Is Collagen Loading for You?

I know “collagen loading” sounds like a reference to illicit drug use, but it’s actually a healthy thing. Many are advocating high doses of collagen to add youth to skin, muscles, and joints. In this article I will tell you what collagen is, and then talk about the ways collagen is used. Finally, I will provide some guidance on what to do to make sure your own collagen is plentiful, young, and healthy.

What is Collagen?

The most abundant protein in the animal kingdom is a strong fiber that holds everything together. It’s like The Force, it has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the Universe together. Our bones are made of collagen, with calcium deposited around it to make it stiff. Muscles, tendons, ligaments, and the underlying layer of skin are primarily collagen.

Collagen is a very strong fiber, like a rope. When I was in Boy Scouts, we made rope out of hemp (yes, marijuana, but this was THC-free). The individual fibers of hemp were wound together. Each fiber was not very long – only a few inches. But winding them together could produce a very long string because they pull together tighter. The then string gets stronger, as there is more tension on the string. This is repeated as three strings are wound into a small rope, and three small ropes are wound into a big fat rope. Because of the winding, the rope gets stronger as there is more tension because all the strands are pulled tighter together. A rope works by friction.

Collagen is similar. A triple-helix, three strands, are bound together in the basic structure. These are then wound into fibrils, which come together to form the collagen fibers. Collagen fibers are the basic structure of bones, joints, tendons, and ligaments – the ropes that hold our bodies together. [1]

These fibers can withstand tremendous pressure, and can stretch without breaking. If compared by weight, they are stronger than steel.[2] So, ounce-for-ounce, you’re stronger than SUPERMAN![3]

But, over time, that strength of youth seems to get lost. The collagen fibers thin out. Our bodies become soft. We no longer have the same strength, or stamina. Our skin gets thinner, with less collagen to hold it together, it cuts, tears, and scrapes easier. It no longer stretches tightly, and begins to sag and wrinkle. Our muscles can tear and get sore. We get tendon and ligament injuries more easily. People get knee injuries, or rotator cuff tears of the shoulder without any major trauma – it just weakens and breaks! A normal rotator cuff tendon that should easily handle a ton, tears with hardly any weight! Also, the joints wear out and no longer have elasticity. This all happens because we are losing COLLAGEN fibers!

To counter this loss, people have tried all sorts of tricks. You know someone is going to take advantage of every opportunity to sell something people think they need. There are multiple marketing methods to replenish collagen, and people are spending thousands, and now in the United States, hundreds of millions of dollars every year with collagen creams, lotions, potions, injections, and supplements. But, do they work? Do they really help the skin re-gain a youthful level of collagen fibers? Do the joints really get stronger? Can we bring our tendons, muscles, and ligaments back to being stronger than the MAN OF STEEL???? Let’s look.

While injections of collagen under the skin will puff-out wrinkles, and will stay there for a little while, over time it will diminish, and move around. The injected collagen does not become part of the structure, so it doesn’t make the skin stronger.

On the other hand, eating collagen might provide some benefit. There is some evidence that taking partially-digested collagen might increase collagen in the skin.[4] Also, there are many studies to show that taking collagen can increase connective tissue. Supplementation with partially-digested collagen protein improved the strength of the Achilles tendon in one study.[5]

The problem with these studies is that they are mostly done in small groups, and they are done by the manufacturers of “collagen peptides.” In spite of this, my patients have told me that they have found great benefits to taking collagen peptides, such as stronger hair and nails, as well as less pain in the joints. However, there are many ways to get this protein. It isn’t necessary to buy powders, pills, or supplements to get more collagen.

Digestion of Collagen

The stomach does not digest collagen easily. Collagen is not water-soluble, and therefore requires a high acid content to “denature” or open-up so it can be digested.[6] Thus, as we age, we tend to make less acid, and therefore don’t digest the collagen fibers easily. Collagen then becomes a fiber source instead of a protein source. A whole protein cannot be used in our bodies. We must break it down to individual amino acids, absorb them, and then use them build up our own collagen. That’s why the stomach acid is so important.

One answer to this is to buy the partially-digested collagen made from fish scales, animal skins, bones, and other animal connective tissue, called “collagen peptides.”  This is not whole collagen, but rather “peptides” which are short pieces of the collagen protein. These peptides still must be broken down to be used, but since they are not “wound-up” and don’t need acid to denature them, they are already prepared for the small intestine enzymes to break them down into amino acids.

Another way to make sure you have enough building blocks of collagen is to make enough acid in your stomach. This is best achieved by having an empty stomach between meals. This gives time for the stomach to “reset” and make more acid, as well as the enzymes that work in an acid environment to make collagen into “peptides” that can then go into the small intestine and become the amino acids you need to make collagen.

You can also deal with the digestion issue by making your own “denatured” or partially-digested collagen. This has been done for thousands of years by all people in the world in boiling bones, making soup, and all sorts of broth. As collagen is boiled it denatures and breaks down to peptides. Gelatin is a product of collagen. These forms of collagen don’t require as much digestion so they can increase the amino acids for us to build our own collagen.

The last issue with digestion is the combinations of food we eat. Protein requires a lot of acid to denature and get digested well, but carbohydrates don’t. When we have glucose (sugar) in the stomach, we make a hormone (GIP, or gastric inhibitory peptide) that suppresses acid production. Thus, if you have sugar with protein, it may suppress your acid production and limit your ability to digest especially collagen proteins.

Supplements to Build Collagen

Dr. Linus Pauling, after much research, was of the opinion that scurvy, a deficiency of vitamin C, was a common illness in the United States. One of the primary problems in scurvy is a deficiency of hydroxyproline for collagen production. Thus, those with scurvy break down every part of their bodies. They get joints worn to the bone, stress-fractures in their bones, and tears of their skin with internal and external bleeding. The ligaments that hold their teeth wear out and cause the teeth to fall out. Dr. Pauling recommended high doses of vitamin C to overcome this deficiency – over 10,000mg per day. You may know people who have had joint replacements for worn-out joints, rotator-cuff tears, teeth falling out, and bleeding problems. These may be due to a lack of collagen that could be due to a mild form of scurvy.[7] Besides vitamin C, zinc and copper are also necessary to produce collagen.[8]

• Pinterest

Exercise to Build Collagen

The single best thing to do to help your body make collagen is to exercise. “Exercise is what helps deliver the amino acids into the ligaments,” says Baar at UC Davis.[9] Exercise stimulates the production of collagen by all fibroblasts, not just those in the joints and muscles, but even the skin will improve with exercise. Those same studies quoted above that show increases in the thickness of skin or the strength of tendons, used exercise along with the supplements to increase collagen production. Remember, the supplements by themselves will not help, it requires exercise to increase production. We must build each fiber of collagen individually. Eating more only increases amino acids, the actual building requires the fibroblasts to get to work and start making them into collagen. [10]

Sleep to Build Collagen

What does sleep have to do with building collagen? Glad you asked! When we sleep early in the evening, we release a large amount of HGH (growth hormone) that initiates the repair of all parts of our bodies. Everything gets fixed at night: brain, blood vessels, intestines, bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. HGH stimulates fibroblast cells to make collagen. This is essential for keeping your body young and having all the collagen you need. The most important way to get HGH is to go to bed by 10 PM with an empty stomach. The empty stomach produces a hormone called Ghrelin (growth hormone releasing hormone). Even if you go to bed early, but eat at night, you’ll miss the optimum time to get that HGH.

Stress and Collagen Destruction

If I were to put all the “anti-aging” supplements, pills, potions, drugs, surgeries, and so forth on a scale from one to a hundred on how much they affected life-span and aging, they would altogether add up to maybe 10. Stress is 90. I cannot over-emphasize how stress negatively impacts collagen production. The stress hormones are catabolic,[11] which means they break-down the body, especially collagen. When “cortisone” (the major stress hormone) or any of its derivatives is injected into a joint, the collagen is dissolved, and the fibroblasts that are needed to make more are killed. If you have ever seen a person with thin skin that tears easily it is due to excessive cortisol over a long period of time. You can easily destroy the “perfect” Anti-Aging diet, supplement, and exercise program with stress. There is no comparison. Thus, the single most important part of your collagen loading anti-aging program is stress reduction.

Recommendations for Collagen Production

Collagen loading is a great idea, and you can buy all kinds of powders and pills, but remember that just providing the amino acids doesn’t mean you will make more collagen. The following recommendations will help you keep a youthful body, prevent wearing out of your joints, and the thinning of your skin. You don’t have to do all of them every day, but the more you do them, the better your connective tissue will be. These are the rules for staying young and preventing the breakdown of your body.

1. Exercise – almost daily weight-bearing exercise. HIIT (High-intensity interval training) is excellent.
2. Bone broth – drink about 16 oz per day, make a soup, or have Gelatin.
3. Don’t eat sugar, starch, or sweet things with protein. (low-starch vegetables are fine)
4. Vitamin C – take about 1,000 mg per day (if you have scurvy, take 5,000 to 10,000 mg)
5. Wait 5 hours between meals and have no food after 6pm.
6. Sleep by 10 PM.
7. Avoid stress and worry. (MOST IMPORTANT!!!)

 

 

 

Sources:
[1] https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Multiple-collagen-fibrils-form-into-collagen-fibres-Amino-acids-on-the-alpha-chain_fig1_330146748
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21582/
[3] https://fanart.tv/fanart/movies/49521/movieposter/man-of-steel-5aa872a43b71c.jpg
[4] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24401291/
[5] Randomized Controlled Trial Nutrients; . 2019 Jan 2;11(1):76. doi: 10.3390/nu11010076.
Oral Supplementation of Specific Collagen Peptides Combined with Calf-Strengthening Exercises Enhances Function and Reduces Pain in Achilles Tendinopathy Patients
Stephan F E Praet 1 2, Craig R Purdam 3, Marijke Welvaert 4 5, Nicole Vlahovich 6, Gregg Lovell 7, Louise M Burke 8, Jamie E Gaida 9 10, Silvia Manzanero 11, David Hughes 12, Gordon Waddington 13 14; PMID: 30609761 PMCID: PMC6356409 DOI: 10.3390/nu11010076
[6] https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/nutrition/5-things-you-need-to-know-before-taking-a-collagen-supplement/ar-BB18tKKx#:~:text=%22The%20collagen%20is%20going%20to%20be%20digested%20by,which%20is%20the%20type%20found%20in%20most%20powders.
[7] https://paulingblog.wordpress.com/2021/05/12/why-vitamin-c-the-scurvy-connection/
[8] https://www.consumerreports.org/supplements/the-real-deal-on-collagen/#:~:text=All%20protein%20you%20consume%2C%20collagen%20included%2C%20is%20processed,amino%20acids%20in%20the%20digestive%20system%2C%E2%80%9D%20Perez%20says.
[9] Randomized Controlled Trial Nutrients; . 2019 Jan 2;11(1):76. doi: 10.3390/nu11010076.
Oral Supplementation of Specific Collagen Peptides Combined with Calf-Strengthening Exercises Enhances Function and Reduces Pain in Achilles Tendinopathy Patients
Stephan F E Praet 1 2, Craig R Purdam 3, Marijke Welvaert 4 5, Nicole Vlahovich 6, Gregg Lovell 7, Louise M Burke 8, Jamie E Gaida 9 10, Silvia Manzanero 11, David Hughes 12, Gordon Waddington 13 14; PMID: 30609761 PMCID: PMC6356409 DOI: 10.3390/nu11010076
[10] https://cdn-img.health.com/sites/default/files/wp_migrated_images/best-hiit-workout.jpg
[11] https://www.granitenutrition.com/nutritional-research/2017/5/16/summary-of-anabolic-catabolic-hormones