Main points covered in this blog:

What the heck is collagen?
Do we naturally produce collagen or do you need to take a supplement?
How does collagen impact our bodies/health and why do we need it?
The BEST supplements on the market and why.
VEGAN COLLAGEN SUPPLEMENT… is there one?

So collagen - what is it? Well collagen is getting as much attention as Kim Kardashian these days. It’s the new flavour of the health world and everyone is digging it. Rightly so, I believe it deserves the praise certainly more than Kimmy K does.

Collagen is the glue that holds our entire body together…

I am sure some of you just gasped with shock horror because you thought it was peanut butter! I am so sorry to be the bearer of bad news… Collagen (made up of amino acids) literally is a protein powerhouse that forms connective tissue for pretty well all of the structures in your body, from your bones to skin.

Our bodies naturally produce collagen everyday however, over time our production slows down. Well from the age of 25 to be exact.

“There is an enzyme in our skin called collagenase, which breaks down collagen,” says Debra Jaliman, MD, author of “Skin Rules: Trade Secrets from a Top New York Dermatologist.” “After the age of 25, we break down more collagen than we make, so that’s why we start to see fine lines and wrinkles.” boo hoo indeed!

Do you need to take a collagen supplement?

You can easily and naturally add more collagen into your life…

just like our ancestors would have by making your own stocks & bone broths from joint-y cuts of meat with loads of cartilage such as chicken necks, feet, legs, wings or lamb knuckles, shins, ribs etc. Rather than throwing in some shitty Campbell’s stock cubes into all our meals - I saw a bloody vegan chicken stock powder the other day and all I could think was what the f***, like honestly tell me what REAL ingredients would be present in that concoction.

Our ancestors also ate nose to tail when it came to eating meat (my grandparents still do) not just the fancy cut chicken breasts. They ate and slow cooked meat off the bone as well as devoured organ meat as it is such a powerhouse of nutrients. Talk about the real superfoods of today… screw the bloody goji berries and poo of the yak. So look if you aren’t into taking a collagen supplement fill your boots with broth and start getting some pate into your life as well as cooking your meat on the bone. As well as eating a variety of veggies, berries, fish, etc.

PS. We can’t expect to get healthy from animals that aren’t healthy so opt for grass fed, organic bones. ESPECIALLY for making your own and buying bone broth.

Chances are you need a lot more collagen in your diet than you are already consuming/producing that’s why Tom and I take a collagen supp daily - Tom actually started taking it quite a few years ago after seriously injuring his spine to aid in repair and reduce inflammation and I started a few years before that to aid in repair of my gut whilst on my gut health journey.

Here are some little fun facts about collagen the guys from ATP Science chat about and boy do they do their research and know their sh*t! This is from their VEGAN Aminos Podcast 190.

within your connective tissue, 30% of your whole body protein content is collagen
of your muscle tissue, 10% of your muscle tissue is collagen but 30% of your muscle power comes out of collagen
it’s the collagen that builds our infrastructure, the tendons, the ligaments, provide our bodies with leverage to move and also prevent injuries as well as allowing you to build muscle mass.
75% of our skin is collagen
collagen is 70% of our cartilage make up, 85% of our tendons, 70% of our ligaments, 95% of our organic bone matrix - which makes up 20% of total bone mass. Organic bone matrix is the living stuff inside our bones.. so 95% of that is collagen if you don’t have collagen you pretty well have hollow bones.

HOW TO USE A COLLAGEN SUPP & What is it?

So really it is NO BLOODY SURPRISE it is become the non negotiable supplement to mix through your cup of coffee each morning. Because the ACE thing is… collagen is actually flavourless and colourless so it is easy to add into tea or coffee as it dissolves in hot or cold liquids. As well as I throw it into meatballs I am making as it isn’t affected by heat, I add more into my homemade broths and stocks. I put it into curries, sauces, soups, porridge and much more it is so versatile.

Collagen supps are made of organic ground down bones, usually beef, chicken, fish or egg.

How does collagen work?

You better work b*tch - Brittany Spears how did we ever get so lucky that she made that god awful catchy song and now it is ALL I hear when the word ‘work’ is involved. Devastating.

Well funnily enough for a while we didn’t think collagen ‘worked’ as well as companies creating the product suggested it did as our stomach acids breaks down the collagen peptides before they can start working.

HOWEVER…

“Collagen is a large molecule, but due to the way modern collagen is made or how it’s hydrolyzed into collagen peptides, we are capable of digesting the compound,”

- says nutrition expert Kelly Schmidt, RD, LDN, and founder of the holistic practice Kelly Schmidt Wellness.

Hydrolyzed collagen also known as “COLLAGEN PEPTIDES,” is the most affective way to deliver these amino acids to your body. The process of hydrolysation breaks down the collagen into a smooth, light powder so your digestive system has an easier time breaking it down, absorbing and distributing the amino acids throughout your entire body. Meaning they are more ‘bioavailable’ therefore your body can actually use them which is a big deal when you are paying a decent amount for a product. The fibroblast cells in your body have an important job which is to product collagen. For this to happen the fibroblasts need access to amino acids … mostly: glycine, proline and hydroxyproline (all found in bone broth might I add). Collagen supps supply your fibroblasts with these amino acids so they can get to work.

Collagen supplements are digested into amino acids and peptides in your gut in order to be utilised by your body. The amino acids and peptides must be absorbed by the small intestine and circulated into your bloodstream to have affect.

“Research has proven that after ingesting collagen in the hydrolyzed form, it increases in the blood,” Schmidt says. A 2018 study investigated the effects of ingesting hydrolyzed collagen over a four-week period.[8] The results found changes in the levels of hydroxyproline peptides in the bloodstream. Other studies have also found levels of collagen peptides in the bloodstream after ingestion.[9][10]
So, yes, collagen supplements provide important building blocks for your body to make more collagen — even after digestion.
- written by Rebecca Paredes from Bullet Proof articles online.

What are the best brands to buy?

Like with all supplements there are brands and forms of collagen that are better than others. Look for labels that indicate hydrolysed collagen peptides which do not have fillers and are from a grass-fed product.

BRANDS I LOVE & TRUST & USE MYSELF … PLUS PAY FOR!

Dr Josh Axe
Great Lakes
Nutra Organics
Bullet Proof
Vital Proteins
ATP Science

You can buy them from online nutritional vortex stores such as iherb or support your local health food stores. Chemists are also starting to stock a larger range of health food products and supplements. I have linked them all above to where you can buy them and read more about them to see ingredients etc.

Is there a vegan collagen supplement?

Well. To be quite honest I didn’t think a vegan product would ever exist due to collagen being an animal product … however, what has been a vegan product created that promotes the production of collagen within the body through providing the correct amino acids to create it as I was explaining before. Derrr Sofie of course someone would create that. So these aminos contain hydroxyproline peptides.

Anyway my fav team at ATP Science have actually created this product and there really isn’t any brand I would trust in the health industry as much as I trust the guys behind it.

There aren’t any others I have found that are legitimately a ‘vegan’ product.

As always I try to provide you guys with a no Bullsh*t approach to health especially in this confusing health world and to be honest some of the stuff on my health journey that has really helped me heal my body along the way hasn’t been studied well enough due to funding or because we really don’t know the damaging effects of the birth control pill yet and so forth… but I do my best to share it all with you and evidentially back it up.

Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a comment below if you loved it so others can find it

Sof xx

DISCLAIMER:

The information provided on this site is intended for Sofie's individual experiences only and is not a substitute for advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is not meant to cover all possible individual precautions, such as prescribed medication, circumstances or adverse effects, etc. You should certainly consult your GP for any health issues before using alternative medicine or making a change to your lifestyle.

REFERENCES:

https://blog.bulletproof.com/do-collagen-supplements-work/

https://atpscience.com.au/podcasts/episode-190-prodcast-vegan-aminos/?v=6cc98ba2045f

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24401291

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/brit...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24852756

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26362110

https://benthamopen.com/contents/pdf/TONUTRA...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28914450

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jaf...