb collagen in its whole form; instead the protein is broken down during digestion before it can be absorbed into your blood. To increase collagen’s bioavailability, collagen supplements typically are hydrolyzed, meaning that the collagen’s long amino acid chains are broken down into shorter chains of just two or three amino acids (these short chains are called peptides). Peptides are then easily used by your body as the building blocks for making proteins – they can be used to make proteins such as collagen, or other types of protein. • In order for your body to make collagen you’ll the right amino acids ➕ vitamin C and zinc. • Does collagen help with skin health? Maybe. • Most of the research 📊 looking at collagen & skin health has been done in people 45yrs and older. More research is needed but there is some science to suggest that collagen may help ⬆️ skin elasticity (aka reduce wrinkles and help with skin dryness).¹ • Food sources: bone broth, meat, 🐠, egg whites, spirulina (a type of algea), or supplements like collagen powder. ____ ¹ Choi, Franchesca D., et al. "Oral collagen supplementation: A systematic review of dermatological applications." Journal of drugs in dermatology: JDD 18.1 (2019): 9-16. © Elieke Kearns, PhD, RD and Nosh.it Food Facts, 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this content and/or photos without express and written permission from this site’s author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Elieke Kearns, PhD, RD and Nosh.it Food Facts with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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