The collagen you consume does not necessarily equate to more collagen in your body, since collagen is first broken down into its constituent amino acids upon digestion. However, increasing the pool of available glycine (and vitamin C, mentioned later in this article), may increase your body’s capacity to produce collagen. This may be of benefit to many organs in your body, but perhaps most enticingly, your skin.
Skin is made up of collagen. As we age our bodies produce less collagen fibrins which contribute to loose, sagging skin and wrinkles (R). Additionally, the modern diet is very high in sugar and carbohydrates. This fact may increase our requirements for collagen, as sugar damages collagen. (R)
Although many factors are attributed to how our skin ages, adding collagen into our diet may help promote that youthful buoyancy and glowing skin. In one small double-blind, placebo-controlled study, women aged 35-55 received 2.5 grams or 5 grams of collagen daily for 8 weeks. At the end of the 8 week trial, both groups displayed a significant improvement in skin elasticity, skin moisture, transepidermal water loss and skin roughness with significantly higher skin elasticity observed in only 4 weeks (R)!
In another double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with women aged 45-65, subjects were administered 2.5 grams of collagen per day for 8 weeks. After only 4 weeks there was a statistically significant reduction in eye wrinkle volume, while after 8 weeks a statistically significant higher concentration of procollagen type I and elastin was detected. Excitingly, positive long lasting effects were observed 4 weeks after the trial (R). Collagen supplementation has also been shown to reduce skin cracks and improve serum collagen (R).
The literature really does speak for itself here. Healthy skin can be a marker of health and vitally, and, collagen very well may be a piece of that fountain of youth we so much desire.
