Can Males Take Collagen? 6 Advantages You Ought to Know

Collagen dietary supplements are sometimes considered a girls’s beauty product. However males can take collagen too, as it could help your pores and skin, muscle mass, coronary heart, and extra.

Collagen is a protein that gives construction to your physique, particularly supporting your pores and skin, bones, and tendons. Your physique naturally produces collagen, however sure elements, corresponding to growing old, solar publicity, and smoking, lower collagen manufacturing over time.

Ladies want extra collagen for bone well being; postmenopausal girls have a better threat of osteoporosis, a persistent situation that weakens bones.

However males can profit from collagen, too. Actually, everybody wants collagen—it is essentially the most plentiful protein in your physique, and it is important in your well being.

As you age, your physique naturally produces much less collagen, resulting in signs like joint stiffness, weaker bones, and fewer agency pores and skin. Consequently, males could take collagen dietary supplements to help joint well being, preserve muscle restoration, and preserve your pores and skin and hair trying wholesome.

Collagen is important for a number of essential features of your physique. Taking a collagen complement could help these processes, particularly as your physique loses collagen as you age.

Pores and skin

Collagen helps preserve the construction and well being of your pores and skin. Taking a complement could:

Help pores and skin elasticity, energy, and smoothness
Assist your physique shed previous pores and skin cells and create new ones
Enhance indicators of pores and skin growing old, corresponding to wrinkles and dryness

Joints

Collagen helps your physique regenerate connective tissue, which incorporates your tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. Cartilage covers the ends of your bones on the joint and retains your bones from rubbing in opposition to one another as you progress. Cartilage is a very powerful tissue for joint well being.

Taking a collagen complement can help your cartilage well being, which in flip helps:

Handle persistent joint ache
Enhance vary of movement
Pace up restoration from accidents
Scale back irritation in joints

Muscle groups

Collagen helps your muscle mass develop and restore themselves after train or damage. Taking a collagen complement could assist:

Construct muscle mass
Scale back soreness after train
Handle sarcopenia, muscle loss from growing old
Enhance train efficiency

Bones

Your bones are made up of about 30% collagen. Along with serving to you preserve the collagen in your bones, collagen dietary supplements might also assist improve your bone density, which makes your bones stronger and fewer breakable.

Coronary heart

Your coronary heart depends on collagen to help the construction of blood vessels and the center muscle itself. Collagen dietary supplements could increase your coronary heart well being, primarily by decreasing your LDL ldl cholesterol and blood strain. This lowers your threat of coronary heart illness, stroke, and different coronary heart issues.

Sleep

Collagen comprises glycine, an amino acid that promotes sleep. Taking a collagen complement earlier than mattress could show you how to sleep by way of the evening.

Collagen dietary supplements sometimes are available an oral kind as a tablet you swallow or a powder you add to drinks. Collagen might also be added to topical pores and skin merchandise.

The primary varieties of collagen dietary supplements are:

Hydrolyzed collagen (peptide collagen): This sort has been handled with acids and compounds that break it down into smaller elements, or peptides. This makes it simpler in your physique to soak up. It’s the most typical type of collagen you’ll discover in powders, capsules, and drinks.
Undenatured collagen: That is collagen that hasn’t been damaged down or heated, which makes it more durable in your physique to soak up. Many joint well being dietary supplements use undenatured collagen.
Soluble collagen: This sort has been handled with solubilizing brokers—acids that break down the collagen. It’s much less widespread than hydrolyzed collagen however can be designed for higher absorption. Widespread sorts are labeled “acid soluble” or “pepsin solubilized collagen (PSC).”
Topical collagen: Most topical collagen merchandise, like gels and lotions, use hydrolyzed collagen as a result of it’s protected in your pores and skin. Whereas it received’t increase collagen beneath your pores and skin (the molecules are too giant to penetrate that far), it could assist hydrate and clean your pores and skin’s floor.

Collagen is mostly thought of protected and causes few, if any, negative effects. Nonetheless, because it’s a dietary complement—not a drug—it is not regulated by the Meals and Drug Administration (FDA). This implies producers don’t must show that their merchandise work or are protected, and there aren’t any guidelines concerning the measurement of doses.

All collagen dietary supplements are derived from animal sources. The most typical is hen, however some dietary supplements are taken from cows, pigs, and fish. For those who observe a vegan or vegetarian food regimen, remember that there are presently no actually plant-based sources of collagen. Nonetheless, some “vegan collagen” merchandise declare to help your physique’s collagen manufacturing with plant-derived elements.

Speak to your healthcare supplier earlier than beginning a collagen complement. They can assist you establish whether or not you want one and guarantee it received’t work together together with your medical situations or medicines.

One other technique to increase your collagen consumption is thru your food regimen. Collagen is very wealthy in animal merchandise, like meat, poultry, and fish. Some examples of collagen-rich meals embody:

BeefPorkLambBone brothChickenFishEggs

Sure meals additionally assist your physique soak up collagen. Attempt consuming collagen-rich meals with meals excessive in vitamin C, corresponding to citrus fruits, peppers, broccoli, and berries.

Collagen is a protein that helps give your physique construction. It is important for the well being of your pores and skin, joints, muscle mass, bones, and extra. Collagen manufacturing slows as you age, and dietary supplements can assist make up for the loss. Collagen dietary supplements are sometimes marketed to girls, however males can profit from them, too. Seek the advice of a healthcare supplier earlier than including a brand new complement to your routine.