About Collagen ~ Nutritionist's Column Vol.32

"Collagen" is a keyword that is often heard when talking about beautiful skin, moisture, and "beauty."
There are many cosmetics and supplements that contain collagen, but most people have the vague idea that it will make their skin plump.

In fact, collagen is said to be an ingredient necessary not only for beauty but for life itself.
So, what exactly is collagen and what function does it have? We will be talking about that today.

Collagen is a type of fibrous protein that makes up skin, tendons, bones, cartilage, etc.
20% of the human body is made up of protein, and of that total protein, 30% is collagen.
Furthermore, approximately 40% of collagen is found in the skin, and approximately 10-20% is found in bones and cartilage.
It is also distributed widely throughout the body, including in blood vessels and internal organs, and plays a role in allowing cells to function properly, like cement that fills the spaces between cells.

In skin, tendons, etc., collagen fibers are formed by binding together. While most proteins are globular, collagen is long and fibrous, and while proteins are usually found inside cells, collagen exists outside cells.
This means that collagen is a very unique protein.

Currently, there are 29 types of collagen in the human body. The three most common types are as follows:
Type I collagen = dermis of skin, ligaments, tendons, bones, etc. Type II collagen = articular cartilage Type IV collagen = epidermal basement membrane of skin

Unfortunately, collagen decreases as we age.
According to some data, type I collagen in the skin begins to decrease after the age of 35, and drops rapidly after the age of 50.
It has also been discovered that the quality of collagen is reduced by active oxygen generated by stress and ultraviolet rays.
It is said that the collagen that fills the spaces between skin cells decreases due to ultraviolet rays and dryness, resulting in sagging skin and wrinkles.

Osteoporosis, which increases after menopause, is related not only to a decrease in calcium levels, but also to a decrease in the amount and quality of collagen.
Collagen is an important ingredient that supports health and beauty, supporting other tissues from inside our bodies and connecting cells and tissues to create a boundary with the outside world.
Now, let's talk about the function of collagen and the effects you can expect from it.

1. Skin beautifying effects

First of all, it has a skin-beautifying effect.
Human skin consists of three layers: the epidermis, the dermis, and the subcutaneous tissue.
The dermis is made up mostly of collagen, which plays an important role in maintaining the firmness and structure of the skin.
Hyaluronic acid and elastin, which exist between collagen, are also important for keeping skin healthy.
When these weaken, the skin loses firmness and elasticity, resulting in sagging skin.
Collagen isn't the only nutrient needed to keep skin healthy.

These nutrients are listed below.
Each helps keep skin firm and hydrated, and interacts directly and indirectly with collagen.

・Collagen (maintains skin firmness and elasticity)
・Elastin (skin firmness)
・Vitamin C (collagen production and synthesis, antioxidant effect)
・Ceramide ・Hyaluronic acid (maintains moisture inside the skin)
・Proteoglycan (promotes the production of hyaluronic acid and type I collagen)
・Placenta (helps regenerate and restore skin)

2. Hair care

Next, hair.
Hair care effects.
If there is a lack of collagen in the hair roots where hair grows, hair problems such as hair loss, thinning hair, and gray hair occur.
Collagen supplementation is said to be effective in treating these problems.

Collagen also has many other benefits beyond beauty, so many people take it for health reasons and to improve the performance of athletes.
These effects will be introduced below.

3. Preventing and improving joint pain

Collagen helps support the functioning of joints.
Bones do not come into direct contact with each other, but rather there is a "joint" between them that acts as a connection between them.
The ability to bend and stretch freely is made possible by the smooth movement of these "joints."
Joints are covered with a soft layer of cartilage to prevent bones from directly hitting each other.
When force is applied to a joint, articular cartilage acts as a cushion to disperse the force, prevent friction between bones, and soften the impact.
Collagen is one of the important proteins that gives articular cartilage its elasticity.

4. Prevents osteoporosis

Collagen plays an important role in fixing calcium in the body.
Therefore, when the body's collagen production slows down, calcium does not easily adhere to the bones, causing the bones to become porous and making you more susceptible to osteoporosis.

5. Prevents arteriosclerosis

Collagen provides elasticity to arteries.
Even if your blood pressure rises slightly, your arteries are able to respond well each time it does so because they are very elastic.
Collagen in blood vessels also helps repair damage to the blood vessel walls.

Collagen is an important component not only for beautiful skin, but also for health, providing flexibility to support the body and allowing it to bend and stretch.

How to take collagen

So, what foods should you eat to get collagen?

Foods that are high in collagen can be broadly divided into animal-based foods and marine-based foods.
Animal products include pigs' feet, beef tendons, chicken skin, and chicken wings, while marine products include shark fin, eel, jellyfish, and soft-shelled turtles.

Unfortunately, however, even if you eat foods that contain a lot of collagen, the collagen that enters your mouth does not reach your skin directly.
Research has shown that collagen contained in food and other sources is broken down into amino acids during digestion, and that this helps maintain the mesh structure of collagen in the skin and assists the functioning of fibroblasts.

In various research fields both in Japan and the United States, the functions of collagen peptides (collagen broken down into smaller molecules) are beginning to be elucidated, and many research results have been published.

When you normally ingest collagen from food, it has to go through a process of breaking down and resynthesizing, but when you take it orally in the form of low molecular weight "collagen peptides," the breakdown process can be skipped, and research has shown that it is more absorbent than regular collagen, with even greater benefits for beauty and health.

Many supplement manufacturers have taken notice of this, and foods containing collagen peptides are now mainstream.
Of course, it is also important to supplement it with the aforementioned vitamin C, which is essential for collagen production.

It may be more effective to take it in the form of a supplement rather than through food, but recent research has suggested that eating gelatin can also result in it being broken down into collagen peptides in the body and absorbed.
(*Gelatin is made by heating collagen and extracting and decomposing it, and is one step before collagen peptides are produced.)

Plant-based collagen

While there are animal and marine foods, we looked into whether there is any plant-based collagen.
At present, there appear to be few manufacturers selling plant-based collagen, but there are research institutes and companies that are currently developing it.

As mentioned above, collagen is a type of protein.
According to one manufacturer, there is a component called "Extensin" that is different from collagen, but some manufacturers sell this "glycoprotein" found in the cell walls of plants such as soybeans as plant-based collagen.

In a world where sustainable products are gaining attention, I hope that in the future we will see plant-based collagen that has the same functions as current collagen appear on the market.

Click here to purchase GRØN products, a domestically produced plant-based protein that can be used in combination with collagen peptides.

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Nutritionist, Food Education Instructor, Food 6th Industrialization Producer Level 4
Ayako Ishihara

A nutritional advisor in the healthcare field and an agribusiness professional.
She is involved in a variety of activities specializing in the fields of beauty and health, including giving lectures to Miss World Japan candidates.

With the philosophy of "enriching the mind and body through food and realizing a vibrant society where people and communities are connected," he founded i-Field Co., Ltd. in 2013 and serves as its representative.
He is a core member of the food team for "DINING OUT," which opens outdoor restaurants in various regions, and also participates in fashion brand projects.
She is also involved in the promotion of local ingredients, product development and production specializing in "health" and "beauty," branding, concept design, food hygiene, sales promotion, training planning and management, etc. She is in charge of nutritional supervision for GRØN's product development, proposing ways to incorporate them more effectively into consumer health.

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