06 Jul Collagen {Happy Gut, Healthy Hair + skin)
You’ve probably seen collagen recommendations in the health world nowadays. What is collagen? What can it do for you? Is this something you should have in your diet? We love collagen (I’ll come with my recommendation later in the blog) + it’s SO easy to use throughout your day. It’s tasteless! Yes, tasteless!
So, that means no excuse of not liking the taste. So, where is it found? Collagen is found in the cartilages, hides, and bones of animals. You can get collagen from fish, cows, chicken, etc. It’s full of many amino acids that our body needs and uses on a daily basis.
- Alanine
- Arginine
- Glutamic Acid
- Aspartic Acid
- Glycine
- Isoleucine
- Leucin
- Lysine
- Proline
- Methionine
- Tyrosine
- Serine
- Valine
- And more……
So, what does all those science-y sounding amino acids do for our body? All those can maintain everything from the mucous lining in the gut to the elasticity of our skin! That study showed that women who took a supplement of collagen showed skin elasticity drastically improved after consuming it for eight weeks!
Alanine is important in growing our muscles, as well as metabolizing glucose. Arginine can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by improving circulation, since it’s involved with nitric oxide and it can also inhibit too much stomach acid occurring.
The three branched-chain amino acids – Leucine, Isoleucine, + Valine promote synthesis in muscles + regulate protein metabolism. Phelylalanine is part of the making of many neurotransmitters and brain neuropeptides (neurons use these to communicate with each other + communication is key!). This amino acid also is the precursor to another amino acid -> tyrosine, which then converts into important neurotransmitters of dopamine, norepinephrine, + epinephrine. It’s a precursor for thyroxine (thyroid hormone) and melanin (makes the tanning of the skin), as well.
Lysine is an amino acid that is very important for growth + development (especially in kids!). Lysine coverts to acetyl-CoA, which is important in the carb metabolism. It also help enhance bringing calcium into bones.
Amino acids, such as arginine, glutamine, and many others, are important to our immune system working properly + maintaining the integrity of the mucousal lining .
The biochemical functions of these amino acids becomes a very long list. I’ve only hit on some of the important functions and I only covered a couple of the amino acids listed above.
You get the idea though. We need the collagen!
Unfortunately, our standard American diet is pretty low in collagen. We don’t make broth out of bones anymore (well, if you’ve been following me you better! ? ), we don’t eat the nitty gritty parts of animals anymore like our ancestors used to, and we don’t eat the skin on animals as much.
But, on the plus side, there are easy ways to intake collagen nowadays! Yipppeee!!
I’m a quality addict! So, when I was looking for the best collagen out on the market – I did my research and found the perfect company! VITAL PROTEINS! We LOVE them! Vital proteins make their collagen out of hinds of grass-fed pastured-raised cows. Aka happy cows.
This truly is unflavored, so I’ve added it to my morning coffee before. I add it to smoothies. I add it to my oatmeal. Hot or cold. You can add it + it mixes flawlessly that you wouldn’t even know. I mean, how can you argue with that? You just can’t…..so, go get yourself a jug, so your skin can be youthful looking, your gut is rocking, your immune system is working, and your health is improving.
