Collagen for Men 101
Collagen is a major component of the human body. Roughly 30% of the body's protein is collagen. Its benefits go so much further than skin-deep (think: strong joints and injury prevention). As the most abundant protein in the body, it's considered the "glue" that holds everything together. It's a huge part of your connective tissues in your ligaments, muscles, tendons, and skin. We need collagen; it's an essential part of the body. The problem is that as we age, your body's natural collagen production starts to slow down. As this happens, your collagen levels begin to drop. When your body is lacking collagen, you may experience:- Aching muscles
- Wrinkles
- Thinning hair
- Joint pain
- Leaky gut
- Loss of mobility
6 Reasons Men Should Supplement Collagen Daily
1. Supercharge Your Workout
Collagen is the perfect recovery buddy. It doesn't matter if you're a pro athlete, casual gym-goer, or fun runner, collagen can boost your workout. The protein helps to rebuild and repair muscle, ligaments, and tendons stressed during exercise. After you exercise, a high protein diet helps to replace proteins lost and repair muscles. Collagen contains a high amino acid profile. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and are essential for strong muscles. This is why collagen protein is ideal for muscle recovery and your post-workout nutrition. It helps to promote muscle growth and repair. Recovery is a crucial part of any exercise program. Building recovery time into your workout regime gives your body time to repair and get stronger. Although super important, resting is one of the hardest things to do. If you're looking to recover faster after a tough workout and really elevate your fitness game, collagen is a must.2. Enhance Injury Recovery and Prevention
An injury can have a massive impact on your workout. It has the potential to bring all your hard work to a breaking stop. When your body is healing torn or ruptured muscles, two processes come into play: the production of new muscle fibers and connective scar tissue. A big factor in these processes is collagen production. Collagen may also help with injury prevention through strengthening joints and ligaments. Research has found that supplementing collagen could lead to lower rates of joint and tendon-ligament related pain. Collagen benefits athletes by protecting the joints and helping you to recover faster. Collagen could play an extremely beneficial role in injury prevention and tissue repair. Recovering from either a tough workout or ankle injury takes time. Incorporating collagen into your daily workout routine could help step up your recovery days.3. Boost Metabolism and Weight Management
Collagen is key to maintaining a healthy weight as you get older. It does more than boost the appearance of your skin. In the body, collagen breaks down into amino acids - the building blocks of all protein. Unfortunately, the majority of Western diets don't tend to be particularly high in natural collagen. This is why so many people are supplementing collagen into their diet to maintain a healthy weight. In general, one reason you eat protein is that it makes you feel fuller for longer. Collagen promotes fullness and keeps the body feeling full. This means you're less likely to reach for a snack between meals. Collagen also helps to boost your metabolism. Instead of directly burning fat, it helps to build lean muscle. In turn, this raises your metabolism. The faster your metabolism means the more calories your body needs to burn. This is why some people can seemingly eat everything in sight without gaining weight, while others tend to accumulate fat by eating far less.4. Increase and Maintain Muscle Mass
Increasing muscle mass not only gives your metabolism a boost, but it allows you to perform everyday tasks with ease. Higher muscle mass means stronger bones. It also supports weight loss and decreases the risk of developing certain diseases. Collagen contains an amino acid called Glycine. Glycine is one of the amino acids that make up a molecule known as creatine. Your body uses creatine during exercise. In particular, it helps your muscles produce energy during intense bouts of activity, such as sprinting or weight lifting. Research shows that people who took collagen supplements experienced an increase in both fat loss and muscle gain. In Germany, one study on men in their seventies investigated the effects of collagen peptides and physical performance. After just three months, the men supplementing collagen had grown more muscle mass. Building bigger and stronger muscles can help you hit your peak physical performance and really up your game. Your muscle health plays an essential role in your overall wellbeing. It's a crucial part of your strength, energy levels, and ability to live an active lifestyle.5. Support Joint and Bone Health
Collagen benefits men by supporting joint and bone health. Collagen has a surprising number of roles to play in the body. When it comes to joint health, many people reach for things like glucosamine and chondroitin. But collagen helps to strengthen and support joints and bones. One way collagen supports the body is by stimulating cartilage growth. Cartilage is the rubbery material that covers the end of bones in joints. It's one of those things you're not aware of until it starts to wear off. With repeated movements and aging, it can start to deplete and cause pain. Collagen encourages the growth and repair of cartilage. To keep up with an active lifestyle, especially when doing repetitive movements like weight lifting, increase your collagen intake. Collagen can also help to reduce joint pain. One study focused on athletes with chronically painful joints. After 24 weeks of taking collagen, they experienced far less pain compared to the placebo group.6. Improve Skin Health
You can't talk about collagen without talking about skin; it would be shameful. Although collagen's benefits go much further than the skin, it can have a pretty powerful impact on your skin. You may not be looking for that "youthful glow", but collagen has proven skin benefits. Collagen is a significant component of your skin. A drop in collagen levels, as you age, is responsible for those things we all actively try to avoid like wrinkles, fine lines, and skin sagging. Sadly, the aging process will hit us all eventually, but you can proactively combat signs of aging by increasing your collagen levels. Study after study has shown that collagen can help slow signs of aging. It does this by reducing dryness and wrinkles and increasing skin hydration and elasticity. Whether you have a skincare regime in place or you're more of quick face wash in the morning kind of person, your skin deserves a little TLC. Collagen is also great for your hair, teeth, nails. In the long run, collagen helps you maintain an active lifestyle. It allows your body to thrive and get stronger while reducing the risk of injury and supporting joints.How to Choose a Collagen Supplement
Now you know why you should include collagen in your daily routine. But how do you pick the best collagen supplement for you? With so many products on the market, choosing a collagen supplement can be a challenge. When shopping around, here are four things to look out for:- Clean ingredients
- Grass-fed source
- Positive reviews
- Good dosage
