Written by Progressive Nutritional

Collagen is a complex protein, and not in an ''it has a lot of feelings' way. Collagen is a hard, insoluble and fibrous protein that makes up one third of the protein in the human body.¹ There are 16 different types of collagen but 80-90% of the collagen is type 1, 2 & 3.  Collagen help to support and attach cells to each other, helping the body become strong & flexible.¹ Collagen can be found throughout the body. It's in our skin, bones, and connective tissue.¹ It's also hard at work helping our skin stay elastic, our joints stay un-creaky, our connective tissues stay flexible.¹

As time goes on, the body makes less collagen. Collagen production also drops due to too much sun exposure, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, decrease amounts of sleep and exercise.² In the skin, collagen product decreases along with the tightly organized network becoming unorganized² which leads to the wrinkles and loss of skin’s elasticity.

Let's take a closer look at how, exactly, collagen can help supplement your lifestyle. 

COLLAGEN CAN HELP BUILD LEAN MUSCLE

Building lean muscle is not only important for athletes but also important for overall health and aging. To build lean muscle, amino acids are needed. What a better source of amino acids than collagen?! Collagen contains 19 out of the 20 amino acids and is a great source of proline and glycine.³ Interesting research showed benefit in lean muscle mass & strength after participants did resistance training and supplemented with collagen within an hour.⁴

COLLAGEN CAN HELP SUPPORT CONNECTIVE TISSUES

While you're hard at work building that muscle mass, don't forget about your connective tissue. Just like muscles and joints, connective tissues like tendons and ligaments get strained and broken down by exercise. But, since they're made up of collagen, a collagen supplement can help connective tissues rebuild after a vigorous workout.  

Not all collagen supplements are the same

Buyers beware, not all collagen supplements are made the same! Collagen lacks essential amino acid – tryptophan so it’s important to look for a supplement that has it added so you get a complete amino acid profile and most benefit. There are other co-factors that are important for optimal collagen absorption. Luckily, Progressive Complete Collagen has everything you need. It helps with collagen and connective tissue formation, maintains healthy bones, cartilage, teeth & gums, maintains healthy hair, skin and nails all while helping in building lean muscle when combined with regular resistance training and a healthy balanced diet.⁵ It has 100 mg of tryptophan to make it a complete protein source and has additional ingredients like Vitamin C since it’s helps use the amino acids to produce collagen and connective tissue in the body.

Progressive’s Complete Collagen is sourced from pasture-raised grass-fed cattle – free from both antibiotics and added hormones. Each scoop provides 10g of non-GMO collagen.  It is your one stop shop for all your bone, skin, and lean muscles needs!

References:

1. MediLexicon International. (n.d.). Collagen: What is it and what are its uses? Medical News Today. Retrieved October 8, 2021, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/262881.php#uses.
2. The Nutrition Source. (2021, December 17). Retrieved December 22, 2021, from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/collagen/
3. Gauza-Włodarczyk, M., Kubisz, L., & Włodarczyk, D. (2017). Amino acid composition in determination of collagen origin and assessment of physical factors effects. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 104, 987–991. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.07.013
4. Oertzen-Hagemann, V., Kirmse, M., Eggers, B., Pfeiffer, K., Marcus, K., de Marées, M., & Platen, P. (2019). Effects of 12 weeks of hypertrophy resistance exercise training combined with collagen peptide supplementation on the skeletal muscle proteome in recreationally active men. Nutrients, 11(5), 1072. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11051072
5. Health Canada. Product information. Accessed on Dec 21st, 2021 at http://health-products.canada.ca/lnhpd-bdpsnh/info.do?licence=80073874