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There are many "unjust cases" circulating in the field of nutrition, such as:
Cholesterol is the culprit of cardiovascular disease, eating pork belly will make you fat, bone broth is junk food...
There is also a "wrongful case": that is:
Eating collagen-rich foods such as pig's trotters is not beautiful and will only make you fat.
However, there are many people who find:
After drinking bone broth and eating pig's trotters, the skin visible to the naked eye becomes better. Reference article Eating pig trotters is useless, collagen is not absorbed? Anyway I don't believe it...
Is this all psychological effect?
Today, I will seriously do a comprehensive collagen science.
After reading this article, you may sigh: it turns out that in addition to beauty, animal collagen has a greater effect...
Collagen: Who Am I?
Collagen is a protein that makes up more than 25% of our body weight and, as the most abundant protein in our bodies, it is the main component of bones, skin, muscles, ligaments and tendons.
As with the origin of its Greek name "Kolla", meaning "glue", it provides scaffolding for stiffer structures such as bones and teeth, as well as cartilage, internal organs and organs.
Glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline are the three main amino acids that make up collagen.
Collagen retains moisture, firms and plumps tissues, and protects the skin from UV radiation.
The body can produce collagen, but the speed and quality of its synthesis decreases with age, as well as the onset of stress and disease.
After collagen loss, it can lead to thinning, drying, sagging and wrinkled skin, weakening of joints and bones, and slower wound healing.
Why is it so important to eat collagen?
Collagen is the largest source of glycine (Glycine, Gly) in the diet, glycine is a conditionally essential amino acid, although our body can synthesize on its own, but the speed of synthesis can not meet the needs of the body.
Under normal circumstances, adults will synthesize about 3g of glycine per day, but the body's basic metabolic processes need at least 10g, so we have an average daily deficit of 7g of glycine, which needs to be compensated by diet.
If you have certain diseases that cause abnormal glycine synthesis, such as rheumatoid arthritis, you will need more glycine intake per day.
Glycine is not only an amino acid needed for protein synthesis, but also a raw material for the synthesis of nucleic acids, bile acids and many other non-essential amino acids (such as serine).
Glycine exerts an antacid effect in the stomach.
Glycine is a regulator of macrophage function and thus plays an important role in the body's anti-inflammatory effects.
Glycine plays an important role in energy release, and supplementing glycine during exercise can improve the efficiency of energy metabolism.
Glycine is also a very important neuromodulator or even a neurotransmitter in the nervous system.
Glycine reduces the damage to the liver caused by methionine deficiency, choline deficiency, or methionine-choline deficiency (MCD).
The amino acids of collagen are more important
Ordinary meat usually contains a lot of methionine, and collagen is rich in glycine.
Animal studies have shown that the more methionine an animal ingests, the shorter its lifespan.
However, when methionine is balanced with glycine, the negative effects of methionine are significantly reduced.
There are quite a few human studies that have also shown this:
Studies have found that low glycine levels and high meat intake have higher health risks.
People with high glycine levels, on the other hand, did not have any problems even with high meat intake.
Found in other studies: low glycine usually carries a risk of diabetes; at the same time, high glycine often means that blood sugar levels are normal;
Low glycine levels are also common in patients with chronic kidney disease.
Meat is very healthy and has been an important part of the human diet for hundreds of thousands of years, but everyone usually eats the wrong parts, and many people like chicken breast or tenderloin and think that these meats are healthier.
In fact, oxtails, pig trotters, and beef tenderloin are better choices because they contain more collagen and can provide plenty of glycine.
Collagen, improves sleep quality
When you want to fall asleep quickly, you can try drinking a bowl of collagen-rich bone broth, or collagen supplements, and it is not long after drinking that drowsiness strikes.
Sounds so mysterious, it can't be made up by me, right? Of course not, in fact, this is all the credit of glycine.
Glycine enhances the production of serotonin, a necessary precursor to the sleep hormone melatonin, which lowers body temperature and improves sleep quality if taken at night.
Taking 3 g of glycine before going to bed, you can obviously feel that it is easier to fall asleep, and when you wake up the next day, your energy will be more energetic.
Glycine is the amino acid that makes up collagen, and you can choose to supplement glycine alone, it tastes a bit sweet and can act as a healthy sweetener.
However, I still recommend supplementing collagen to obtain glycine, because the collagen matrix is more stable and can make glycine more fully absorbed and utilized in the digestive tract.
Leaves skin elastic and radiant
Our skin is made of collagen, and over time, the skin gradually loses its elasticity, softness and radiance, in fact, because of the lack and loss of collagen.
To maintain the elasticity of the skin and prevent long wrinkles, we need to provide the foundational matrix for collagen synthesis and accumulation.
Collagen supplementation is beneficial to the skin and there has been a lot of data from studies:
2.5g of collagen per day for 8 weeks, eye wrinkles decreased by 20%, skin elastin increased by 18%, even if daily collagen supplementation was stopped, this effect will continue for about 1 month.
1g of chicken breastbone, cartilage, collagen extract per day can reduce wrinkles by 13% and dry skin by 76%, while increasing collagen accumulation by more than 6%; insisting on supplementing collagen for 6 months has even reduced the appearance of cellulite.
The aging of the skin is actually only a "barometer" of the physical condition, and through the current state of the skin, we can infer the overall state of the body.
If your skin gradually improves after collagen supplementation, it means that your joints, fascia, and other tissues in your body also become stronger.
Beneficial for joint health
Just like the skin, our joints are made of collagen, and we can improve joint health just like collagen to improve the skin.
Especially postmenopausal women, osteoporosis of the elderly, patients with arthritis, or injured football players.
It is recommended to drink more bone broth, or eat collagen-rich foods such as pig's trotters.
Collagen supplements can also be supplemented to improve the condition of the joints and relieve joint pain.
Collagen accelerates wound healing
Many old friends still remember The Story of Kobe Bryant, who was injured on March 14, 2013, during a game against the Hawks.
At that time, the Lakers officially announced that Kobe Bryant's sprain was very serious, and he may miss the game indefinitely.
But in fact, Kobe Bryant only missed 2 games and then officially returned to the team, because Shanahan, the director of the Lakers' nutrition program, let him drink bone soup every day after Kobe Bryant was injured.
Bryant's dietitian Shanahan, who is also the author of Deep Nutrition, strongly recommends bone broth.
When I was a child, I broke my leg by climbing a tree because I was naughty, and the adults in the family would buy a cow kneecap stew for me to eat, saying, eating "pineapple cover", and the leg injury healed quickly.
When I grew up, I had to admire the wisdom of my ancestors, because the cow kneecap is not only delicious, but also rich in collagen, which helps to heal wounds.
Some surgical dressings are used with collagen to speed up wound healing, and taking collagen can also accelerate the healing of wounds.
It is a secret weapon in the kitchen
The above talked about a lot of collagen benefits for good health, and the next thing I want to talk about is the wonderful use of collagen in life.
In the culinary world, collagen is often used to add flavor to dishes, such as the gelatin flakes used in making pudding, which is actually made of collagen extract from fish skin.
Our domestic chefs like to use starch to make the soup thicker and more appetizing.
But abroad, many chefs will choose to use gelatin made from collagen extracts from beef bones to make sauces or soups.
How to get collagen from food
Collagen in food is a good source, if you want to consume more collagen through your daily diet, I have the following tips to share with you:
A source of collagen in meat
Meats such as chicken breast and tenderloin are low in collagen, so if not cooked properly, it is easy to taste woody.
If you want to supplement collagen by eating meat, you can choose calf meat, neck meat, hooves, cheek meat, oxtail meat, ribs, and some meat with skin.
Collagen-rich meat, simmered in a saucepan for several hours, the taste will be crispy and sticky, not greasy, not woody, the taste is very good, even if the kitchen is small, it is difficult to lose your hand.
Nibble clean bones
Is there anyone like me who likes to nibble on chicken legs the most, and chews the crisp cartilage at both ends of the chicken thigh bones, and looks at the bare chicken bones to have a sense of satisfaction.
If you do this, then you can make a lot of money, because that small piece of cartilage can be described as a collagen bomb, while young, you can still fight with your teeth, and enjoy the gag!
Eat the skins of animals
The skin of animals is almost full of collagen, and in the winter in the north, there is a cold dish that often appears on the table, that is, skin jelly.
It is a stewed pork skin, which is cooled and solidified together with the soup to become a jelly-like texture and is sliced and eaten.
There are similar delicacies in the South, such as pork, which is also a kind of cuisine rich in collagen.
Drink bone broth
I have always recommended that you drink bone broth, and the only drawback I can think of is that it is more time-consuming to make.
Bone broth has many benefits, I have written many articles to introduce it, it is not only rich in trace elements, but also rich in collagen.
Edible gelatin
Thanks to the progress of the food industry, collagen has become readily available, such as gelatin tablets, gelatin powder, with these raw materials, you can open your brain hole and make pudding, coffee, green tea, bone broth...
How can I further boost collagen?
When consuming collagen, you can benefit from consuming other additional nutrients to ensure that your body is able to convert collagen into usable protein.
The following vitamins/minerals can improve the effectiveness of collagen supplementation:
vitamin C
Vitamin C, not only an antioxidant, is also the key to collagen synthesis and is an important part of skin health.
Vitamin C reduces skin damage caused by exposure to UV radiation and is also an element necessary for adequate wound healing.
Without vitamin C, collagen formation is disrupted, leading to a wide variety of problems throughout the body, and when combined with other micronutrients such as vitamin E and zinc, the benefits of vitamin C supplementation are further enhanced.
Magnesium supplementation
Magnesium is a cofactor of enzymes involved in the synthesis of a variety of proteins and collagen, and it also plays a protective role in maintaining the scalability of elastin.
Elastin is a protein found in the thickest layer of skin called the dermis, which provides elasticity and elasticity to tissues.
iron
Iron is the 2 amino acids in collagen, proline and lysine, which are necessary for the formation of elements, so severe iron deficiency can lead to impaired collagen production.
Iron is involved in the work of various enzymatic systems in the body, including enzymes involved in collagen synthesis, without which collagen cannot be synthesized.
vitamin E
Vitamin E works synergistically with vitamin C to stimulate collagen formation and help prevent collagen breakdown.
Key Skinny Dragon said
Whether you eat pig's trotters, chicken feet, or meat skin jelly to supplement collagen, I will tell you: eat with confidence, there are really benefits, who eats who knows.
Animal collagen and small molecules of collagen can be, can not be in order to sell collagen peptides, despise pig trotters. Related reading Eating pig's trotters is useless, collagen is not absorbed? Anyway I don't believe it...
The difference is: one is delicious, one is not delicious, one is a little higher, and one is a little lower.
Of course, collagen has many effects in addition to being good for the skin.
Helps improve sleep, promote wound healing, reduce the risk of disease, improve joint health.
So, pig trotters, skin jelly, delicious and beneficial, what are you waiting for? That's how it gets into the bowl!