Is Collagen the Key You've Been Missing?

We all know that protein is essential for life and health, but did you know that a specific protein, collagen, is the most abundant protein in your body? Think skin, joints, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, muscles, bones, and connective tissue - it is the building block of all of these things inside your body, composing about 30% of your entire structure. Not only is this important for overall health at any age (including strength, function, and beauty), but it is also key to helping you age both gracefully and pain-free. So is collagen the key you've been missing in your life? Let's talk about the ways collagen can support your health and ways to increase your collagen consumption.

Healthy Movement

As we stated, collagen is key to your joints, muscles, and bones and this is essential for your body's ability to move freely and without pain or discomfort. As we age, collagen production in the body declines by about 1% yearly. Add in factors such as diet and lifestyle choices, nutritional deficiencies, hormonal changes, and genetics and this decrease can be accelerated dramatically. Age-related and exercise-induced aches and pains can be minimized by adding collagen to your routine, preserving your ability to enjoy regular activity and a full life.

Skin, Hair, and Nails

If you are looking for a beauty secret to improve the look of your skin, hair, and nails then look no further than collagen. Are wrinkles showing up and your skin is looking more dry and less plump? Is your hair thinning, growing slowly, and losing its strength? Are your nails brittle, won't grow, or constantly bending or splitting? Try collagen. It supports the structural integrity of skin, hair, and nails leading to improved appearance and greater confidence overall.

Gut and Digestion

Gut health has been a hot topic for awhile now. With the numerous impacts that food quality and lifestyle choices have on our gut integrity, healing a compromised gut lining can be a crucial key to overall health. Leaky gut, chronic bloating, and food sensitivities have exploded in recent years, with more people complaining about gut and digestion issues than ever before. This is where collagen comes in. Think of your gut lining as "internal skin" and just like collagen plumps and strengthens our skin on the outside, it also helps to strengthen the intestinal barrier and reduce gut inflammation on the inside.

Organ Health

A little known benefit of collagen is organ support. When you think about it, it makes perfect sense because organs are all made of tissues. Collagen is mostly composed of amino acids and these support the structural integrity, elasticity, and cell regeneration of multiple organs throughout the body, including the heart, brain, liver, and kidneys.

How to Get Collagen

So now that you know some of the most important benefits of collagen to overall health, let's talk about ways to incorporate collagen into your diet. There are basically two different ways to go about consuming collagen - directly from food or from supplements. Modern diets rarely include food sources of collagen, the skin and connective tissues of animals & bone broth. These can come from several different animal sources, including beef, chicken, fish, and eggs. Choosing the whole food route requires time, conscious effort, and quality animal sources, which may not be practical or readily available. The alternative is collagen supplementation. These are typically offered as powders or capsules and are often found in a more digestible form called hydrolyzed collagen or collagen peptides.

Types of Collagen

There are actually 28 different types of collagen that have been identified, and they all have specific unique benefits for the body. About 80-90% of the body's collagen is made up of collagen types I, II, and III. That is why these are the types mostly seen in supplements. Type I is mostly found in skin, tendons, bones, and ligaments, type II in cartilage and joints, and type III in organs and muscles. There are also lesser known types like IV, V, and X that are vital for other structural components, membranes, and tissues. Finding the collagen type or blend of types that addresses your particular health concerns is the key to using collagen effectively.

If you are dealing with specific health concerns, or just want to supplement with something that can boost your overall health and counter premature aging, we think collagen could be the key. For most of us, living a clean and healthy lifestyle can be a challenge in today's day and age, but collagen can provide the support needed to counter some of the damage we incur along the way. Let us help you find the right collagen products for you at Lucky's.