Collagen is your body’s most prevalent and powerful protein and today we’re discussing some of the common (and easy) ways to find collagen.
If you missed last week’s post about collagen and why it’s so amazing – check it out here.
Your body makes its own collagen, but once you reach your mid-20s, your body starts to slowly decrease collagen production.
This coupled with oxidative stress caused by free radicals, paves the way to wrinkles and joint aches (among other age-related changes).
All that to say, people turn to diet and supplements to increase collagen levels.
Where do we get collagen?
Steph circa 2015
Collagen fibers are found in the foods we eat – specifically meat. Last I checked, plants and trees don’t have connective tissue, ligaments, or bones. [I literally Googled “do plants have bones and tissue” to be sure.]
This means plants don’t need collagen, so they don’t waste their precious photosynthetic time making it. So while your green leafy veggies and fruits are chock-full of antioxidants and other great benefits, they aren’t known for their collagen.
However, animals have connective tissue, ligaments, and bones. And this is where you will find collagen.
For example, when you cut into meat like a steak or brisket, you probably cut against the grain.
That grain is collagen. Big bundles of collagen fibers to be exact. And by cutting against these fibers AKA cutting through them, you break apart that connective tissue and make your steak more tender and yummy.
Collagen fibers are further broken down as they’re heated and this is why it’s much easier to chew a cooked steak versus a raw one.
That being said, the cuts of meat highest in collagen tend to be the tougher, chewier ones. Like they walk into the fridge and other meats are like “dang, where’d you get that sinewy connective tissue bro?”
But don’t stop at traditional cuts of meat to find collagen. Things like bone marrow, ligaments, and tendon from beef, you know, the gristly bits. (This includes fish bones and scales too.)
Unless you love Asian foods like pho and beef tendon noodle soup, or you’re someone who orders fish with the eyes still attached (and eat them) you don’t casually come across these cuts of meat in the U.S.
These collagen-rich products are often tougher to cook and chew, and this is why gristly meats and dishes have made their way out of typical American cuisine.
If you don’t want to chew your collagen, drink it.
Fresh batch of bone broth made in my dearly beloved Dutch Oven
My favorite way to get all the collagen benefits of meat without losing a molar chewing up cartilage is drinking and cooking with bone broth. You can buy bone broth nearly anywhere, with chicken and beef being the most prevalent forms.
You can also make your own bone broth at home.
If you’ve never heard of bone broth you might think it sounds less than appealing, but I promise it doesn’t taste like eating bones!
Bone broth is very similar to chicken or beef stock with extra protein and tons more flavor.
You can substitute bone broth for anything you would use stock or broth for – soups and stews, as a base for sauces, or you can simply sip hot bone broth from a mug (perfect for cold winter nights). I like using bone broth instead of water when making rice and ramen too.
All you need to make bone broth is the carcass of whatever meat you want – chicken bones, beef bones, turkey bones, etc. – and water. You can add other things to boost flavor like onions, garlic, celery, carrots (whatever is lonely in the back of your fridge). But you really just need water, meat, and heat.
Wait, no vinegar???
If you’re a seasoned bone broth maker, you may be shouting at your screen that I forgot to mention vinegar. But before you bring out the pitchfork – hear me out.
I use vinegar too. I pour a teaspoon or so of white vinegar or ACV in my bone broth. However – when I started researching why I put the vinegar in there for this post, I found a whole world of culinary drama (see what I go through for you?)
The common thinking is the acidity in vinegar helps break down collagen and minerals from the bone and draws them into the broth. But several people with way too much time did studies in a lab and found unless you put a TON of vinegar in your broth, the protein and nutrient content of the broth is about the same when you only use water.
Will I still drop some ACV in my bone broth after having my reality shattered by this news?
Probably.
It doesn’t do any harm to add the vinegar in there. All I’m saying is you don’t have to use it. You can save your vinegar for some yummy coleslaw or something.
Ok, enough bone broth drama. If you want an easy bone broth recipe, I’ve included it at the bottom of this post. You can use this recipe with a Dutch oven, crockpot, or instant pot.
In addition to your diet, there are collagen supplements out there too.
And depending on who you ask, it’s impossible to eat enough collagen in your diet or in bone broth to see any measurable increase in collagen (spoiler – collagen supplement companies say this if you ask them).
Benefits of collagen supplements.
Steph, circa 2012
If you Google “collagen supplements” you will find list after list, ad after ad, about the Best Collagen Supplements. My goal isn’t to tell you what brand to buy, but to inform you on what to look for when buying a supplement.
Collagen supplements can be especially helpful if you don’t feel like making bone broth and don’t usually have a ton of bones or fish scales on hand (and don’t want to start).
But first, do collagen supplements work?
Yes, numerous studies have shown the benefits of collagen supplements when it comes to joint health and skin health. Collagen supplements can help improve mobility and reduce joint pain when taken orally. A few studies even proved when you take an oral collagen supplement, your body stores this collagen in the cartilage of your joints and ligaments – putting it exactly where it needs to be.
Collagen supplements have also been shown to increase hydration, decrease fine lines and wrinkles, and increase the overall number of collagen fibers found in the skin. Collagen supplements can help address nearly all signs of skin aging by restoring plump cheekbones, decreasing wrinkles, and maintaining hydration status.
Hydrolyzed and grass-fed.
The best results happen when you use hydrolyzed collagen. If you’re like me and forgot everything you learned in chemistry – hydrolyzed simply means, the collagen fibers have been broken down into smaller parts.
Those tightly wound chains create fairly large molecules, and by breaking them down into smaller proteins (called peptides), your body can absorb them more easily and put them straight to work.
This is especially important when it comes to using creams and lotions with collagen in them – some experts say collagen molecules are too big to be absorbed through the skin, making hydrolyzed products the only way to go.
It won’t be hard to find out if a supplement uses hydrolyzed collagen as it is such a big marketing angle – it’s typically written in big bold letters somewhere on the product.
The source of the collagen is something else to look for. Beef and fish (tuna, specifically rather than the halibut I’m proudly displaying above) tend to be the most popular sources for supplement companies to use, but other sources are out there.
If you’re big on eating grain-free and only buy grass-fed cuts of meat, you probably want to find a supplement that only uses grass-fed sources.
This also means any natural sources of collagen supplement are not vegan.
How much collagen supplement should I take?
The majority of studies done with collagen – especially regarding skin benefits – have been small studies with the vast majority being done with mice and pigs. There have been trials with humans, but the sample sizes are in the 5-30 individuals range.
Does this mean you shouldn’t trust the results? Not necessarily, but it’s good to keep in mind the data being used when you’re shopping around. It’s also important when it comes to how much collagen you should take if you buy a supplement.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t think the skincare regimen of a mouse will be the same for a human adult (and the conversion is a guess at best.)
But supplement companies swear by their dosing! This can be anywhere from 10-50 grams per day. I don’t know what the best dose is (sorry, I don’t have all the answers), but you can’t go wrong when you start low and slow when it comes to starting any new supplement.
And like most things, they take time to work. Your body has to digest and break down the collagen. Then it has to distribute the collagen throughout your body where you’re deficient. If you have an extremely low level to start with, it can take a while for these stores to build up.
Most supplement companies measure success in months, not days or weeks, so it can take a few months before you start noticing any measurable benefits.
Do you need a collagen supplement?
Taking collagen supplements, in the form of diet or supplement products, is all about personal preference. Collagen plays a vital role as your most prolific protein, but it can’t fix everything.
Exposure to stress and damage in the forms of UV light, pollution, emotional stress, along with genetics and lifestyle habits, all contribute to how we age in looks and function.
What we do know is age and oxidative stress reduce collagen and this collagen loss can become more apparent when it comes to joint and skin health.
If you protect your skin from the sun, eat a diet full of antioxidant-rich fruits and veggies (taste the rainbow!), protein, and drink plenty of water – you’re already helping reduce how quickly your collagen supply is decreased.
Final note: Collagen supplements are considered to be relatively well-tolerated and safe, but like all supplements in the U.S, they’re not regulated by the FDA. This means no one is fact-checking the claims made by various collagen supplement companies.
If you’re curious about collagen supplements, talking to your medical provider can help you find some places to start.
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