Collagen is the natural structural protein of the human body. Proteins are made up of amino acids which do all kinds of wonderful things. Without them, we would not be able to regenerate any cell. The importance of collagen cannot possibly be underlined hard enough. The break down of collagen in the human body is the beginning of the aging process that signals the degenerative process instead of the regenerative process.
Think of it this way… Take a house for example. The structure of the house is the foundation and the framing. Without that foundation and framing we wouldn’t have windows or doors, we wouldn’t have plumbing or wiring or a roof, let alone walls that go around the bathroom and the bedrooms. In our bodies, this structural protein, collagen, is absolutely critical.
How the Body Rebuilds and Repairs Itself
The word Collagen comes from the Greek word, “kolla” meaning “glue”. Collagen is what holds us all together. Without it we wouldn’t have blood vessel walls, skin, bones etc. If you were to break your pinky finger, the body goes ahead and lays down the collagen framework over that break so that the body can then redeposit all the necessary minerals to repair that break! Collagen fibres are woven together like pieces of fabric to form a network in which new cells grow and reproduce. Any time the body need to build new cells, such as in the healing or growing process, collagen plays the central role. Collagen is the substance that protects and supports the softer tissue of the body, and it is what connects them to our skeleton. In other words, collagen is both the material and the glue that holds our body together. Collagen forms the base of our teeth, it is the material that makes our ligaments and tendons and skin, it strengthens the arterial walls and blood vessel walls of the body which are critical for blood flow, red blood cell formation, and the list goes on!
It’s been seen now from years and years of research in this area, going back to the 1970’s, that supplementing a high quality collagen we can have an enormous effect on the symptoms and signs of aging.
Proteins are more plentiful in the body than anything other than water. One of the most important things about these collagen proteins is the maintenance of our health and the maintenance of our vitality and it’s of primary importance as we grow and develop. Our body is manufacturing collagen right from the very beginning of our lives and is designed to regenerate collagen. Besides its many structural properties, collagen serves as the major catalyst for growth and repair of nearly all of the body’s tissues. Many different aging diseases are related to the body’s lack of this vital protein and to disorders in the collagen itself.
Why is Collagen Necessary for Youth and Health?
Collagen is naturally produced by the body. It is vital to the body’s functioning because it is the tie that binds! The body’s use of collagen cannot be overstated. It makes up the body’s joints, muscles, hair, skin, tendons, and ligaments. It provides the structure to our body and forms the molecular cables that strengthen the tendons. Collagen makes up the vast resilient sheets that support our skin and internal organs. Bones and teeth are formed when the body adds mineral crystal to the body’s collagen.
Collagen and Aging
The lack of collagen and collagen production is the culprit to that very scary 5 letter “A” word!
The aging process can begin very early in our lives. Some studies suggest that women’s connective tissue and structural collagen begins to break down as early as age 25 or 26. A man’s structural collagen begins to break down as early as age 30. The things we begin to notice is the thickness and elasticity of our skin begins to diminish, the wrinkles begin to form, the hair changes in color, thickness and texture, joints tend to get creaky and achy, we begin to have diminished flexibility in our body and even our vision and our cognitive function can be influenced by the breakdown of our connective tissues.
Age is not necessarily representative to the number of years we’ve been on this planet. In this day’s high stress society it’s actually possible for us to age more rapidly than our years spent can show. Even some of the things we do that are good for us can also have aging and degenerative effects. Sometimes we forget that one of the biggest free radical creators is exercise! So if we know that women by age 26 and men by age 30 are not producing collagen like they did in their youth, we can now understand why being physical becomes harder in our 30’s and 40’s. We begin to see as we get older that we’re not replacing that valuable collagen, and that’s when things begin to break down.
A high quality enzyme hydrolyzed collagen protein may be the answer! By introducing this to your body you will begin to replace that valuable lost collagen and you will notice a difference in the way you move, sleep, feel and look.
Collagen and Skin
At about twenty five years of age, the body’s collagen production decreases at the skin level. This process accelerates between the ages of forty and fifty. When the production of collagen is slowing down, the skin retains less water, gets thinner and begins to wrinkle.
The lack of collagen in the skin appears by thinning down. Little by little, capillary tissues of the skin become thicker, which reduces the capacity of the skin to retain nutrients and water. The skin then presents a bigger risk of developing wrinkles, stretch marks and infections. Its color and pigmentation change, and we can see brown spots appear. Because the skin is less healthy, its capacity to serve as barrier from bacteria and viruses is reduced. A supplement of collagen can largely help to regenerate skin tissues and so contributes to slow down the process of aging, particularly if it is ingested, since the effect will occur in the whole body.
A few facts:
Collagen composes the majority of the derma.
Collagen is not found in food. It is made by the fibroblasts of the body.
Collagen is the structure, the molecule that holds our body together.
Collagen is the protein that is most present in the body.
Our body is composed primarily by the connective tissues and collagen represents 85% of all connective tissues.
Collagen is the protein that supports our skin.
Collagen is the protein that holds our skin.
Due to its constitution, collagen is the most complex protein of the connective tissues of the human body.
Collagen and Cartilage
Cartilage is a rather firm rubber material that covers the extremities of bones in normal joints. The primary function of cartilage is to reduce joint friction and, since cartilage can change shape when compressed, serve as a shock absorber for the bones.
Collagen is a primary component of cartilage since it represents 67% of it, and it also gives it its strength.
Collagen is a key component of cartilage, providing it with its strength. When the body’s collagen production is reduced, cartilage production is affected and so are all the body’s systems that contain cartilage.
Cartilage can change shape because it is composed of over 70% of water, which can be redistributed with compression or movement. Since cartilage does not contain nerves, in the beginning, you never feel pain when these changes occur. As collagen disease strikes as we age, this shock absorbing quality is reduced. That is why activities like running and jumping feel less comfortable as we get older.
Collagen and Sleep
There are several processes that happen when we are in our sleep state. When we go to sleep and fall into deep R.E.M. sleep, we dream. Dreaming is one of the ways that we de-stress from all of our every-day challenges. It’s also true that in the first couple of hours of sleep is when the highest amount of regeneration is done in the human chemistry. Sleep is extremely important not only so we can be awake and refreshed to get up and do it all over again the next day, but that powerful point about de-stressing and being able to repair and regenerate is important in everyone’s life whether you’re 1 year old or 100 years old!
There are over 85 recognized sleep disorders, according the the America Sleep Disorders Association, that affect more than 70 million people in America alone! The clinical consequences of these disorders most often go unrecognized and untreated. High blood pressure, heart attack, heart failure and stroke have all been linked to sleep deprivation. Certainly genetic individuality is going to have it’s role here, but there’s no doubt that there is a deep correlation between ample amounts of rest and good cardiovascular health.
The vast majority of collagen’s catalytic work is best conducted by the body at night during sleep. Sleep is not an interruption of activity but indeed another form of activity. It is indispensable for recovery. Research proved that a large part of the essential metabolic work in the repair of the body takes place when we sleep. Sleep is divided in several phases. Our body is recovering in phase 2 and 3 of our sleep but it works a lot more in the first phase called Alpha phase. So, it’s during the Alpha phase that our body has all its capacity to regenerate. In the Alpha phase, our system searches for available amino acids and nutrients to transform them into essential elements for our body. The sleep cycle repeats itself several times over many hours.
The ability to convert collagen into bio-digestible elements takes place while we sleep. So, in order to develop muscles, tendons, ligaments and to rebuild and repair organs and skin, the body must go through a process of protein synthesis that happens precisely in Alpha phase. One thing is for sure, sleep is really important and essential for good health!
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