What is Hydrolyzed Collagen?
We understand collagen products are super popular so there’s a lot of marketing around them that can be confusing. Should you use a powder or a supplement? Should you stick with skincare that claims to increase your own collagen production?
If you want to enjoy the benefits of collagen, we got you covered. We’ll go over which collagen is the best to use, what benefits you can expect from collagen, and what “hydrolyzed collagen” actually means.
COLLAGEN BASICS
Collagen is the most abundant protein your body makes. It’s the building block that makes up many of your body’s tissues. Your hair, skin, nails, ligaments, and tendons are all held together with collagen.
Your muscles and bones are also made from collagen, and collagen also helps your blood clot. The bottom line: collagen proteins play a huge role in the way your body is structured and in the way it functions.
There are numerous different types of collagen found in your body and in animals, which includes over twenty different types. Your body is most abundant in collagen types I, II, III, and IV which are the types of collagen that you’ll find in collagen supplements.
Because collagen is a protein, it is made up of the amino acid glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline. The amino acids in collagen supplements can be difficult for your body to break down and use. The solution? Hydrolyzed collagen.
WHAT IS HYDROLYZED COLLAGEN?
Collagen supplements contain collagen from sources other than your own body, your body sometimes has a more difficult time absorbing them properly and putting them to use. Hydrolyzed collagen (collagen hydrolysate) fixes this problem and makes the collagen supplements you take more bioavailable.
Hydrolyzed collagen is collagen whose amino acids have been broken down into smaller parts called peptides that have a low molecular weight. Collagen peptides are easy for your body to use.
WHAT DOES HYDROLYZED COLLAGEN DO FOR YOUR BODY?
Before we discuss the benefits of hydrolyzed collagen, it’s important to understand the nutrients in collagen that make it so important for our bodies.
There are four main amino acids in collagen that are important to our bodies:
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Arginine. This acid also referred to as L-arginine helps your body build protein, and is particularly effective in maintaining your vascular health. Arginine helps dilate (expand) your blood vessels, which can aid in everything from increased blood flow to help support healthy blood pressure.
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Proline. Proline helps heal wounds and is particularly effective in helping support your skin health. It is a foundational component of cartilage, helping support your joints.
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Glycine. Glycine helps support cellular health by helping protect your cells against free radical damage. Free radical damage to your cells is what causes premature aging, so if you are deficient in glycine, you may feel tired, sluggish, and develop signs of aging on your skin.
- Hydroxyproline. Hydroxyproline is made by your body from proline, with a little assistance from vitamin C. If you are deficient in vitamin C and your body can’t make enough hydroxyproline, you’ll experience side effects like bleeding gums, poor skin health, and loss of cartilage.
Collagen, and the amino acids that it is made from, have a huge responsibility in your body to keep your bone, skin, and muscular systems healthy and supported. The loss of collagen compromises these systems, making them weaker.
When we are younger, our collagen factories are really pumping. As we get older, collagen production slows. In fact, your body starts making less and less collagen as soon as you turn eighteen. By the time you are in your 40’s, collagen levels decline markedly on a yearly basis.
To protect and support the systems in your body that depend on collagen, taking collagen supplements can be helpful for you overall. In order for collagen supplements to be best used by your body, hydrolyzed collagen is the best option.
BENEFITS OF HYDROLYZED COLLAGEN
As you start to age and lose collagen, you can expect other benefits from supplementing with a hydrolyzed collagen product. One of the biggest benefits is that taking collagen helps support and increase your body’s collagen production.
An increase in collagen is great for your body, hair, skin, and nails.
Here’s what could happen if you begin taking a once-a-day hydrolyzed collagen dietary supplement:
MAINTENANCE OF OVERALL HEALTH AND WELLNESS
Everyone has a wellness stack, whether they realize it or not. A wellness stack is made up of the actions you take to help keep your body healthy. A wellness stack may include regular exercise, meditation, eating a certain diet, getting regular check-ups with your healthcare provider, and taking certain supplements.
Adding a hydrolyzed collagen supplement to your wellness stack can improve your overall health. By supporting the major systems of your body that collagen helps to build, you’ll increase your total health and wellness, feel better, and move better.
JOINT HEALTH
It makes sense that your joint health would be improved by taking hydrolyzed collagen since collagen is one of the largest components of your connective tissue like cartilage and skin. When the cartilage between your joints begins to break down, you can experience joint pain, aches, and an overall decrease in your movement.
There is no miracle cure for joint pain, but taking a hydrolyzed collagen supplement helps to support healthy joints, keeping your cartilage protected so it can function properly and support your joints.
Collagen powder and supplements also support bone repair and wound healing, helping to increase mobility in those with osteoporosis.
SKIN SUPPORT
In school, you probably learned that your skin is your body’s largest organ, but they didn’t teach you that collagen fibers are what support your skin elasticity and keep it looking youthful. Collagen “plumps up” your skin, helping make fine lines and wrinkles less noticeable and giving your skin a look of fullness and radiance.
When collagen levels decline it’s most noticeable through skin aging. Skin begins to lose elasticity and sag, fine lines and wrinkles begin to form, and skin looks overall thinner and less firm.
Hydrolyzed collagen is amazing for skin; in fact, your skin is able to use the collagen you take in the form of supplements really quickly, so you’ll notice results faster. Hydrolyzed collagen can help stop the clock and decrease the visibility of fine lines and wrinkles by supporting your skin’s own natural collagen building. It assists structural bonds in the epidermis and collagen and elastin formation in the dermis.
Hydrolyzed collagen also helps keep your skin protected against free radical damage, including the development of dark areas of hyperpigmentation (aka sunspots).
IMPROVED HAIR AND NAIL HEALTH
Tired of hair that seems dull, unhealthy, and just won’t grow? Taking a hydrolyzed collagen supplement can help. In addition to skin hydration, bone health, and wound healing, hydrolyzed collagen helps promote healthy hair growth and helps protect the hair you have, so your hair can be stronger, shinier, and healthier.
Collagen is also a major component of your nails. Taking hydrolyzed collagen can help support your nails, making them less brittle, encouraging growth, and keeping them strong.
MARINE COLLAGEN
Hydrolyzed collagen is a great addition to any wellness stack, but the source of your collagen matters. Many collagen supplements come from cows or chickens, aren’t sustainably sourced, and aren’t pure, clean ingredients.
These bovine supplements can include GMOs, gluten, and animal hormones, and the mammals used to source bovine collagen are often raised in inhuman conditions instead of being grass-fed or pasture-raised.
One Ocean Beauty’s hydrolyzed collagen supplements consist of collagen sustainably sourced from marine sources like deep water fish. Marine collagen has benefits over bovine collagen like:
- Faster absorption rate
- More responsibility in sourcing
- Biocompatibility with human skin (marine collagen works with your skin, not against it)
- Soothing for irritation
- Protection against cold, dry weather conditions and climates
In terms of deciding on a hydrolyzed collagen supplement to take, marine collagen is the right option. You can easily incorporate a marine collagen supplement into your daily wellness stack by starting with One Ocean’s Marine Collagen supplements.
Our once-a-day caplets contain the perfect amount of hydrolyzed marine collagen to keep your hair, skin, and nails healthy, radiant, and strong. The big bonus, every purchase you make of our supplements helps support the protection and restorations of the very oceans where our collagen is sourced.
For an even greater benefit, our skincare line is developed with marine algae and formulated to complement our supplements to help increase your body’s collagen production and support your overall skin health and wellness both outside and inside.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body, making up major tissues and systems like muscles, bones, skin, and cartilage. As you get older, collagen levels decrease, leaving your body unsupported.
Hydrolyzed collagen is the perfect supplement to help your body and skin feel and look younger. Using hydrolyzed marine collagen is especially beneficial because your body absorbs it more rapidly, giving you faster and better results.
One Ocean Beauty sources hydrolyzed marine collagen sustainably, sensibly, and humanely, so you can feel good about what you’re putting in your body, and good about how it was created.
Sources:
Hydrolyzed Collagen—Sources and Applications | NCBI
