How Collagen Can Transform Your Skin

If you have tried skin cream after skin cream without seeing results you are not alone, and are going to love this! Your skincare issue is likely to be an internal one that is best addressed by combining a healthy diet with one super supplement: collagen!

Supplementing your diet with collagen can have many beauty benefits, from smoothing and rejuvenating your skin to strengthening your hair and nails. However, knowing which supplements will work best for you can be confusing. There are a lot of options out there so let us help you choose.

What Does Collagen Do for Skin?

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body. It is the building block that keeps your skin, hair, bones, and muscles perform at their best, including supporting skin elasticity, joint and muscle health. Through these functions collagen helps you stay looking and feeling good! Additionally, collagen also helps with blood clotting, wound healing and other important tasks such maintaining a healthy gut and protecting your nervous system.

Why Should I Take Collagen Supplements for My Skin?

Our bodies produce collagen naturally, but as we age, we lose the ability to synthesise new collagen. This decline starts around the age of 25 and by 40 we can lose up to 1% of our body’s collagen every year. The natural decrease of collagen production is to blame for a number of aches and discomforts experienced as we age.

What Happens When Collagen Production Slows?

 As collagen production slows it may start to impact some of the functions of the body mentioned at the start of this article. Here are a few examples:

• Skin may begin to dull, wrinkle, sag, and heal less quickly
• Hair growth slows, loses volume, shine and softness
• Muscles, joints and bones may begin to ache and physical flexibility diminishes
• The stomach may become more sensitive, IBS and other intestinal issues may arise

Other lifestyle factors such as poor diet, smoking, alcohol consumption and sun exposure are also thought to speed up collagen loss and add to premature skin ageing.

But it’s not all bad news. Collagen supplements can help your body to produce more of these precious amino acids whilst also slowing the rate at which your natural supplies break down, helping fight the effects of ageing and keep you looking and feeling youthful.

They improve skin hydration by helping your body to produce hyaluronic acid, which is a natural substance produced by the body to help keep your skin moisturised and supple, among other things, and can help reduce fine lines and wrinkles. Collagen can also help thicken hair and promote a healthy scalp.

How Do Collagen Supplements Work - The Science Bit

When your body is making its own collagen, it takes proteins from protein rich foods like beef, fish, and dairy products, and breaks them down into proline, lysine, and glycone amino acids. These powerful little building blocks are then synthesised by fibroblasts, the cells within the body that produce collagen.

When natural collagen production slows down, collagen supplements like hydrolysed marine collagen give your fibroblasts a boost of the amino acids they need to keep producing collagen when your own natural reserves are depleted.

What Is Hydrolysed Collagen & Why Should I Use It?

Hydrolysed collagen, aka collagen peptides, is the name for collagen that’s already been broken down into amino acids and small peptide chains to make it more bioavailable. This means it’s easier for your body to absorb and use. Hydrolysed collagen has been shown to be the most effective type of collagen to help maintain and improve skin, and hold back signs of ageing.

Which Type of Collagen Supplement Is Best for Skin?

According to a research review, there are 28 different types of collagen. The most common types found in the human body are types I, II and III. These are each necessary for health and each have an effect on different parts of the body:

Type I is the main type of the body produces. It accounts for 90% of your collagen and is found in your connective tissue, skin, hair, and nails. Type I is the most important for skin health as it is responsible for your skin’s structure and firmness.

Type II is found mostly in your joints and cartilage. Supplementing type II collagen may help to relieve the effects of arthritis.

Type III works with type I to keep your vital organs functioning at full strength. It also helps to calm inflammation around your muscles and to maintain your overall health. It is found in fast-growing tissue, especially in wound healing.

Marine collagen is a type one collagen, whereas bovine collagen is type one and type three.

Marine Collagen VS Bovine Collagen 

A variety of marine and bovine collagen supplements are widely available, but which one is best for you? Largely this will depend on the part of the body you are looking to support. For skin health and vitality Simone Thomas Wellness exclusively use marine collagen, we explain why in the next section.

What Is the Difference Between Bovine and Marine Collagen?

The obvious answer is that bovine collagen is made from cow by-products such as bones, hide and cartilage, whereas marine collagen is derived from the skin, bones, and scales of fish. But there is more to it than that.

One of the most important factors is the bioavailability mentioned earlier. Whilst both offer potential health benefits, marine collagen is more bioavailable than most types of collagen, meaning it can be absorbed more quickly and easily by the body, and provide the most benefit to your skin.

While bovine collagen offers some similar benefits as marine collagen as they contain some of the same collagen type, marine collagen offers significant benefits over bovine collagen when it comes to looking after your skin. Type one collagen, which marine collagen is primarily, has the most impact on skin, hair and nail health, and can be digested much faster due to its increased bioavailability and more similar size to human collagen.

Wild caught marine collagen offers the added benefit of being one of the cleanest types of collagen on the market. Bovine collagen may be derived from cows which have been subject to hormone and antibiotic treatment, whereas wild caught fish will not have been subject to any medication or hormonal treatments. For this reason wild caught marine is often considered the cleanest and safest collagen you can buy in supplement form, and the only type of collagen used in Simone Thomas products.