Is Your Collagen Holding Up?
By Dr. Meg Jordan, PhD, RN, CWP, Global Medicine Hunter®
When asked what the primary component of the human body is, most people might answer, “water” and they’d be partly right. The number one physical component is collagen. Everything is made up of collagen, a rope-like protein structure that serves as the matrix upon which everything else is supported, suspended, or comprised.
With an overwhelming need for our number one support protein, you’d think we would produce enough collagen to last a lifetime. Unfortunately, human collagen is subject to breakdown and dwindles with age. Our ability to replace it rapidly and efficiently begins to taper off, especially if we don’t practice healthy habits, such as eating a nutritious diet, not smoking, managing stress, exercising regularly, and drinking moderately.
Getting collagen replaced or enhanced has been an obsession since its benefits were defined over forty years ago. And while there are a few horror stories about poorly done fillers, you don’t have to resort to injections.
In the past few years, scientific breakthroughs have advanced the manufacturing of safe and effective collagen in ingestible (not injectable) form. You can directly benefit from ingesting collagen like Japanese women have done. But it has to be in a high quality form known as hydrolyzed collagen. Hydrolyzed collagen has the ability to sneak past the gastric juices of the digestive tract and end up where it’s needed most—underlying the epidermis. The best types of hydrolyzed collagen come from Japanese manufacturers who have been supplying the beauty and cosmetic industry to discriminating customers for decades. And we are just now catching up to this phenomenon here in the West.
When selecting a collagen product, be sure to look for two essential qualities: porcine-based collagen, and hydrolyzed collagen. If it’s not hydrolyzed, it’s a waste of your money. Choosing porcine-based collagen is important because compared to other collagen sources, porcine is most similar to human collagen and has been used successfully in numerous applications from surgical grafts to cosmetics with less allergic responses.
Finally, how do you know if you could use more collagen?
Maybe you started checking the mirror more often than you care to admit, examining morning wrinkle lines from your pillow, crow’s feet and fine lines around the eye area, sagging cheeks, double chin, deep neck lines, bags under the eyes, frown lines, mannequin lines or deeper nasolabial folds. If so, you’re looking at the effects of disappearing collagen. Halt the progress by finding a high quality, porcine-based, hydrolyzed collagen and drink it every morning for at least two months. Consider taking before and after photos of your face without make-up. You may be pleasantly surprised at the results within just 8-12 weeks.
