Spoonful of collagen powder

Collagen does it work?

How's lockdown been for you? For me, I've enjoyed my time surfing the web, checking out what experts say, and researching topics close to my heart and with enough peaceful time to write and hopefully be informative. Hallelujah 🙏

Collagen is one of those topics, seemingly a wonder material promising you the fabled fountain of youth. The claims from brands peddling their wares seem convincing. So, does collagen stack up as active material in face cream or as an ingested supplement?

The quick answer is no and for some simple reasons. Here's the low down.

Collagen is a group of fibrous proteins often referred to as the scaffolding of the body. It helps hold body tissue together and is found everywhere from your skin to your tendons to your bones. As a protein, our bodies make collagen from amino acids. If you're a meat-eater, you're probably eating plenty of these amino acids already.

You need to consider where supplements source their collagen from. There's a huge unregulated ick factor. "We're talking about ground-up fish, chicken, pig, and cow parts, and these parts tend to act as sponges for contaminants and heavy metals," says Dr. Mark Moyad the director of preventive and alternative medicine for the University of Michigan Medical Centre.

Meanwhile, dermatologists and consumer groups have also expressed concerns that those hooves, hides, bones, and nerve tissues — particularly if they come from cows — could carry diseases like bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease.

In one recent test of 14 popular collagen supplements, by the supplement testing company consumerlab.com, all products contained the levels of collagen they said they did, but one also contained high levels of cadmium, a toxic heavy metal.

Is marine collagen any better? It's like this for your body. Consider throwing all the car parts necessary on a conveyer belt and hoping at the end they come out assembled as a car. When our body digests marine or any collagen supplement there's no guarantee it will end up being used for boosting your skin's epidermis layer. The gut will break it down accordingly and you usually see the result of this in the toilet. Don't get me wrong I'm not always a supplement skeptic and my apologies that's a different topic

Okay, you've probably accepted it's not worth the risk to ingest and is a silly notion it will add to your complexion, but there are so many beautiful people and self-proclaimed experts saying it's in their face cream and they swear it's made them look younger with firmer plumper skin, right?

Well, it turns out the molecular structure of collagen is large and is different in structure to the collagen our bodies produce, even from a poor diet. Our skin has no chance of being able to absorb the collagen as an active material through the skin.

What does plump and protect the skin and cause it to become firmer and more radiant? The short answer is moisture retention. Drink plenty of water and use the best face oil you can get your hands on. Nourishing your skin with Alix Ultimate Face Oil provides your skin with omega 3, 6, 7, and 9 fatty acids; these are the necessary building blocks for ultimate skin health and will prevent moisture loss. This is solid advice.

Happy lockdown everyone, stay well 💚

Author, Sharon Hansard, CEO

Alix Cosmeceuticals Ltd.

Natural New Zealand Made Skincare