Can Taking A Collagen Supplement Help With Weight Loss?

Can Taking A Collagen Supplement Help With Weight Loss?

It’s been proven that taking a collagen supplement is incredibly beneficial for your hair, skin, joints, muscles, fingernails, and bones but what about taking collagen to assist in weight loss?

In addition to the benefits mentioned above, one of the positive effects of taking a supplement like Collagen Complete is that it will also increase your energy.

How does it do that?

By increasing the amount of collagen in your diet, you can safely and naturally boost your metabolism by building and maintaining lean muscle. This is possible because collagen is a fibrous protein that strengthens the body’s connective tissues.

The stronger and leaner your muscles are, the higher your metabolic rate is, which allows your body to burn more calories throughout a 24-hour period.

From a physiological standpoint, taking a daily collagen supplement will speed up your metabolism but there are other factors that can contribute to weight loss and gain.

Can collagen reduce appetite?

In today’s world, we are inundated with weight loss products that are marketed around suppressing our appetites through the idea of meal replacement. Shakes, protein drinks, and even boutique snacks are sold with the claim that they will make you feel fuller which suppresses our appetite.

The concerning factor about these products is that most of them are produced through chemicals and other synthetic additives, not a natural protein like collagen.

The amount of sugar in many of these products is also alarming. A study on the insulinogenic effect of whey protein found that the popular supplement increases blood sugar levels that are similar to levels that were found after eating white bread. The spike in insulin leads to a surge in hunger, which is counterproductive to losing weight.

Whey protein shakes are favored by bodybuilders because it is considered a “complete protein” due to it containing all nine essential amino acids and it has a low-fat content, but the high amount of sugar is the trade-off. Simply put, bodybuilders aim at gaining weight through muscle mass, not trimming fat to form lean muscles.

Does that mean that taking a collagen supplement makes you feel full?

Yes. Another research study found that collagen is 40-percent more satiating than other protein sources like whey or soy. More so, the experiment participants that took a collagen supplement with their breakfast meal ate 20-percent less food at their next meal than those who did not take the collagen and instead ingested whey, casein, or soy.

The full feeling you get after eating is actually caused by nitrogen. In healthy women 71 years old who were given hydrolyzed collagen as a protein supplement maintained a balanced nitrogen level during 15 days of consumption compared to women who fit the same criteria but were given whey protein. The women who consumed the whey had higher levels of nitrogen excretion than the women who had taken the collagen over the same trial period.

Does collagen help retain muscle mass while dieting?

As we age, our bodies lose muscle and bone mass, largely due to the decreasing amount of collagen our bodies produce and the excretion of nitrogen. These losses call for an increased daily amount of protein in order to maintain muscle mass specifically.

In the aforementioned study of the 71-year-old women who were given collagen supplement versus a whey protein, the women who consumed the collagen also had better preservation of lean body mass in addition to more balanced nitrogen levels.

The unique amino acid makeup of collagen helps maintain consistency when you step on the scale after weight loss without adverse side effects like losing muscle mass, which is common among people who eat a low-protein diet. In fact, collagen peptides have been shown to be more effective in maintaining lean muscle mass than other proteins.

What about gut health? Does that factor into weight loss?

Leaky Gut Syndrome (LGS) is becoming more prevalent than ever because of the on-the-go world we live in and the unbalanced diets many people have as a result.

LGS is a condition that leaves you feeling bloated, irritable, tired, sluggish and many other unwanted factors that negatively affect our mood.

Leaky Gut Syndrome is caused by undigested or partially digested food, nutrients, bacteria, and toxins that leak through the lining of the small intestines into the bloodstream, creating an autoimmune reaction.

Earlier, we learned that collagen peptides are beneficial for maintaining muscle mass, but they have another quality that almost acts as a secret agent: two of the amino acids found in collagen – proline and glycine – are building blocks for repairing damaged intestinal lining. The stronger the liner of your small intestines, the harder it is for the toxic foreign substances to enter the bloodstream. This also helps keep your liver healthy as its ability to detoxify isn’t overburdened which leads to a healthier and more productive immune system.

Does taking a collagen supplement keep skin elasticity and tone as weight loss is achieved?

One of the biggest complaints people who experienced significant weight loss have is the excess or saggy skin that is left behind.

Collagen has been proven time and time again to increase the elasticity in skin and is one of the most effective supplements for strengthening the dermis layer on our skin. The effects of collagen hydrolysate (also known as hydrolyzed collagen) was studied in relation to cutaneous aging and the results even further this claim.

69 women between the ages of 35-55 years were randomized to receive either collagen hydrolysate (CH) or a placebo once daily for 8 weeks. The elasticity, moisture, and transepidermal water loss (the evaporation of water through the skin) were all objectively measured before the trial began, after four weeks, eight weeks, and after the trial ended, with skin elasticity being the primary interest. When the study concluded, the group that were given CH showed a significant improvement in skin elasticity over the group that took the placebo.

Four weeks after the study was over, a statistically higher level of elasticity was found in older participants that orally ingested the collagen hydrolysate. Additionally, the CH was found to have a positive influence in regards to maintaining skin moisture and evaporation.

As cellulite is more pronounced in thin and saggy skin, collagen supplementation aids in hiding the fat cells under the skin by increasing both the elasticity and thickness of the skin.

Conclusion

Taken before meals, a collagen supplement like Collagen Complete will reduce your appetite and give you a feeling of being full.  Taken before bedtime, the collagen spreads throughout the body quickly helping build muscle mass, repair skin elasticity, help reverse gut damage, and give you a good night sleep, all factors that are necessary to achieve weight loss healthily.

The benefits of taking collagen as a daily supplement are plentiful and as time, technology, and science progress, the positive effects of collagen will prove to be even more beneficial for overall health from the inside out.

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About the Author

Dr. France Carpentier has over forty years of experience as a healthcare professional. She started as a Registered Nurse in Quebec, Canada, which was followed by over thirty years as a Chiropractor in Florida. She has always had a focus on nutrition using a holistic approach to health and wellness.