Around a third of the body is made up of collagen, including skin, hair, nails, joints, connective tissue, and even the gut lining. The body can make its own collagen; however, it needs all the correct nutrients in order to do so, and after age 25, collagen production starts to decline, meaning we need to support it in order to age well. Loss of collagen associated with ageing can appear as fine lines and wrinkles, brittle nails, thinning hair, joint pain and recurrent injuries, weaker bones and poor gut health [1]. Collagen is essential to help the body stay strong and mobile, as well as to help improve the health and appearance of skin, hair and nails, but not all collagen supplements are made equal. Collagen peptides are significantly easier to digest and more bioavailable than many other types of protein and collagen powders, meaning the body makes far better use of them than other products.

Read on to learn what collagen peptides are, why collagen peptides are one of the most important supplements to consider, and how to make taking collagen peptides a simple part of your daily routine.

 

 

What is the difference between collagen and collagen peptides?

Collagen is a type of protein made up of amino acids, the key players being proline, glycine, and hydroxyproline. These amino acids group together to form protein fibres known as collagen peptides, which are linked by peptide bonds, and are the ‘building blocks’ of protein. The difference between a standard collagen powder and collagen peptides powders however, is that collagen peptides have a shorter amino acid chain, making them easier to digest, absorb and utilise in the body, meaning they can be more beneficial for maintaining and improving the health of skin, muscles, bones, hair, nails, joints and the gut. Research also shows collagen peptides are beneficial for improving body composition, collagen synthesis (the body’s ability to make its own collagen), and can accelerate recovery from joint injuries. [2] The key amino acids in these collagen peptide chains also have special benefits of their own:

• Proline: Helps form collagen and connective tissues, regenerate cartilage, repair skin damage, and plays an important role in healing the gut lining. Proline is also important for the maintenance of healthy bone tissue, and can help maintain and strengthen the heart muscle. Studies show that proline can improve cardiac healing and remodeling after a heart attack, and is protective against oxidative stress in many diseases. [3]
• Glycine: Supportive of heart and liver health, glycine may also help improve sleep, reduce the risk of diabetes, and prevent muscle loss.[4] After age 30, the body starts to lose muscle mass at a rate of 3-8% each year, and this rate increases after age 60, so including high quality sources of glycine in the diet is important for anyone who wants to stay active and mobile throughout life. Another unexpected benefit of glycine is that it may help to reduce anxiety and stress; research shows glycine is an inhibitory or ‘calming’ neurotransmitter, protecting the brain from overstimulation and potentially improving the brain’s ability to relax and experience deep sleep. [5]
• Hydroxyproline: Enhances muscle quality and growth, collagen synthesis and the stability of tissues, hydroxyproline is a special type of amino acid made from proline and lysine. [6] Hydroxyproline plays an important role in stabilising collagen, strengthening the molecules and effectively helping the body’s tissues stay strong and supported.

 

Why Vitamin C Is Needed With Collagen Peptides

Whilst collagen peptides are highly beneficial for skin, hair, nails, bones, joints, connective tissue, muscles and gut health, it’s important that collagen peptides are paired with vitamin C. This is because vitamin C plays a critical role in the formation of collagen itself. Collagen and vitamin C work together to maintain and improve healthy bodily tissues, and is essential for healing tissue too, which is why any high quality collagen peptides powder must include vitamin C in order to be truly beneficial. [7]

 

You’ll find vitamin C in the Love Life Supplements Collagen Peptides + Vitamin C Here. 

 

What Is The Benefit of Taking Collagen Peptides?

As you now know, collagen peptides are easier to digest, absorb and utilise than standard collagen powders. The addition of vitamin C is essential for collagen peptides supplements, and anyone looking to improve the health of their skin, hair, nails, joints, muscles, connective tissue and gut can benefit. Let’s look at some of the key benefits of collagen peptides:

• Collagen peptides for skin health: Collagen peptides make collagen and elastin; collagen is important for the strength of skin, whilst elastin allows skin to maintain its elasticity, preventing age-related sagging and wrinkling. [8] Collagen peptides also help to strengthen the skin’s barrier, which is important for preventing allergies, and is crucial for immune defence. [9]
  
  
• Muscle growth: Research suggests supplementing with collagen peptides can promote the synthesis of muscle proteins such as creatine (essential for mitochondrial function, exercise performance and recovery), as well as stimulating new muscle growth after exercise. [10] Collagen peptides can also help improve body composition and muscle mass as we age, helping prevent sarcopenia and injuries from falls.
  
  
• Blood sugar balancing: Increasing protein can be helpful for those experiencing blood sugar swings, or looking to prevent type 2 diabetes. Protein can help improve feelings of fullness after a meal, thus preventing over-eating, and it also helps stabilise blood sugar. Adding collagen peptides to a smoothie that contains fruit for example, can prevent a blood sugar spike, and keep you full for far longer. Especially for those dealing with insulin resistance, it’s useful to know that the compound glycine in collagen peptides works to directly block insulin resistance and improve insulin sensitivity. [11]
  
  
• Collagen peptides for heart health: As we mentioned above, collagen peptides have been found to help improve cardiac healing and remodelling after a heart attack. Further studies also show that taking collagen peptides can reduce artery stiffness and increase levels of ‘good’ HDL cholesterol in the body, preventing the risk of heart conditions to begin with. [12]
  
  
• Gut health: The amino acids present in collagen peptides help to directly repair the gut lining and support gut wall integrity, which is vital in today’s world, as millions of people suffer with a condition known as ‘leaky gut’ or ‘intestinal permeability, which can lead to skin issues, food sensitivities, allergies, bloating and other symptoms. Supplementing with collagen peptides can also help improve the gut microbiome, positively influencing the levels of good gut bacteria and promoting more balanced gut health. [13]
  
  
• Collagen peptides for joint health and arthritis: We’ve already mentioned that collagen peptides help to strengthen and heal connective tissue, but there are also benefits when it comes to arthritis. Collagen is anti-inflammatory, so scientists reason that it may be effective in reducing the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, whilst collagen peptides may be able to reach and penetrate joint tissues to regenerate and protect them, reducing pain and stiffness and even helping accelerate healing after a joint injury. [14]
  
  
• Healthy hair: Collagen peptides can provide moisture to the skin and scalp, strengthen hair follicles and improve the quality of the hair bulb, whilst also providing the body with the amino acids needed to support healthy hair growth. One study showed that after supplementing with collagen peptides for 16 weeks, there was a significant increase in hair thickness.

 

How To Take Collagen Peptides

Collagen peptides have very small chains of amino acids, which means they’re broken down and absorbed easily by the body. For this reason, you can mix collagen peptides easily into many foods and drinks you already consume as part of your routine. Collagen peptides can be taken on a daily basis too, helping maintain and improve the body’s tissue health. 

Coffee or tea: Try mixing collagen peptides into your morning cup of coffee or tea to make it a regular part of your routine. Adding a healthy fat such as MCT oil or butter can further boost the health-promoting benefits of your morning beverage by enhancing metabolism, fat burning and aiding digestion.

Smoothies: The Love Life Supplements collagen peptides + vitamin C are unflavoured, making them the perfect secret addition to your smoothie. By adding the protein-rich peptides, you’ll also be boosting the protein content of your smoothie, and helping to balance blood sugar.

Porridge: If a warming bowl of porridge is your go-to breakfast, adding collagen peptides can not only help prevent a blood sugar spike that can come with the carbohydrates in porridge, but can also help you fell full for longer. Collagen peptides can be mixed in easily and you’ll never notice they’re there.

Soups and stews: Adding a scoop of collagen peptides to soups and stews is a great way to boost the protein content of your meal, helping feed your muscles and joints, and giving you all the benefits of collagen peptides alongside your regular meal.

If you prefer to take collagen peptides alone, you can of course simply mix them with a glass of water too!

BODYBALANCE collagen peptides: why these collagen peptides are superior to other powders

The Love Life Supplements Collagen Peptides + vitamin C also comes with BODYBALANCE, which gives this blend a higher percentage of proline and glycine than other dietary proteins, helping form new collagen, regenerate cartilage, form connective tissue, repair joints and heal the gut lining, as well as protecting cells from oxidative damage on a greater level than other collagen powders. Backed by several placebo-controlled double-blind studies, BODYBALANCE also modulates the body’s AMPK and MTOR pathways, decreasing fat mass, increasing lean body mass, and preceding more muscle strength in combination with resistance training.

 

 References

• [1] Abrahams M, O'Grady R, Prawitt J. Effect of a Daily Collagen Peptide Supplement on Digestive Symptoms in Healthy Women: 2-Phase Mixed Methods Study. JMIR Form Res. 2022 May 31;6(5):e36339. doi: 10.2196/36339. PMID: 35639457; PMCID: PMC9198822.
• [2] Khatri M, Naughton RJ, Clifford T, Harper LD, Corr L. The effects of collagen peptide supplementation on body composition, collagen synthesis, and recovery from joint injury and exercise: a systematic review. Amino Acids. 2021 Oct;53(10):1493-1506. doi: 10.1007/s00726-021-03072-x. Epub 2021 Sep 7. PMID: 34491424; PMCID: PMC8521576.
• [3] Wang J, Xue Z, Lin J, Wang Y, Ying H, Lv Q, Hua C, Wang M, Chen S, Zhou B. Proline improves cardiac remodeling following myocardial infarction and attenuates cardiomyocyte apoptosis via redox regulation. Biochem Pharmacol. 2020 Aug;178:114065. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2020.114065. Epub 2020 May 31. PMID: 32492448.
• [4] Koopman R, Caldow MK, Ham DJ, Lynch GS. Glycine metabolism in skeletal muscle: implications for metabolic homeostasis. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2017 Jul;20(4):237-242. doi: 10.1097/MCO.0000000000000383. PMID: 28375879.
• [5] Bannai M, Kawai N, Ono K, Nakahara K, Murakami N. The effects of glycine on subjective daytime performance in partially sleep-restricted healthy volunteers. Front Neurol. 2012 Apr 18;3:61. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2012.00061. PMID: 22529837; PMCID: PMC3328957.
• [6] Cao S, Xiao Y, Huang R, Zhao D, Xu W, Li S, Tang J, Qu F, Jin J, Xie S, Liu Z. Dietary Supplementation With Hydroxyproline Enhances Growth Performance, Collagen Synthesis and Muscle Quality ofCarassius auratus  Front Physiol. 2022 Jun 1;13:913800. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.913800. PMID: 35721560; PMCID: PMC9198714.
• [7] Pullar JM, Carr AC, Vissers MCM. The Roles of Vitamin C in Skin Health. Nutrients. 2017 Aug 12;9(8):866. doi: 10.3390/nu9080866. PMID: 28805671; PMCID: PMC5579659.
• [8] Mehta-Ambalal SR. Neocollagenesis and Neoelastinogenesis: From the Laboratory to the Clinic. J Cutan Aesthet Surg. 2016 Jul-Sep;9(3):145-151. doi: 10.4103/0974-2077.191645. PMID: 27761083; PMCID: PMC5064677.
• [9] Handfield C, Kwock J, MacLeod AS. Innate Antiviral Immunity in the Skin. Trends Immunol. 2018 Apr;39(4):328-340. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2018.02.003. Epub 2018 Mar 8. PMID: 29526487; PMCID: PMC5993211.
• [10] Zdzieblik D, Oesser S, Baumstark MW, Gollhofer A, König D. Collagen peptide supplementation in combination with resistance training improves body composition and increases muscle strength in elderly sarcopenic men: a randomised controlled trial. Br J Nutr. 2015 Oct 28;114(8):1237-45. doi: 10.1017/S0007114515002810. Epub 2015 Sep 10. PMID: 26353786; PMCID: PMC4594048.
• [11] El-Hafidi M, Franco M, Ramírez AR, Sosa JS, Flores JAP, Acosta OL, Salgado MC, Cardoso-Saldaña G. Glycine Increases Insulin Sensitivity and Glutathione Biosynthesis and Protects against Oxidative Stress in a Model of Sucrose-Induced Insulin Resistance. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2018 Feb 21;2018:2101562. doi: 10.1155/2018/2101562. PMID: 29675131; PMCID: PMC5841105.
• [12] Tomosugi N, Yamamoto S, Takeuchi M, Yonekura H, Ishigaki Y, Numata N, Katsuda S, Sakai Y. Effect of Collagen Tripeptide on Atherosclerosis in Healthy Humans. J Atheroscler Thromb. 2017 May 1;24(5):530-538. doi: 10.5551/jat.36293. Epub 2016 Oct 6. PMID: 27725401; PMCID: PMC5429168.
• [13] Fengfeng Mei, Zhouwei Duan, Muxue Chen, Jinfeng Lu, Meihui Zhao, Laihao Li, Xuanri Shen, Guanghua Xia, Shengjun Chen, Effect of a high-collagen peptide diet on the gut microbiota and short-chain fatty acid metabolism, Journal of Functional Foods, Volume 75, 2020, 104278, ISSN 1756-4646, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jff.2020.104278.(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1756464620305028)
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• [15] Denise Zdzieblik, Steffen Oesser, Albert Gollhofer, and Daniel König. 2017. Improvement of activity-related knee joint discomfort following supplementation of specific collagen peptides. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism. 42(6): 588-595. https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2016-0390
• [16] (2021).The oral intake of specific Bioactive Collagen Peptides has a positive effect on hair thickness. [Online]. NutraFoods.eu. Last Updated: 14-04-2021. Available at: https://www.nutrafoods.eu/index.php/nutra/article/view/9 [Accessed 24 July 2023]