What You Need To Know Before You Take A Collagen Supplement

Collagen Supplement

Perhaps you’ve started to notice barely-there creases webbing out from the edges of your eyes — a sign of a happy life thus far, we hope! But why do these fine lines, and later wrinkles, creep slowly into the complexion as you age?

By Kate Harveston

The answer is both simple and complex: wrinkles come from decreased collagen. That’s the simple part. The complex part is why. Some of it is simply unavoidable aging, but factors like sun exposure and sugar consumption can play a role, too.

If you’ve started looking into creams and supplements that help to fight the effects of aging — i.e., wrinkles — then chances are you’ve stumbled across collagen supplements. It makes sense that you would want to replace something your body is lacking, right? Well, kind of. Before you can make your final decision about collagen, it’s important to understand what it does in the body and how supplementation works.

Collagen, Explained

Collagen is simply a protein that promotes elasticity in the skin. You’ll also find it in the hair and nails, making it one of the most common proteins in the body. It’s made up of a few different amino acids (essentially protein building blocks) that help to create and strengthen everything from bones to your skin. Your body makes its own collagen, but not always in amounts abundant enough to stave off wrinkles and other signs of aging. That’s where collagen supplements come into play.

How Supplements Work

Collagen supplements typically come in the form of a powder that you can toss into your morning smoothie or even your coffee. You might also find them in pill form. Collagen supplements are still relatively new to the beauty world, so research in terms of their effectiveness is somewhat limited. However, early signs point to collagen supplements providing some benefits. For instance, they might encourage the body to produce more of its own collagen, which could help your joints and bones.

Research is also showing that supplementing a healthy diet with collagen can have positive effects on your hair and skin, as well. However, there’s one important distinction to make: collagen is really only helpful when you take your supplement with a source of vitamin C, like carrots or citrus fruits. Your body needs a certain amount of vitamin C in order to metabolize collagen in a way that will provide age-fighting effects, so keep this in mind when you pop your collagen pill.

The Potential Perks

Again, the research surrounding the effectiveness of collagen supplements is still growing, but early studies say that supplementing your diet with the protein will probably strengthen your hair, skin and body. One inquisitive writer decided to take collagen supplements herself and experienced almost immediate results.

She found that the added protein helped her to stay full through the morning when she added protein powder to her breakfast — an obvious effect of bulking up your morning meal. She also discovered her joints ached less. They stopped creaking as loudly with every small move. What’s more, she found her digestive tract, destroyed by years of antibiotics, started to heal and her skin took on a softer texture. These subjective individual observations could point to a bigger picture with collagen supplements.

The Top Brands

Obviously, collagen supplements bear powers that could change the beauty game when they’re fully understood. For now, there’s not too much harm in starting a supplement and seeing how it goes. But like any other supplement, you obviously want to make sure that the type you choose doesn’t include any potentially harmful fillers or additives. You also probably don’t want to support a company that sources collagen in a way that could be harmful to animals or the environment.

So when you decide to try a collagen supplement, rely on highly regarded brands that have been tested by third-party companies and have no FDA red marks on their records. Brands such as Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides, Primal Kitchen Collagen Peptides and Sparkle Collagen Peptide Dietary Supplement all met a rigorous set of standards designed by Organic Authority. They’re free of any yucky extras that bring nothing to your skin, hair or nails and they contain collagen that’s been responsibly sourced.

With so much yet to be learned about collagen supplements, there’s bound to be new info on the trending product in the months and years to come. But experts seem to agree that there’s no harm in adding these to your diet, especially when you buy from a high-quality company. The supplement could boost your body’s own production of collagen or work to repair the damage that’s been done to your body over the years. They may not totally erase fine lines, but who knows? Maybe one day they will. More info here.

-KH

Kate Harveston is an online journalist who covers everything from health and beauty to culture and politics. Find more of her writing here at Global Glam or here.