A collagen is a form of protein that your body produces naturally. It is a crucial component of several parts, including ligaments, tendons, muscles, and skin, if you are thinking about what it actually does.
Well, it does a lot of things, like strengthening your bones and providing your skin with structure.
Collagen might be found in your body naturally, as it naturally gets produced. But with aging, your body reduces the production of collagen. As a result of that, you suffer from a number of health conditions.
In order to fight the aging-related issues that are also the result of collagen deficiency, in the last few years, the popularity of collagen supplements has increased a lot. Most of the supplements are basically hydrolyzed collagen that can be adsorbed really quickly in your body.
Are you also thinking about opting for collagen supplements? Then you first know the benefits of it despite some mixed academic consensus due to limited research in some areas.
The Reasons Why Collagen Is So Beneficial
Collagen supplements are said to provide various health benefits. They are as follows.
Benefit No. 1: Improve Skin Health
As we have mentioned earlier, collagen is a significant part of your skin. It is responsible for strengthening skin, along with maintaining its elasticity and hydration. With your growing age, the body produces less collagen, and it leads to dry skin that also has wrinkles.
A number of studies have found that all those collagen supplements can help you fight those signs of aging by reducing dryness and wrinkles. It might not stimulate your body to produce more collagen, but it can help in producing other necessary proteins.
Benefit No. 2: Relieve Joint Pain
Collagen also assists in maintaining the integrity of your cartilage. Cartilage is the rubber-like tissue which protects your joints. With age, when the amount of collagen in your body decreases, you become exposed to degenerative joint disorders, like osteoarthritis.
As per a number of studies, consuming collagen supplements might improve the symptoms of osteoarthritis along with reducing overall joint pain. It also has been theorized that collagen supplements might accumulate in cartilage and stimulate tissues for making collagen.
Benefit No. 3: Prevent Bone Loss
You might know that your bones are mostly made of collagen. Collagen is responsible for providing them strength and structure. As with aging, the amount of collagen decreases, and some particular conditions like osteoarthritis occur.
It is categorized by low bone density along with a higher risk of bone fractures. Studies have shown that by consuming collagen supplements, you might inhibit the bone breakdown that leads to osteoarthritis.
Benefit No. 4: Boost Muscle Mass
Although collagen is the most abundant protein in the body, it is a crucial component of skeletal muscle. Studies state that collagen supplements assist in boosting muscle mass in those individuals who are suffering from sarcopenia.
This is a particular condition where the individual loses muscle with age. Research also suggests that all those synthetic forms of collagen might promote the muscle protein synthesis, like creatine, and also stimulate after exercise muscle growth.
Benefit No. 5: Promote Heart Health
In case you have any heart conditions, consuming the supplemented form of collagen might help you in reducing the risk. Collagen offers structure to the arteries, along with the blood vessels, which carry blood from your heart to the rest of your body.
When your body does not produce enough collagen, and a deficiency of collagen occurs, arteries might become less elastic and flexible. This condition might result in a heart attack. So, by including collagen in your regular diet, you can improve your heart health.
Other Health Benefits
Apart from the major health benefits that we have mentioned earlier, here are some more benefits that you can get by choosing the right collagen supplement, usually available in powder form. Now, let’s have a look at them.
- When you are taking collagen on a regular basis, by preventing brittleness it can increase the strength of your nails; in addition to that, it might also help your nails and hair grow longer.
- Though there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that collagen improves gut health, health practitioners assert that supplemented collagen can also treat leaky gut syndrome, which is also called intestinal permeability.
- Some collagen supplement users claim that the regular intake of collage helps them with improved mood and reduces anxiety.
- A lot of individuals believe that collagen supplements might promote weight loss and faster metabolism. Still, there are no study reports to support the claim.
Conclusion
Some studies have theorized the above-mentioned benefits of collagen. However, a lot more research and evidence are required to prove the actual benefits of collagen. If you want to get the most of it, you should always choose the best collagen supplement.
