In today’s world, many of us are concerned about skin and its appearance. The efforts we take to maintain healthy skin are huge. Perhaps, we try out several skincare products such as lotion, creams, serum, and others, sometimes you might find that these products are not fully effective to do their work. It does not mean the products are not good enough, but the natural mechanism works in the other way. If you want to understand these mechanisms, follow this blog where we discuss more about the skin, the process of skin aging, the necessary protein for skin health, and their benefits.
Skin and Its Properties
The human skin is the largest organ of the body covering 1.5-2.0 square meters. The major role of the skin is to act as a physical barrier to protect the body from pathogens, chemicals, physical agents, and ultraviolet radiation. However, the most important function of the skin includes immune defense, producing free radical scavenging enzymes, releasing antioxidant molecules, temperature regulation, preventing excess water loss, inducing sensory inputs, and other metabolic mechanisms. These are the roles and functions of healthy skin, but the performance might reduce when the skin starts to undergo the process called aging.
Have you ever realized when we were young that our skin used to be fresh and shiny but as we age, we might see it losing elasticity, firmness, and brightness. During aging, the extracellular matrix in the skin is degraded resulting in modification of skin physical properties including loss of skin elasticity, increase in wrinkles, and reduction of epidermal thickness. It has been reported that not only aging leads to damaged skin, but also several internal and external factors such as UV radiation, pollution, hormones, diet, and nutrition affect the skin's appearance. It is well-known that collagen is a structural and functional component that upholds the properties of the skin.
What is Collagen?
Collagen is the most abundant protein in animals, which is about 30% of overall protein content. It helps to maintain and retain the structure of our tissues and organs. Collagen is widely spread in all connective tissues such as skin, bone, cartilage, tendon, and blood vessels. It is involved in the formation of fibrillar and microfibrillar networks of the skin's extracellular matrix and basement membrane that give stability and structural integrity to tissues and organs.
Types of collagen: There are 28 types of collagen. They are classified based on their size, function, and distribution in the body. Types Ⅰ, Ⅱ, and Ⅲ are the most important ones. They are responsible for tissue strength, elasticity, and water retention ability.
- Type Ⅰ contributes to the highest percentage and is present in the bone, tendons, skin, ligaments, cornea, and intestinal connective tissue.
- Type Ⅱ is present in the cartilage of mammals. It plays a significant role in synthesizing and reconstructing connective tissues throughout the body.
- Type Ⅲ is mainly distributed in collagen type Ⅰ containing tissues. Important components of reticular fibers, interstitial tissue of lungs, liver, dermis, spleen, and vessels.
Source of Commercial Collagen
Skin and bones of bovine and swine were used to extract the collagen. However, studies showed that these animals might transmit infections and diseases to humans and some religions prohibit their use. Scientists have identified that marine organisms could be one good replacement for conventional sources as an alternative. It is mainly because they do not carry any transmissible diseases and do not possess any religious restrictions. Some examples of marine sources include fish biomass, and marine origins such as small fish, jellyfish, sharks, starfish, and sponges. Fish processing industries produce about 25% of fish waste every year. Discarded and under-utilized biomass from the fish processing industries could lead to the development of a sustainable collagen extraction process. This method can reduce the environmental impact, and the extraction cost .
Collagen Supplements: Why Do We Need Them?
Collagen loss will start around the age of 18-29 years. It is said that over 40 years we start losing 1% per year. Around 80 years of age, the body decreases 75% of its collagen synthesis. As a result of decreased collagen synthesis, the tissues will get thin, weak, and lose their stability. In such cases, collagen supplements can be taken to uplift the stability of skin, hair, nails, and body tissue. We might think why not cosmetic products. To answer this question, many scientific studies reveal that topical creams and cosmetic products can affect the external skin condition, but oral nutritional supplements can impact within the skin. When the collagen is supplied orally, they reach the bloodstream and deep into the skin layers, where they provide the building block components for collagen and elastin production (skin proteins). Numerous research works have been already reported to demonstrate the efficiency of oral supplements. After the oral consumption, the skin assessment results revealed that test products significantly improved skin hydration, elasticity, roughness, and density. However, the success rate can be high only if we choose the correct form of collagen: “Hydrolyzed or whole collagen molecule” .
Hydrolyzed Collagen Peptides by Grand Health®
The whole collagen molecules are complex and cannot be digested in their form. Therefore, after the extraction process, they undergo a process called “hydrolysis”, in which complex structures are broken down to form multiple short amino acid peptides. These peptides are generally safe and offer good absorption in the intestine. Moreover, they do not induce an immune response and there are only low chances of rejection by the body.
To sum up the discussion, GH's "Marine Elixir Collagen Peptide" contains hydrolyzed peptides obtained from sustainable marine sources. For convenience, the product comes in sachets with a natural passion fruit flavor. If you are the one, who is exploring products to maintain youthful and radiant-looking skin, then visit our website at https://www.grand-health.com/.
