First of all, collagen is the most abundant protein in mammals, it makes up 25% to 35% of whole-body protein. Other than the two types you usually see in supplements, there are actually five types that your body needs. There are I, II, III, V, and X. I don’t mean to bore you with too much information, but you really should know how important collagen is.
- 75% of the skin is made up of this nutrient. If you are deficient, your skin starts looking worse and is less protected from foreign microbes.
- 70%-80% of joints and tendons are made from collagen. When deficient, you start creaking and popping and experiencing discomfort.
- 90% of bones are made of collagen. Being deficient means more easily fractured or more frequent fractures or breaks.
- Your gut depends on collagen. Being deficient in your intestinal wall can tear and leak, which will cause digestive discomfort.
- Hair and nails are mostly collagen. Deficiency means both being brittle and easily broken.
- Collagen is also important for a healthy immune system, which goes back to your gut, where nearly 80% of your immune system is located.
Now the bad part is that as we age we produce less and less collagen, and it’s less than half by the time we get to middle age.
You would think that you could just take a supplement and it would be fine, right? Nope, most supplements don’t include all five types that your body requires. Most supplements only contain one or two types of collagen your body needs.
And then the multi-collagen supplements you do find aren’t the collagen peptides. It is believed that these peptides are more easily absorbed and also help support the body’s own collagen production.
You now know how important collagen really is for your body, especially for looking and feeling better. If you are now wondering where you can find these collagen peptides, I have done the search for you.
Just so you don’t think I have randomly picked just any collagen, this is actually the same supplement I take! It really does work!
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. Thanks for visiting!
Hi Siobhan, thanks for this article a lot! It is really great timing for me. I am looking into collagen but I have heard that you have to be careful, as some don’t work and are just basically scams for your money. I was wondering how the whole collagen thing worked, and your article breaks it down really nicely.
It is good to know that you need all 5 kinds of collagen, that your skin is 75% made up of it, and that you need collagen peptides. Do you know of a supplement that has all 5 types? How do you get all 5 of them?
All the best to you
Beth
Yes, if you click on the highlighted words, it takes you straight to a collagen supplement at Amazon, that I am actually getting for myself, lol