How To Get Rid Of Wrinkles? 5 Ways To Slow Down Aging With Collagen Peptides
Wonder how to reduce the appearance of your wrinkles, get back that youthful look of your skin, or improve the flexibility of your joints? The answer might be adding extra collagen to your diet.
Collagen builds around 75% of the skin’s protein. As with age the synthesis of collagen slows down the skin starts to lose its structure and elasticity, and first wrinkles begin to appear.
In this post, you will learn about the effectiveness of collagen peptides in slowing down aging and reducing wrinkles.
What is Collagen?
Collagen or collagens are a large family of proteins with an a-typical triple helical structure with 3 alfa chains with more than 1014 amino acids in a chain.
Depending on the composition of these alpha chains (whether they are interrupted, or the sequence of amino acids), there are different types of Collagen. (1)
There are more than 20 types of Collagen, however collagen type I is the most common of them. It is represented in skin, bones, teeth, tendons, ligaments, and organs. (2)
What are the Benefits of Collagen
Collagen is associated with numerous benefits for our health. Here are the main benefits associated with the addition of dietary collagen.
- Reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and promotes skin elasticity
- Improves joint health
- Acts as an antioxidant
- Essential for the gut health
- Strengthens hair, nails, and teeth
- Supports wound healing and tissue regeneration (cuts, bone fractions, injured joints, and tendons). In this study testing collagen dressing against conventional treatments like honey and Iodine for the treatment of burn and chronic wounds, collagen has been shown to be more effective. The healing property of collagen is also associated with its ability to keep wounds sterile.
Do Collagen supplements slow down aging?
Collagen supplements also often seen under the name of collagen peptides or hydrolyzed collagen has gained a lot of popularity during the last years. But can these supplements really help in reducing the appearance of wrinkles? Here are science-based points supporting the effectiveness of collagen:
1. Collagen peptides deliver a blend of all amino acids needed for the synthesis of collagen by our own body.
Collagen peptides are very nutrient-rich. 19 different amino acids appear in the peptide chains of collagen and collagen peptides deliver all of them.
However, the most abundant among them are Glycine, Proline, and Hydroxyproline.
Hydroxyproline is produced by the hydrogenation of Proline. This is done with the help of vitamin C. This is one of the reasons why vitamin C is always on the list of collagen-boosting foods.
Hydroxyproline builds around 10% of the collagen protein and it is responsible for the stability of its helical structure. (5)
2. What causes inefficient synthesis of collagen in our body
With age, the body loses its ability to synthesize collagen. Maximum collagen synthesis is achieved around the age of 20. This optimum is maintained till around the age of 25. (6)
Both internal and external factors influence the production of collagen in our body.
For example, factors like Smoking, UV radiation, and alcohol greatly influence the synthesis of collagen.
Further, certain nutritional deficiencies and metabolic conditions may hinder the production of collagen.
The body might not always be able to synthesize enough of the conditionally essential amino acids needed for the production of collagen. Glycine and proline are semi-essential amino acids. Which means that the body is not always able to synthesize them. Further, these amino acids are not that easy to obtain just from food. Especially glycine. And here we come to the next advantage of collagen peptides.
3. Do you know what is Glycine and that collagen peptides are a rich source of glycine
Glycine has numerous functions and benefits in our body. Glycine, an amino acid, supports protein synthesis, collagen formation, and neurotransmitter function, and acts as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, potentially benefiting sleep quality, tissue repair, digestion, and overall health. If you want to learn more about the health benefits of Glycine you should definitely go for this article here. And now back to Glycine and Collage: Glycine is the main amino acid of collagen. Glycine builds around 33% of the collagen helix.
As a conditionally essential amino acid, Glycine might be hard to obtain through food. This might also be due to the fact that the richest glycine sources are found in foods like pork and chicken skins.
For example, collagen contains nearly 15 times more glycine than beef and 60 times more glycine than cheese like Mozzarella and Gouda.
4. Glycine in collagen boosts the production of the antioxidant Glutathione
As a rich source of Glycine, collagen boosts the production of Glutathione.
Glutathione is a tripeptide. It consists of three amino acids: Glycine, Glutamic acid, and Cysteine
Glutathione (GSH) is a powerful antioxidant that our body is able to produce. As such glutathione prevents cellular damage and inflammation.
Some major benefits of Glutathione include:
- Improves skin appearance by preventing skin damage. It also prevents the appearance of dark circles and brown spots.
- Strengthens Immunity. Reduces inflammation and the effects of chronic diseases like Arthritis, Thyroiditis (Hashimoto), and other autoimmune conditions.
- Decreases insulin resistance and reduces the risk of developing diabetes.
5. Collagen peptides have a very high absorption rate
The molecular weight of collagen peptides is way lower than that of the complete protein which makes it way easier to absorb and highly bioavailable.
Studies support that Hydrolysed collagen is better to absorb 80 % assimilation at the intestinal level. (7)
For the last 40 years, more than 100,000 studies have been conducted on collagen.
Collagen molecules are very stable due to their hydrogen bonds. This is why they hardly get broken by digestive enzymes like Pepsin and Trypsin.
Under slow and continuous temperatures and by creating an acid or alkaline environment collagen gets hydrolyzed and desaturated. Applying enzymes like pepsin and papain improves the extraction process. First to gelatine and then to collagen peptides.
And a last point here is the quality of Hydrolysed Collagen to act as an antioxidant. The broken collagen molecules have the property to donate electrons to free radicals. This donates to its anti-inflammatory properties.
My Favourite Collagen Supplements:
If you are looking for good collagen products, here are the ones I personally like:
- Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Powder
- Ancient Nutrition — Multi Collagen Protein Powder — Pure, Collagen Peptides formulated by Dr. Josh Axe
- Vital Proteins Marine Collagen Peptides Powder Supplement for Skin Hair Nail Joint
- Amazing Grass GLOW Vegan Collagen Support with Biotin and Plant Based Protein Powder
In conclusion, hydrolyzed collagen might be a great dietary approach to combating aging and improving skin appearance. Many studies mark the positive effects of hydrolyzed collagen in improving skin moisture and elasticity.
Hydrolyzed collagen has further the ability to act as an antioxidant and boost the production of the antioxidant glutathione.
Having in mind the numerous benefits of collagen peptides we should not forget that hydrolyzed protein products are dietary supplements with a concentrated dietary content of micro and macronutrients. As such allergic reactions and side effects are not excluded. So be mindful and approach these products respectfully.
Category:
Collagen, reduce wrinkles, forehead wrinkles, remove eye wrinkles, antiaging tips, Glutathione benefits
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Medical Disclaimer:
The content in this article is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to substitute advice or treatment from a personal physician. All readers of this content are advised to consult their doctors and qualified health professionals regarding specific health issues. Neither I nor the author of this content takes responsibility for possible health consequences of any person reading or following the information in this educational content. All viewers of this content, especially those taking prescription or over-the-counter medications, should consult their physicians before beginning any nutrition or supplement program.
