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
My understanding is that when we eat protein, the body breaks that down into the amino acids that it then uses to construct different tissues in the body.
Different proteins break down into different amounts of the different amino acids (whey protein is a “complete protein” in that breaks down into all of the different types required) and the different amino acids are then used for constructing different tissue – some tissue may require a lot of one type of amino acid where another might require more of another type.
But the amino acids that are present in the proteins we consume may not all be bio-available in the same quantity, the amino acid is there but your body can’t easily get hold of it and make use of it. And as such it’s suggested that although collagen is a low grade protein, it actually supplies to your body more of some amino acids (in the form of collagen peptides) that might be present in other forms but that your body can’t easily use.
And it’s reported that this different blend of what your body can actually use leads to benefits in areas such as improving bone density (and perhaps skin elasticity and other areas) whereas a lot of the more usual “high quality” proteins are geared towards muscle growth (for body builders and athletes etc).
References:
[https://physiqonomics.com/whats-the-deal-with-collagen/](https://physiqonomics.com/whats-the-deal-with-collagen/)
[https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/collagen-for-osteoporosis](https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/collagen-for-osteoporosis)
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5793325/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5793325/)
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