What does pills and potions mean
Each capsule, or per serve, contains roughly between half a gram up to five grams of collagen.īy comparison, you can get better value for money by eating foods rich in protein like meat, chicken, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, nuts, tofu, dried beans and legumes. A complete diet is better value for moneyĪ 2019 survey reported 37% of Australians spent up to A$20 a month on cosmetics and personal care, with 26% spending between $21-50 and 15% spending $51-200 a month.Ī bottle of collagen supplements costs anywhere between roughly A$15-20 to over $100. Rich sources of collagen include pig skin, cattle hide, pork and cattle bones, tendons and cartilage, chicken cartilage and fish scales. Without adequate vitamin C, the collagen would be unstable, meaning the coils would unfurl, and you would develop scurvy.īefore you grab a bottle of collagen supplements, you may want to consider where it came from. Vitamin C is essential for the chemical pathway that makes collagen in the body. The triple helix shape makes it very strong and flexible. Collagen is the human body’s main structural protein (c) Shutterstock Imagine three slinkies coiled around each other, and that’s roughly what collagen looks like.Īn artistic depiction of the collagen triple helix structure.
#What does pills and potions mean skin#
What is collagen and where does it come from?Ĭollagen is the major structural protein in skin and other connective tissues such as cartilage, bone, tendons and ligaments. Further high quality, independent research studies are needed. This means the results of the research should be interpreted with caution, especially when the affiliation statement shows the study authors were also employed by the supplement manufacturer. What’s more, most of the studies were either fully or partly funded by cosmetic or supplement companies. There’s no reliable evidence amino acids in collagen supplements speed up the process by which the body makes collagen. It also wasn’t clear how the results translated to actual changes in skin appearance and whether this was noticeable to other people.Īmino acids needed to make collagen can be found in other foods containing protein. These included that the supplements differed across the trials, as did the types of people included in the studies, meaning you can’t compare results between trials. The reviewers flagged a number of limitations of the studies.
This included improvements in: skin moisture and collagen density skin hydration, wrinkling and elasticity skin elasticity but not moisture content and skin moisture, elasticity, wrinkles and roughness.Īcross the studies, closer scrutiny of the methods by the reviewers found many were rated as being of low methodological quality. Normal ageing is associated with loss of connective tissues within the skin, leading to a reduction in elasticity and development of wrinkles and creases.Ī 2019 review of collagen supplements, conducted by US university researchers, found four of the five studies included had reported some degree of improvement in some skin variables. You will get better value in terms of your health and well-being in the long-term.
Rather than spending a lot of money on collagen supplements that promise to defy signs of ageing, smooth wrinkles and renew your skin, spend it on healthy food. Therefore, what you’re reading isn’t necessarily an independent evaluation of the product’s effectiveness. These statements often mean the publication has negotiated some kind of payment for featuring products in its editorial coverage. When you’re reading articles promoting these products, be especially wary of phrases such as “ we may receive compensation for some links to products and services”. Therefore, the results need to be interpreted with caution. The evidence is generally weak, with many of the studies claiming to find positive effects from collagen supplementation funded mostly by industries that manufacture these products.
While some research has found benefits of collagen supplementation for some aspects of skin health, it’s a case of buyer beware. This time collagen supplements are in the spotlight, after Jennifer Aniston became the face of one wellness brand’s collagen campaign in late 2020. Celebrity testimonials abound for pills, potions and creams that purport to make you look younger.