The wellness industry has come up with some pretty *questionable* trends over the last few years. Ahem Yoni Eggs and Semen Facials.
While drinking Collagen isn’t as…confronting… we want to take you through this new trend and just how ‘beneficial’ it really is.
What is Collagen?
Collagen is a buzzword for many reasons.
First, it acts as an important protein which keeps our bones and tissues together. It also gives us the structure and elasticity in our skin. Collagen acts to stimulate the production of hyaluronic acid as well. Remember that beautiful bouncy firm skin that we all took for granted as teenagers? Ahh the days.
Unfortunately, as with most other things, our collagen levels deteriorate with age (about 1.5% every year after 25). While we would love to be able to naturally replace them by drinking collagen, the science around this is a bit more complicated.
How Does Drinking Collagen Work?
For the collagen peptides found in collagen drinks to reach our skin, they must firstly be digested in our gut. Then, they make the journey through our bloodstream. Unfortunately, we have no say as to where these amino acids will go once they are in our body. This means there is no guarantee that they will be sent to our skin.
Most specialists agree that there is little hard evidence to suggest that the amino acids will even survive this journey in meaningful enough quantities to have an impact on the skin. So the takeaway is don’t waste your money.
For more K-Beauty products to help mature skin, take a listen to the Korean Beauty Show Podcast now:
What does the research on drinking collagen say?
Unsurprisingly, almost all of the research promoting the benefits of drinking collagen is funded by, you guessed it, collagen drink companies! So take their positive findings with a grain of salt. However, on the bright side, there is no evidence to suggest that these drinks are harmful to you in any way.
What to do instead
While drinking collagen might not be the magical solution we had hoped for to replenish our own lost collagen, there are a few things you can do that will help. Avoid:
1) Smoking
2) Excess alcohol consumption
3) Excess sugar; and
4) UV rays.
All of these factors speed up the natural decrease in our body’s collagen production and age the skin.
Still desperate to pump a bit of collagen back into your skin?
"Unsurprisingly, almost all of the research promoting the benefits of drinking collagen is funded by, you guessed it, collagen drink companies! So take their positive findings with a grain of salt."
