Plant Based Collagen Building Blocks

What is it that actually allows us to remain youthful and to age gracefully? There are many factors involved in maintaining optimal health and skin appearance—diet, hydration, nutrition, detoxification, sleep, exercise, habits, attitude, lifestyle and environment just to name a few—but one key factor stands out when it comes to preserving skin health and youthful appearance: COLLAGEN.

 

Collagen has received a lot of hype in recent years, and many people are beginning to realize the importance of this protein for the health of skin and other body tissues. However, most people don’t really know what collagen is, how it is made, or how they can maintain their collagen health.

 

Most collagen supplements on the market are animal based, and taking animal based collagen supplements is actually one of the least effective ways to build collagen, not to mention that most animal-based collagen supplements are produced poorly and are made up of the ground remains of animals used for factory farming. In this article, we’ll explain everything you need to know about collagen, plant based collagen supplements, and why taking a plant based collagen supplement is the most effective way to improve collagen health.

 

What Is Collagen? 

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body. It offers support and strength to cell structures including bones, organs, vascular system, connective tissue, hair, skin, nails—the list is endless. Collagen not only anchors cells to each other like cement and glue but also 40% of our skin is made up of collagen. Collagen gives skin its ability to move, stretch and rebound into shape—known as skin elasticity. As you lose skin elasticity, this leads to wrinkles and visible signs of aging.

 

Why Is Collagen Health Important?

 

Collagen health is crucial for:

•       Healthy skin
•       Organ function
•       Athletic performance
•       Bone health and density
•       Joint health
•       Gut Health

 

While we’re born with an abundance of collagen in our skin, the body's production of collagen begins to slow down in our mid-to-late 20's and continues to decrease dramatically after age 30.  From there, the collagen levels in our skin begin to drop by 1-2% each year. When collagen starts to decline with age—or due to excessive exposure to UV rays, pollution, or cigarette smoke—our skin’s structural integrity becomes compromised. 

 

The Health Benefits of Collagen

 

There are many benefits to having healthy collagen in the body, as collagen is the essential protein that literally provides the structure for the majority of our tissues and organs. Taking collagen supplements that help the body produce its own collagen can significantly improve our collagen health, and thus our overall health. This becomes increasingly important as we age, as collagen production deteriorates as our age increases.

 

While the health benefits of collagen are numerous, we’ll discuss the five most notable benefits of collagen that have been documented by modern health research.

 

1. Collagen Can Improve the Health of Your Skin

Collagen health is essential for skin health, as a significant amount of our skin is composed of collagen, and the body relies on this protein for many of its tissues. Numerous studies have shown that collagen peptides may help slow the aging of your skin by keeping the skin healthy and reducing wrinkles and dryness.

 

The wrinkle-reducing effects of collagen supplements have been attributed to their ability to stimulate your body to produce collagen on its own. Additionally, taking collagen supplements may promote the production of other proteins that help structure your skin, including elastin and fibrillin.

 

2. Collagen May Help Relieve Joint Pain

Being one of the most abundant proteins in the body, and one that is necessary for tissue health, collagen helps maintain the integrity of your cartilage, which is the rubber-like tissue that protects your joints.

 

As the amount of collagen in your body decreases with age, the risk of developing degenerative joint disorders such as osteoarthritis increases. Some studies have shown that taking collagen supplements may help improve symptoms of osteoarthritis and reduce joint pain overall. 

 

Similar to how collagen supplements help to reduce wrinkles, the benefits of collagen supplements on joint health are largely attributed to their ability to help the body produce its own collagen. This is important to note, and there is a major difference among the quality of collagen supplements and how effective they are at helping the body produce its own collagen. We’ll get into this a bit later in the article after we’ve discussed a few more of the benefits of effective collagen supplements.

 

3. Collagen May Boost Muscle Mass

 

Collagen is necessary for keeping your muscles strong and functioning properly. In fact, up to 10% of muscle tissue is composed of collagen. Studies suggest that collagen supplements help boost muscle mass in people with sarcopenia, which is the loss of muscle mass that happens with age.

According to researchers, taking collagen supplements that help the body build its own collagen may promote the synthesis of muscle proteins like creatine, as well as stimulate muscle growth after exercise.

 

4. Collagen Supports Heart Health

 

Collagen provides structure to arteries, which are the blood vessels that carry blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Without enough collagen, arteries may weaken and become fragile. Researchers believe that by maintaining collagen health, one can protect the health of their heart, which becomes increasingly important as we age.

5. Collagen Can Prevent Bone Loss

Bones are made primarily of the collagen protein, which is responsible for their structure and which helps to keep them strong and healthy.

 

As collagen health deteriorates with age, so does bone mass. This can lead to conditions like osteoporosis, which is characterized by low bone density and linked to a higher risk of bone fractures.

 

Studies have shown that taking collagen supplements may have certain effects in the body that help inhibit the bone breakdown that leads to weaker bones. By keeping our collagen healthy, we can keep our bones in good health as we age and can prevent conditions like osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.

 

Now that we’ve discussed some of the primary benefits of taking collagen supplements, let’s get into why it is so important that you take a collagen supplement that actually works, and why animal-based collagen supplements are among the worst collagen supplements that you can take.

 

The Challenge with Animal-Based Collagen Supplements

 

Creating effective collagen supplements is more complex than one might think. The collagen molecule is the largest molecule in the body—often called the 'super molecule'—and its tightly wound 'triple helix' design is simply too big and too strong (stronger than steel by weight) to penetrate the surface of the skin, or to be broken down by digestive enzymes and absorbed into the bloodstream when ingested.

 

This makes it difficult for topical applications or collagen drinks and collagen powders containing plain 'collagen' to replenish collagen in the skin. While moisturizers, serums, and collagen creams containing plain collagen may claim to support the body’s natural production of collagen, they can’t replace the collagen in your skin. The same is true for any collagen supplement you ingest (be it a collagen powder, collagen pill or collagen drink) that contains plain, whole molecule 'collagen.' The molecule is just too big to be absorbed and have any desired effect.

 

The Best Way to Build Collagen

 

The fact remains that the best way to build collagen is to take the precursors that allow the body to do what it does best: build molecules. If your body has been producing collagen since you were a baby, then why is there an assumption that we must consume animal collagen supplements for our collagen process to not slow down? This concept has been pushed heavily be the meat industry, but it is a fallacy.

 

Our team has a medical background of over 40 years and if there is one key thing that we have learned it is that the body runs on precursors and building blocks.

 

The molecular building blocks of collagen in the body are Vitamin C, L-Proline and L-Lysine. Taking these three nutrients together, in the proper doses, produces the 18 amino acid chains that then go on to produce the hundreds of combinations to produce collagen. We combined these collagen support vitamins into plant based collagen daily packs (along with synergistic co enzyme b complex) that support your body’s own ability to create collagen. This formula is a plant based collagen supplement that supports skin health from the inside out by helping your body produce its own collagen. Rather than taking a finished collagen molecule, which are difficult for the body to process and are what most collagen supplements contain, you can take the right dosages of the specific collagen precursors that allow your body to generate its own collagen.

 

It is important that these nutrients come from pure, high quality sources, and that they are formulated in such a way that they are actually able to be absorbed by the body. There is a big difference in simply consuming the cheapest store-bought form of L-Lysine and consuming pharmaceutical grade nano free-form L-Lysine such as the L-Lysine in our collagen pre-cursor daily packs. This difference in quality and bioavailability could determine whether the nutrients simply pass through your body or are absorbed and utilized by the body providing real benefits.

 

A keynote on collagen precursor supplement is that we have included a therapeutic dosage of these building blocks, as most collagen booster supplements on the market contain a dosage for your chihuahua. The human body requires 3000mg of Lysine and 1000mg of Proline along with 1000 mg of Vitamin C to properly fund its daily collagen needs. The therapeutic dosage of these nutrients, along with the pure quality and nano-form technology, is the reason for the higher price on our 30-day packs as it combines four products in our product line into one convenient, doctor formulated, daily pack.

 

The Collagen Precursor packs are 100% vegan and ethically sourced offering those with a beauty regimen a more effective, cleaner and safer alternative to conventional collagen supplements. One pack of our collagen health supplement per day gives your body everything it needs to optimize the process of collagen synthesis. For optimal effectiveness make sure to stack the collagen precursor packs with our Biodynamic Inflammation Tonic formula to lower inflammation levels in the body, as high levels of inflammation interfere with the collagen synthesis process.

 

Collagen does not have to come from animal products. When you give your body the key nutrient building blocks that it needs, it can produce its own collagen well into your later years. With our Collagen Precursor daily packs, now you can accomplish this simply and effectively.

 

Real People, Real Results:

 

"I’ve been taking the collagen for nearly 2 months. My skin is so smooth and soft. I’ve noticed the skin on my face, especially around the eyes, is much firmer.

My husband even has commented how soft my skin is now.

Definitely going to keep up on these!"

Kathryn S.

 

 

References

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259628887_Oral_Intake_of_Specific_Bioactive_Collagen_Peptides_Reduces_Skin_Wrinkles_and_Increases_Dermal_Matrix_Synthesis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23949208/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3583892/

http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rbgg/v19n1/1809-9823-rbgg-19-01-00153.pdf

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17076983/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3177172/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4594048/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21582/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0062943/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16341622/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2846778/