An Essential Protein For Our Body: Collagen

We have heard the term "collagen" a lot lately...Well, what makes collagen so popular? What is collagen? And, what does it do? Collagen is a substance that is present between the cells and holds them together. The most important function of collagen in the skin and muscle cells is to strengthen the connective tissue and maintain the body integrity and to provide structural support for bone, cartilage and muscle tissues. Many of us think that collagen is only present in our skin and helps to reduce the signs of aging. Collagen improves skin brightness and elasticity as well as hold tendons, joints and organs together. The body produces its own collagen from the moment we open our eyes to this world till the day we pass. The rate of collagen production starts to decline at about age 25 and further declines at about age 35. And, the signs of collagen deficiency are mostly noticed on our skin. When our skin becomes dull and starts to sag and wrinkle by loosening its firmness, our body begins to give signals that something is wrong! Besides all these, joint pains, dental and nail problems develop.

There is No Single Type of Collagen

There are at least 16 known types of collagen, but 80-90% of the collagen in our body consists of Types 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10. Type 1 is the most abundant type of collagen in the human body and its effect is mostly felt on skin and joints. It supports the bones and holds the joints together. Type 2 makes a contribution to cartilage production and supports joint health. Type 3 forms heart blood vessels and blood tissue and increases skin firmness. Type 5 serves for the placenta, forms the surface of the developing organ to provide the baby with oxygen and nutrition during pregnancy and removes wastes. Type 10 plays an important role in the formation of bones, improves bone fractures and repairs synovial joints.

How Collagen is Taken Naturally?

There are many nutrients from which we can take collagen naturally. Of course, the most known one among them is bone broth. Important substances such as glycine, proline and arginine in bone broth are natural, effective sources of collagen for the human body. However, if you have cardiovascular disease and high cholesterol, you should be careful when consuming bone broth. You can take collagen naturally by eating egg white. If we eat the whole egg, we intake both collagen and high protein. We can take collagen naturally by eating green-leafy vegetables such as purslane, spinach, arugula and parsley. Just a little reminder: We should consume enough Vitamin C together with collagen. Thus, we can support the collagen production by eating citrus fruits. There is another important reason for garlic, which has a reputation as a cure-all, to be included in our diets: Sulfur! Garlic is rich in sulfur, which is another factor to support collagen production.

Superfood or Miracle from the Sea: Algae

It may sound weird but algae will support the collagen production in your body. Algae known as spirulina is available in powder so you can consume it by adding it to a fruit juice.