What I really think about collagen supplements.

A recent collagen study shows that you only need 2000mg per day to be effective. This means that collagen supplements containing higher milligrams per serving are no more effective, they’re just higher in PRICE!

Check out these surprising facts about collagen that I tell my clients:

1. Just 2000mg of collagen per day has been proven to give the same results as 10,000mg per day. Don’t waste money buying high dose products.

2. There is no guarantee that the collagen supplement you’re taking will actually end up in your face! However studies show that joints, ligaments, cartilage and tendons, can all benefit from taking collagen. The key to making sure it reaches ALL areas of the body, including our facial skin, is to take it consistently for at  least 3 months.

3. There’s no such thing as VEGAN collagen. Collagen by definition is hydrolysed skin! The collagen we take as a supplement is processed dried and powdered skin, usually from bovine or fish sources. Plants don’t have skin and therefore don’t produce collagen. It’s that simple!

4. The way that collagen supplements work is often misunderstood. It’s commonly thought that our skin cells use collagen like an ingredient to build more collagen, but, in fact, there’s another mechanism at play.

Collagen that’s ingested gets into our bloodstream. This tricks our collagen into making cells in our skin, because it thinks that OUR OWN SKIN is breaking down and it’s OUR collagen that’s floating about in our blood. This triggers our skin to make more collagen to repair the perceived damage. 

5. Collagen supplements help the skin produce hyaluronic acid and, in turn, our skin is able to hold more water, which could be another reason why wrinkles appear to be less visible.

if you want to know more about collagen then check out the podcast “Thinking Nutrition” with Dr Tim Crowe.