Collagen. Hoax or Hero? - Parker Anderton

We’ve all heard about the importance and impact collagen can have on aging and overall well-being, but is it all true? I have looked over a few scientific studies, journals, and sources to find out this answer, but first let's first understand what collagen is... 

Collagen is by far the single most abundant protein found in humans, even animals! *** This protein, when looked at under a microscope, is long and thin with many twists. These twists help keep the long thin strand strong and tough; you can even see the toughness in your skin. When you see skin that is tight and firm, that is because the collagen found in that area is long and strong, holding up the surrounding cells (Wilson et al., 2014).

Now let's look at how the body absorbs this and makes it. When we eat, our stomach and intestines move and breakdown everything and anything into small, tiny molecules in order to be absorbed. As I mentioned earlier, collagen is a long protein and in order for the body to absorb it it needs to break it down into smaller parts. But how does the body know it just broke down collagen and not some other random protein? Well the body doesn’t break it down completely and leaves a small part stuck together for the body to later use to make collagen (Sontakke, Jung, Piao, & Chung, 2016). 

​For example, you had a lego tree made with red, blue, and yellows in a pattern and you want to make it again without the instructions? When you look at the pieces you see that there are some legos still stuck in the pattern like red-blue or blue-yellow. From there you start to assemble the pattern till you eventually get a red, blue, and yellow tree.

​So back to the original question, is collagen really all what doctors and everyone makes it? Simply put yes, but to a degree. According to Borumand & Sibilla (2014) found an increase in firmness in the skin around the eyes after 80 days but later plateaued around day 130. A big factor is in age, as this study found that almost half of the participants decreased in dryness***.

 Resources

• Borumand, M., & Sibilla, S. (2014). Daily consumption of the collagen supplement Pure Gold Collagen® reduces visible signs of aging. Clinical interventions in aging, 9, 1747–1758. doi:10.2147/CIA.S65939
• Sontakke, S. B., Jung, J.-H., Piao, Z., & Chung, H. J. (2016). Orally Available Collagen Tripeptide: Enzymatic Stability, Intestinal Permeability, and Absorption of Gly-Pro-Hyp and Pro-Hyp. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 64(38), 7127–7133. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.6b02955
• Wilson, S. L., Guilbert, M., Sulé-Suso, J., Torbet, J., Jeannesson, P., Sockalingum, G. D., & Yang, Y. (2014). A microscopic and macroscopic study of aging collagen on its molecular structure, mechanical properties, and cellular response. The FASEB Journal, 28(1), 14–25. doi: 10.1096/fj.13-227579
• Image 1 : https://blog.nubest.net/public/upload/news/hydrolyzed-collagen-type-2-an-effective-solution-for-height-growth.jpg 
• Image 2 : https://beingmad.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/gettyimages-145083512-3-1-1024x683.jpg