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What is collagen?

Collagen is the main structural protein present in your body. It is mainly present in bones, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and skin. Collagen keeps these tissues together, along with making them strong, flexible, elastic, and also capable of repair when damaged.

But after all, what is a protein?

Everyone’s heard of the word protein, but not as many people can define exactly what it is. Proteins are a class of biomolecules, meaning there are many, many proteins out there, with their own individual functions.

Proteins are made up of building blocks called amino acids. In humans, there are 20 naturally occurring amino acids, and they can join up in all kinds of ways to form different kinds of peptides, which in turn fold up into more complex structures — proteins!

Here is a simplified diagram of protein structure:

Amino acids can join up in all sorts of ways, in different sequences and different numbers. This is how proteins as a class can be so vast, and how they can fulfill so many different functions in your body.

What happens when you ingest proteins?

When you eat anything containing proteins, your digestive system breaks them down into individual amino acids or smaller, more manageable chains (peptides).

All proteins get this treatment, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Your body breaks down proteins in food into amino acids/small chains, then uses them as building blocks to make up whatever proteins it wants. This can be collagen, enzymes, antibodies, anything your body deems necessary.

You cannot deliberately target the proteins you ingest towards anything in particular.

When you ingest collagen, it gets broken down like any other protein, and your body will do whatever it needs with those smaller building blocks.

This is why collagen supplements are a scam. You cannot ingest collagen and target it towards anything specific.

How is collagen produced? Can you do anything about it?

Your body naturally produces collagen, and while that production does slow with age, people of all ages produce collagen. It’s a natural part of healing wounds and keeping tissues together in your body!

Science is still figuring out exactly how to promote real collagen synthesis in humans. Vitamin C is a necessary cofactor in collagen production, and while you can’t make sure all of the vitamin C you ingest goes towards making collagen, if you are deficient in it, it will in fact make collagen production slower.

This is why scurvy (vitamin C deficiency) wreaks all sorts of havoc in your connective tissues. Your body needs it to build collagen.

The same logic applies here. You can’t target the proteins you eat towards collagen production specifically, but if your body doesn’t have the amino acids (which come from proteins) to build that collagen, then it obviously can’t make it!

Basically: make sure you aren’t deficient in the stuff your body needs to build collagen, even though you can’t guarantee that’s what your body will do with it.

And you don’t need fancy supplements for that. If you have adequate protein and vitamin C in your diet, you should be set!