Do Collagen Drinks Work: All You Need to Know

Collagen drinks have recently become the biggest tool in the beauty and wellness industry - thanks to their anti-ageing and other healthy effects on the skin. However, what’s the truth and do these collagen drinks actually work in enhancing your skin health? Let’s take a look at that in this article.

What is collagen ?

A naturally occurring protein in the human body, collagen provides a structure to your tissues and muscles. It brings elasticity to your skin and makes it look more young and supple.

Collagen supplementation: Why do we need it?

As we age, our collagen levels start going down. Our body’s natural production of collagen reduces and thereby causes wrinkles on our skin. This collagen depletion varies from person to person, however, lifestyle, dietary choices, sleep, and stress levels play a huge role in it. This is when collagen supplements take center stage. They provide your body with just what it needs to remove those wrinkles and bring back that youthful shine to your face.

How do collagen drinks work?

Collagen drinks help to lift the naturally occurring collagen levels in our body, thereby preventing the depletion even before it occurs. However, it is important to understand that collagen drinks do not directly infuse collagen peptides into your skin or dermis (the layer of skin where you find collagen ). Rather, these collagen peptides in the drink act as transmitters to your body to trigger the natural production of collagen in your body.

There are many dermatologists who say that these peptides send false signals to your body - indicating collagen depletion or destruction - thereby inducing its production and making your skin look fresher and younger. It also promotes the production of elastin and hyaluronic acid in the body - both important for skin elasticity and hydration, respectively. Overall, collagen drinks make your skin look healthier, firmer, and wrinkle free.

According to research, each collagen drink should have around 6000mg of collagen peptides in order to trigger the fibroblast activity in the dermis - to promote collagen production. Anything less than that would not give you great results.

When to take collagen drinks?

It is advised to start taking collagen drinks or supplements before you begin losing collagen from your body. Like it is popularly said, prevention is better than cure. At the same time, it is also necessary to have defined objectives when you add a supplement to your diet. This helps you set your own preferences and have a systematic plan. With the addition of collagen drinks to your diet, you also need to keep a check on your lifestyle habits for them to work efficiently and give good results.

Are collagen drinks suitable for you?

Most collagen drinks are not vegetarian. They are mainly a derivative from fish or pigs, marine collagen and bovine collagen, respectively. So, if you are a vegetarian or vegan, these collagen drinks might be something you would want to avoid. You can always check the product label for ingredients. For those following a vegan lifestyle, there are many vegan alternatives available in the market.

Important to note, collagen supplements are not recommended for pregnant or breastfeeding women.

References

• Vollmer, D. L., West, V. A., & Lephart, E. D. (2018). Enhancing Skin Health: By Oral Administration of Natural Compounds and Minerals with Implications to the Dermal Microbiome. International journal of molecular sciences, 19(10), 3059. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19103059
• Donejko, Magdalena et al. “Influence of caffeine and hyaluronic acid on collagen biosynthesis in human skin fibroblasts.” Drug design, development and therapy vol. 8 1923-8. 15 Oct. 2014, doi:10.2147/DDDT.S69791
• Choi FD, Sung CT, Juhasz ML, Mesinkovsk NA. Oral Collagen Supplementation: A Systematic Review of Dermatological Applications. J Drugs Dermatol. 2019 Jan 1;18(1):9-16. PMID: 30681787.
• Bolke, Liane et al. “A Collagen Supplement Improves Skin Hydration, Elasticity, Roughness, and Density: Results of a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Blind Study.” Nutrients vol. 11,10 2494. 17 Oct. 2019, doi:10.3390/nu11102494