Collagen

STRENGTH: 530 mg
FORM: 60 Capsules

Collagen…what is it and what does it do? Well, without it you wouldn’t be alive today, that’s how important it is. Many outrageous claims have been made as to the benefits that this product offers; some range from it being a miracle weight loss aid to its use in hair restoration. The truth is that collagen makes up about thirty percent of the protein in our bodies, it is made up of water, about two percent mineral salts, and it contains no fat, carbohydrates (except for its structural glycoprotein) or cholesterol. Many legitimate studies have been done using collagen to show that it helps to treat and prevent a whole host of pathologies. Clinical results show that if taken internally (regularly) it will help support healthy skin, improve mobility with a lessening of pain that is associated with arthritis and other joint pains. It may decrease healing times in traumatic injuries, and it is used by athletes to help in the recuperation process. It can definitely have a positive effect on hair (not regrowth) and nail growth, helping to increase their strength by up to thirty six percent! If it is taken regularly, collagen can also preserve, build and replenish lean muscle mass and may even have a positive effect on your overall body composition.

Since collagen is one of the most abundant proteins in the body, accounting for as much as eighty percent of the skin, muscles and connective tissues, it only makes sense that taking it as a supplement will help to rebuild the body. It appears that after the age of about twenty collagen levels in the body start to dissipate at a rate of one to two percent a year, and by the age of forty your body’s production of it all but shuts down. Re-introducing the correct form of pure collagen back in to your system may stimulate your own natural collagen production by providing the base material to do so. Collagen is part of the natural makeup of our tendons, ligaments, joints, muscles, hair, skin and much more. Collagen serves a very specific purpose; its strands are woven together like threads of fabric that form the framework into which new cells can accumulate growth. When the body needs to build any new tissue or repair it, as occurs in the healing process, collagen and collagen filaments will play a central role. When the body’s production of collagen slows down we can begin to see the results in the skin as it starts to wrinkle and lose its youthful radiance. The part that we don’t think about is what happens in places that we can’t see, and that is what happens inside our bodies. Internally we experience a weakening of our skeletal structure due to the breakdown of connective tissue, including muscle tissue. This weakening isn’t limited just to our internal structure; it is systemic, crossing all the organ systems in the body. It just makes sense that when our bodies’ supply of collagen is low many areas will be affected causing weakness, fatigue and overall lack of performance. You begin to feel it in the joints, and in the case of athletes, there is an increase in cases of tendonitis, bursitis and the like.

Collagen is said to have a rejuvenating effect on the body. This is mostly because collagen contains a number of essential amino acids in its matrix. One major benefit of taking collagen is that it contains proline, which is the precursor of hydroxyproline. Collagen contains about fifteen to twenty percent proline. Once hydroxyproline enters the body it incorporates into collagen, tendons, ligaments, and the heart muscle which helps to strengthen the cardiac muscle, the musculature throughout the body and connective tissue. The collagen that is in the skin for example helps to prevent wrinkles; it contains hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine, which is formed from the proline and lysine found in supplemental collagen. So as you can see it isn’t a simple process, you have to understand that just taking collagen isn’t enough, you see…the metabolism and conversion of the proline in collagen is connected to enzymes that require niacin and vitamin C. So making sure that you have the right combination of nutrients in the system is also a part of any ‘rebuilding’ and or maintenance program. Other benefits in taking collagen and the proline it contains is that it is an important component in certain medical wound dressings that use collagen fragments to stimulate wound healing.

You cannot take the simplicity of this product for granted, it is a vital part of your life at every stage and even more so as you age! †

REFERENCES:

1. Byers PH The Metabolic & Molecular Basis of Inherited Disease 8th Edition Volume IV 2000 Disorders of Collagen Biosynthesis and Structure p 5241-85.
2. Prockop DJ, Kivirikko KI, Tudermann L, Gutzman NA. The biosynthesis of collagen and its disorders, part one and two. N Engl J Med 1979; 301: 77-85.
3. Sarnstrand B, Brattsand R, Malmstrom A. Effect of glucocorticoids on glycosaminoglycan metabolism in cultured human skin fibroblasts. J Invest Dermatol 1982; 79: 412-17.
4. Grahan M, Diegelmann R, Lindblad W et al. Effects of inflammation on wound healing: in vitro studies and in vivo studies. In: Soft and Hard Tissue Repair: Biological and Clinical Aspects (Hunt T, Heppenstall R, Pines E, Rovee D, eds). New York: Praeger Scientific, 1984; 361-79.
5. Liu SH, Yang R, Al-Shaikh R, Lane JM. Collagen in tendon, ligament, and bone healing. A current review. Clin Orthop 1995; 318: 265-78.