There is a lot of hype about Collagen while doing a keto diet and for a good reason. What are Collagen peptides, and what do they do?
Collagen peptides are easily digestible collagen proteins found in animal’s skin, hides, bones. These Collagen peptides trigger the body to make more Collagen. They also stimulate the body to produce hyaluronic acid, the lubricating fluid that’s a key component for healthy hydrated skin and healthy supple joints.
Collagen, are a group of proteins making up 30% of your body’s protein make-up and 70% of the protein in our skin. They are the most abundant protein in the body.
Your body has several types of Collagen, but three types are the major ones we will cover.
Collagen I, II, and III account for 80-90% of the Collagen in your body.
Types I and III are in our skin, bones, and tendons they come from fish and cattle. Collagen II found in your cartilage comes from a chicken.
Why are Collagen peptides so popular?
Research has shown that adding Collagen peptides to your diet can help combat collagen breakdown and restore healthy levels of Collagen to your skin, joints, bones, and gut. The way to amp up Collagen is to consume more Collagen protein in your diet.
We would generally get collagen protein from animals. It is in their connective tissue, skin, bones, and cartilage, but unfortunately, we stopped eating animals from nose to tail, and we eat boneless, skinless muscle meat, which provides protein that is vastly different from Collagen.
The easiest way to make sure you are getting all the types of Collagen and proteins you need are to supplement with Collagen Peptides. There are several brands of Collagen Peptides you can purchase and most brands sell hydrolyzed Collagen Peptides, which means the amino acids in the Collagen have broken down so that they quickly digest and absorb.
You can add Collagen Peptides to Smoothies, hot beverages, or baked goods to get extra protein. You can also get Collagen by making or buying bone broth, but making bone broth takes time to prepare and clean up and buying pre-made bone broth is expensive.
Some of the benefits of Supplementing with Collagen are:
Healthy skin
Strong, healthy fingernails
Mobile joints
Strong Bones
Healthy Ligaments and Tendons
Appetite Management
Athletic Performance
Gut health
Collagen impacts how you look and feel. When you are young your skin is firm and glowing and your digestive system works like a champ, but as we age we produce less Collagen with each passing year. Each decade past 20 years old the Collagen in your skin decreases by 11-13% and by the time you hit 80 you have ⅓ the Collagen you did when you were in your 20’s. Over time your skin becomes wrinkled and dry. Joints become creaky and more vulnerable. Hair and nails lose strength. Recovery slows down and injury becomes more likely.
Bones become more brittle. Food intolerances pop up and leaky gut comes from out of no- where. Our bodies seem to turn on us.
Things that accelerate Collagen breakdown.
-Smoking
-Excess sun exposure
-Stress
-Poor diet
Consuming sugar and highly refined carbohydrates like flour can lead to the formation of Advanced Glycation End Products (AGE’S) which accumulate in the connective tissue where they accelerate collagen depletion.
AGE’S reduce Collagen production and increase the activity of enzymes involved in Collagen breakdown, a double whammy.
Refined bleached vegetable oils in excess amounts of Omega 6 fatty-acids like Soybean oil, Corn, Canola, Cottonseed, and Sunflower increase the activity of enzymes responsible for breaking down Collagen.
Processed, packaged refined fast-foods fortified with refined carbohydrates accelerate Collagen depletion and the rate at which you look, feel and act older.
Things you do can support healthy Collagen. Clean up your act and clean up your diet.
Vitamin C consumption is essential for the production of Collagen you can eat certain fruits and vegetables that are high in Vitamin C, like Broccoli, Cauliflower, Bell peppers, Brussels Sprouts, Strawberries, Tomatoes, Lemons and Limes.
The way to amp up Collagen is to consume more Collagen Protein in your diet. Unlike normal protein that you get from meat like beef, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, and plants. Collagen Protein features a very unique protein profile of amino acids and its abundant in 3 amino acids (glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline).
Only found in Collagen protein these 3 amino acids account for 40-50% of the amino acids in collagen protein which is 10-20% times higher than other common protein sources. These are the raw materials the body needs to combat collagen breakdown and restore healthy levels of Collagen.
My husband and I have been adding Collagen Peptides to our morning coffee when we aren’t fasting and to our fruit smoothies for some time now and feel like we have noticed a difference in the way our skin looks. We also drink bone broth frequently. Our skin seems a little brighter. I have also noticed that my nails grow a little faster and seem stronger than they were. We will continue to add the Collagen because we do feel like it is making a difference in our Health
