Collagen: A Superfood To Heal Your Gut, Tissues, Hair, Skin & Nails
Posted by Anna Wechsel on
In the same way Collagen has helped treat athletes foot in the example of Josh's athletes foot above, by improving gut health, it can aid in the treatment of many kinds of skin issues from acne to eczema.
But it doesn't stop there, the benefits of taking collagen daily go far beyond your hair, skin and nails.
Other Collagen Benefits:
Keep reading to learn about some lesser known ways Collagen can support healing the gut, reducing digestive symptoms and supports cartilage regeneration. Plus, did you know that taking Collagen in the evening can also help improve your sleep?
Gut Health & Healing
A mixed method 2-phase study focused on women with a wide array of digestive issues demonstrated that within as little as 6 weeks, taking 20g of Collagen per day can improve digestive processing and reduce bloating.
How it works:
Gut health issues are often multi-factoral. For this example let's look more broadly at poor digestive functioning and leaky gut. Leaky gut is the result of the tight junctions (cell wall of the gut lining) becoming too large and therefore increasing permeability. As a result, particles that shouldn't be able to get into your bloodstream (such as larger food particles and bacteria) can and do and this causes inflammation, whilst reducing nutrient absorption. Collagen, specifically the amino acids glycine and hydroxyproline within it, help to not only decrease inflammation, but they work to actually heal, repair and retighten the gut lining. Healing your gut will help to improve nutrient absorption and improve your overall digestive processes.
Sleep
A randomized control study completed in Oct 2023 found that glycine-rich Collagen supplementation not only helped improve overall sleep health but also reduced fragmented sleep and improved cognition & focus as a result. There is also ongoing research looking into how Glycine helps to reduce body temperature and that this also contributes to the benefits of Collagen and sleep.
How it works:
Glycine functions as a neurotransmitter and transfuses across the blood brain barrier having a direct and calming impact on the central nervous system. What the study results appear to indicate is that Glycine helps to promote deeper sleep, specifically REM. And as we all know, the deeper, less disruptive sleep we are able to get the more focused and driven we are the next day.
Joint Health
Glycine (a primary amino acid within Collagen) also plays a key role in cartilage regeneration thus helping to prevent chances of developing osteroarthritis.
How it works:
Similarly to how Collagen acts in the body to repair the gut lining, when Collagen powder is ingested, the bioactive peptides stimulate the process of Collagen synthesis within the cartilage tissues helping them to heal, repair and be strengthened. So if you're injured, train hard or are experiencing joint discomfort, increasing your Collagen and subsequently your Glycine intake will in turn enhance the synthesis process of these peptides in the body helping to further facilitate healing.
