Considering collagen is just a regular protein shouldnt it be digested into amino acids before being absorbed and have no medical/cosmetic effect beyond being a source of protein just like eating a steak or an egg?
In: Biology
One thing that I haven’t seen anyone mention is that proteins aren’t always completely and totally broken down into free amino acids. Some proteins can form bioactive peptides upon digestion that are small enough to be absorbed intact. Honestly I don’t know if this is relevant at all to collagen, but things like caesin can be broken down into Casomorphin peptides with mild opioid activity. Collagen is also higher in hydroxyproline than other proteins. In fact hydroxyproline is only very rarely contained in other proteins. This is just speculation, but maybe those factors could be leading to some of the benefits seen in studies on collagen.
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