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More supple skin. Stronger hair. Better gut health. Increased athletic performance and faster muscle recovery. Improved joint health and mental clarity. These are just some of the health benefits of collagen supplementation, and I've written about them extensively in previous blogs. (You can read them here and here.)
Photo by Ximena Mora from Pexels
Now, I want to dive deeper and give you a more detailed look at the perks of collagen supplementation. In this blog, I'm going to introduce you to the many incredible amino acids in collagen and tell you about how they can improve your physical and mental health.
The Amino Acids in Collagen
Fittingly named a 'complex protein', collagen contains 19 different amino acids. Collagen is a triple helix chain compound, and each chain is 1,400 amino acids long.
Translation: you get a seriously healthy hit of amino acids from every single serving of collagen.
Try my Cherry Ripe Collagen Smoothie Bowl for a delicious, refreshing, and inspired way to add collagen into your diet!
Importantly, collagen is a great source of amino acids proline and glycine—two vital amino acids that aren't found abundantly in meat (except organ meat). Since meat is where many people get their protein, but many of us don't consume organ meat, it's obvious how a large number of individuals could be coming up short on these crucial amino acids.
Amino Acids in Collagen: Essential and Non-Essential
Essential amino acids are ones that are not produced by your body that you need to ingest from food. Non-essential amino acids can be produced by your body, but when your body is sick or stressed, production can suffer. So, despite their non-essential designation, these amino acids are actually invariably important.
Meet the Amino Acids in Collagen!
All of the amino acids in collagen can be critical to your health, so even though I am only going to focus on the four amino acids with the highest percentages, don't dismiss the rest. It's not enough to supplement with just these amino acids: it's better—and easier and more affordable—to buy one good quality collagen supplement so you get them all.
Grab Perfect Hydrolyzed Collagen for the best quality, fast-absorbing collagen made 100% from grass-fed beef and boasting all the benefits of the purest, most potent collagen.
Proline: Making up nearly 15% of collagen, proline helps protect and strengthen blood vessels, improves heart health and supports robust joints.
Glycine: Even though glycine is smaller than the other amino acids in collagen, it makes up 1/3 of the amino acids and packs amazing health benefits. These benefits include supporting cell function, building good DNA and contributing to the construction of creatine, which promotes the growth of muscles and bolsters performance during workouts.
Glutamine: Glutamine (not to be confused with glutamic acid or MSG) is produced by our bodies and we ingest it from food sources. It is hailed as being one of the most plentiful and critical amino acids in our bodies, with benefits that range from encouraging better sleep, reducing anxiety, increasing focus and promoting better digestive health, to improving energy and strengthening the immune system.
Glutamine also creates high amounts of nitrogen, which can stimulate better healing, prevent joint pains and stave-off muscle wasting.
Arginine: Also known as L-arginine, this amino acid converts into nitric oxide in your body, which is invaluable to heart and artery health. What's more, arginine can promote better circulation, boost the immune system, and improve the male libido.
(Psst, ladies I’m not forgetting about you! Check out this blog I wrote on how to boost the female libido.)
As I said, these four amino acids aren’t the only—or even most important—amino acids in collagen, but they do make up the bulk of the protein, so they are notable ones on which to focus.
For more yummy ways to incorporate Perfect Hydrolyzed Collagen into your diet, grab my Smoothie E-Book
Offering a variety of recipes featuring some of the most powerful superfoods (and some you may not even know about), the smoothies in this book are not only my favourites, but the favourites of Perfect Supplement clients.
From anti-aging smoothies to keto smoothies, to smoothies for energy, weight loss, muscle gain and gut and brain health, this e-book is full of inspired, EASY mouth-watering smoothie recipes.
Enjoy! 😍
If you enjoyed todays blog or have any questions or suggestions, please drop us a comment, we love hearing from you!
PS: here is a recent testimonial on how the Perfect Hydrolyzed Collagen has helped improve one of our customers sleep. 😴
BUY PERFECT COLLAGEN HERE
*Disclaimer: the information in this article is intended purely as information and not health advice. It is not intended to treat, diagnose, prevent or cure and one should always seek expert advice from their trusted health practitioner.