7 Important Things to Know about Natural Collagen

1. What is collagen and what is it made of?

Collagen is a protein.

More accurately, collagen is the most important structural protein in the body. It is found mainly in connective tissue, acts like a flexible scaffold and gives tissues such as skin, lungs, blood vessels, cartilage, bones,  tendons and ligaments their elasticity, tear resistance and pressure resistance.

There are different types of collagen, and up to now science has found 28 types:

Type 1 collagen is most frequently found in mammals. The properties of the collagen types determine the function they fill in the cell or tissue. For example:

Collagen I is found in skin, tendons, bones, dentin, fascia and internal organs.

Collagen II is found in cartilage, the vitreous body of the eye.

Collagen III is found in the skin, uterus and blood vessels.

Collagen IV is found in renal glomeruli, eye lens, basal lamina of epithelial and endothelial cells. Collagen V is found in the basal lamina of smooth and striated muscle cells.

2. What is the difference between collagen, gelatin and hydrolyzed collagen?

When collagen is boiled the connection between the three alpha chains dissolves. They are then present individually and can gel. Gelatin is “cooked collagen”. The gel can also be obtained from acids or bases. The source of collagen – animal tissue, and the extraction process (temperature, time, pH value) determine the length of the polypeptide chains and the properties of the gelatin. Gelatin produced from shark tissue behaves differently than gelatin produced from pig tissue. Gelatin also forms after cooling a freshly boiled bone broth. If gelatin is enzymatically degraded, collagen hydrolysate is formed, which is a powder that dissolves well in hot and cold liquids. You are probably asking yourself how can collagen be returned to the body?

One of the quickest, simplest and most effective ways to consume an adequate and large amount of collagen is with dietary supplements that contain collagen.

These supplements come in the form of powder or capsules and are taken daily.

3. What promotes to the production of collagen?

Two components are required for the body to produce collagen:

Amino acids

Vitamin C that acts as a catalyst for enzymes that build collagen.

Persons familiar with maritime history know that there were times in which sailors lost their teeth and hair after several months at sea. They suffered from bleeding gums and skin problems, muscle atrophy and bone pain. These are actually the signs of scurvy, a vitamin C deficiency that leads to altered collagen.

Only the consumption of sauerkraut rich in vitamin C stopped the terrible maritime disease.

If the body lacks vitamin C, a condition is formed in which the helix structures that form the collagen are unstable and disintegrate at temperatures above 20°C. Therefore, even nowadays it is recommended to combine food rich in amino acids such as meat, fish, eggs and bone broth with food rich in vitamin C in order to enable the optimal production of collagen.

Foods rich in zinc, silicon and antioxidants, such as rose hip, sea buckthorn, pumpkin seeds or millet, have a supporting effect.

They also promote the formation of collagen and delay its breakdown.

4. What leads to collagen breakdown?

Environmental influences and various lifestyle factors attack the collagen depot in the body: above all ageing processes, stress, strong sunlight, smoking and chronic diseases.

Collagen production slows with increased age and as a result the skin loses its elasticity, bones become less stable, hair becomes thinner, vision weakens and joint problems may occur. Collagen synthesis also decreases with falling estrogen levels. As a result the skin becomes increasingly wrinkled and dry during menopause.

Chronic diseases and stress can also lead to increased collagen breakdown.

5. How can collagen loss be naturally neutralized?

If you want to renew the collagen reserves in your body you must choose foods rich in collagen, mainly animal bones, joints and skin:

Beef bone marrow, cartilage, tendons

Oxtail

Chicken feet

Salmon skin, chicken skin

Gelatin from beef or chicken skin and bones used to thicken water-rich foods

Beef, chicken, fish bone broth

Collagen is now also available as powder, in capsules, tablets or drinking ampules. Collagen for oral consumption is easily soluble in water.

6. Is there vegetarian or vegan collagen?

Collagen is only produced from animal tissue and therefore there is no vegetarian or vegan collagen.

However, there are alternatives on the market for vegetarians and vegans, or for persons suffering from an allergy to animal produced collagen:

Collagen produced from jellyfish

Since jellyfish do not have a nervous system they are considered an accepted source of collagen in natural and herbal cosmetics.

A collagen-like substance is obtained from the seed coat of white lupine (known as “collageneer”), that is intended to increase collagen production in the skin and is used in natural cosmetic products.

Plants that contain amino acids greatly contribute to collagen and vitamin C production and include:

peanuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, hemp seeds, yeast flakes rich in glycine and also in proline. Combine them with foods that are especially rich in vitamin C such as acerola powder, rose hip powder, sea buckthorn, nettle seed, baobab (powder) or guava, preferably combining them in a breakfast bowl: muesli, porridge, in a smoothie or adding them to salad.

If you are mushroom fans, they are another source of food to boost collagen production. Mushrooms such as shiitake, chaga, bearded hedgehog and others are particularly rich in antioxidants.

 

7. How is collagen production stimulated?

Regardless of how you choose to get collagen into your body, as broth, gelatin, eating chicken with the skin or using collagen powder, at the end of the process the collagen breaks down into smaller pieces

in the digestive system it is absorbed through the intestine into the blood stream and from there is distributed throughout the body and used to produce new collagen in all the connective tissue, with noticeable and visible effects,

for example smoother skin or reduced joint pain.

We strive to be the clear and preferable choice of customers who want the most advanced products that provide health and beauty solutions, as we believe that everyone deserves to feel confident in themselves and their appearance. This is why we set a goal to develop and manufacture the most advanced high quality and safe products.

Colagen Plus 7 Ingredients gives your skin a radiant and healthy look. You can see the results after eight to fourteen weeks.

All Jakov products are manufactured in Israel in accordance with production conditions authorized by the Ministry of Health. The company views the protection and preservation of the environment and animals as a paramount value,

and as such does not conduct experiments on animals.

Skip to content