Speaking of collagen, some people say it is a beauty product. Do you like it or not? Didn't big S say that half of female stars can't live without collagen?
However, some people say that it is a big fool and has no cosmetic effect. Fang bombarded collagen six years ago, which triggered a discussion between science and pseudoscience.
However, many people really feel the effect because collagen skin has improved a lot. How do you explain this?
So, what is collagen? Is collagen useful or not? What is the efficacy and function of collagen? How to supplement collagen is the best? This article clearly tells you whether collagen is true or false, right or wrong.
PS: This is an objective popular science article about collagen. The purpose is to tell the truth about collagen and help everyone to consume rationally. If you drink ridiculously expensive collagen, you need to read this article. If you plan to buy collagen products, it is not too late to make a decision after reading this article.
1. What is collagen?
Collagen is a very important protein in mammals, and it is the main component of ligaments and muscle bonds. Collagen has great elasticity and toughness, which supports and protects the body.
If the human body is a building, bones are like cement, and collagen is equivalent to steel, which is a well-deserved life support. There are about 3 kilograms of collagen in adults, 70% of which are collagen in skin, hair, nails, bones, cornea and connective tissue. When a person is seriously deficient in collagen, body tissues will collapse.
Collagen in skin plays a role in maintaining skin elasticity, preventing water loss, reducing wrinkles and pigmentation. Collagen is a kind of protein that can be synthesized by human body. Under normal circumstances, as long as a balanced diet, adequate protein and adequate vitamin intake are ensured, human collagen can be self-sufficient.
However, modern people's diet and living environment are polluted, life is irregular, work pressure is high, and a large number of free radicals are produced. After most people are over 25 years old, collagen decomposition is accelerated and synthesis is relatively slow.
Skin wrinkles, relaxation, long yellow spots on the face, backache, hair loss, etc. These are all related to insufficient collagen. Therefore, we should pay attention to maintenance after the age of 25 to slow down the aging process.
2. Can collagen products be added to the skin?
This is the issue that everyone is most concerned about. This problem includes two aspects, one is whether eating collagen products can produce collagen in the body, and the other is whether the generated collagen can be supplemented to the skin.
According to nutritionists, collagen is decomposed by digestive enzymes, converted into amino acids, absorbed by the human body, recombined, and then mixed evenly, so it cannot be completely supplemented to the skin.
In addition, collagen is an incomplete protein, and its nutritional value is not as good as that of eggs, milk and beef.
This is the theoretical basis of Fang's theory of collagen uselessness.
This statement is correct, but it cannot be inferred that eating collagen products is meaningless for synthesizing collagen eggs and improving skin.
Collagen contains two special amino acids: hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine. These two special funds can only be used for collagen construction, not for other parts of the human body.
It can be considered that the products added with collagen can be converted into collagen. However, whether this collagen is used on the skin or in other parts of the body depends on the body's own preparation.
We must remember that collagen is widely distributed throughout the body. After collagen supplementation, it will be used wherever the body needs collagen. We can't just stare at the skin.
For example, people with postpartum visceral ptosis will add a lot of collagen to the connective tissue of the viscera to repair the damaged body tissue and relieve the pain.
Osteoporosis is a common disease of the elderly, with more calcium loss. At this time, collagen is supplemented and absorbed relatively more in bones. The performance in improving skin is not obvious.
After all, the palm of your hand is full of meat. Where the human body is deployed means which one is needed more. We just have to listen to our bodies. Only when the place where the body needs it most meets the needs will the body be evenly distributed and no longer eccentric.
Can collagen products supplement the skin? Everyone understands this problem here. Different people behave differently, but it will be useful sooner or later.
3. Do you still need collagen if you don't eat foods containing collagen?
Of course not. Foods rich in collagen come from animals, while plants do not contain collagen. If this view holds, then vegetarians are seriously short of collagen.
As soon as I see those delicious pig's feet and slippery fish skin on the dining table, women who love beauty will eat more, saying that this supplements collagen.
Although the collagen supplemented in this way has a large molecular weight and is not easy to absorb, the body can still get some hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine, which has a certain effect on helping the body synthesize collagen.
People who don't usually like pig's trotters, pigskin and fish skin don't have to worry. With the help of vitamin C, the body will convert other amino acids into hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine.
As long as eggs, fish, beef and other high-quality protein are in sufficient supply, you should eat some fruits rich in vitamin C and leave the rest to the agent.
Generally speaking, when a woman is over 30 years old, the loss of collagen accelerates and her body's synthetic ability decreases. It is not completely meaningless to reduce the burden of body synthesis by supplementing collagen products.
If the price is reasonable and you can bear it, it is not bad to regard it as a maintenance method.
For girls before the age of 25, there is no need to use collagen supplements when protein and vitamin C are in sufficient supply.
In addition, collagen is all from animals, and there is no plant collagen. Tremella, soap rice and peach gum look sticky, but they don't supplement collagen.
Because they can relax the bowels, absorb nutrients, look better, and the skin may get better.
4. Are collagen peptides and hydrolyzed collagen better than ordinary collagen?
Supplementing collagen with food, or supplementing products with ordinary collagen, low absorption rate is a serious injury. Because of its large molecular weight, it is more troublesome for the human body to handle.
Here is a little suggestion for girls who want to eat pig's trotters and chicken's feet to supplement collagen, that is, simmer slowly to produce gelatin, which is often called skin jelly. This gelatin is easily soluble in water, and its absorption rate is several blocks higher than that of direct chewing.
If it is too troublesome, or if you want to further improve the absorption rate, it is recommended to use some collagen peptide products.
This kind of product cuts collagen from macromolecules into small peptide chains, which are easily soluble in water and absorbed.
In order to ensure better absorption effect, collagen peptide or hydrolyzed collagen is better than ordinary collagen. Please keep this in mind when choosing collagen products.
5. How to choose collagen?
Choose collagen, focusing on these aspects: molecular weight, raw materials, components, content of main components.
You can look at the packaging. Collagen peptide with molecular weight of 1000-3000D can be absorbed by human body, so we can consider starting with it.
The lower the molecular weight, the better. If it is too low, the structure will be destroyed, which is not necessarily a good thing. The human body has its own protease to digest peptides. Whether you use it or not, it is there. It's not worth paying a high price for a small peptide.
Imported raw materials are preferred. Fish collagen is the most easily absorbed by human body, and fish collagen is the best.
The ingredients should also be carefully looked at to see if there is too much chemical addition. If there are ingredients such as vitamin C in the ingredients, it will be given priority, because it will give extra points for absorption.
The content of main components is something that many people ignore, so we should pay special attention to it. The key is how cost-effective a product is.
For example, a brand of 30 ml collagen oral liquid contains 3 grams of collagen, a bottle of 18 yuan, and another brand of 50 ml contains only 2 grams of collagen, but it is sold in 30 yuan.
The effective content is less than others, but the price is much more expensive than others. If you don't calculate carefully, you will suffer.
6, other matters to hand over to treat.
If you want to have good skin, it is important to supplement collagen, but it is not all. It is also important to improve the level of qi and blood, prevent sun (ultraviolet rays are invisible light, so it is necessary to prevent sun on cloudy days), resist oxidation and slow down the damage of free radicals to the skin.
A balanced diet, emotional stability, and not staying up late to drink are all in the maintenance of the skin.
Saccharification also has a great influence on skin aging. Usually, we should consciously control sugar, do not drink sugary drinks and eat less carbohydrates such as rice and noodles.
Earlier, we talked about what collagen is, the efficacy and function of collagen, how to supplement collagen and how to choose collagen products. We have said so much, mainly in the hope that everyone can have an objective understanding of collagen.
Collagen certainly has a role to play. Everyone should choose the appropriate method to supplement collagen according to their own situation to avoid wasting money.