Yes! Collagen is good for gut health. There are a few major benefits of collagen when it comes to your gut: it aids in digestion, helps repair the gut lining, and helps heal leaky gut and IBS. There are foods that already contain collagen or help strengthen the gut, which we discuss later.
It helps you detox.
Taking collagen can help because it is rich in glycine, an amino acid that has enormous healing and detoxification capabilities for the body. Glycine helps reduce damage as your liver processes toxins.
It soothes, repairs and strengthens the gut lining
Collagen plays an integral role in rebuilding and strengthening the lining of our digestive tract as it contains the amino acids—particularly glycine and glutamine—that are essential for its repair.
Research has shown regular consumption of collagen to repair and prevent gut inflammation and associated symptoms. Collagen also supports bone, joint and skin health, including studies into its efficacy in addressing osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and even ageing.
The most common reasons for using collagen in digestive health included better digestion, better stomach, and less bloating (Table 1).
“Collagen seals and heals the gut—standing as our first line of defense when it comes to protecting our immunity and defending against unwanted illness,” says Dr. Walding. The protective barrier that collagen provides allows beneficial gut bacteria to flourish.
In general, most people will see a benefit after taking 10 grams of collagen peptides daily for 4-12 weeks. However, keep in mind that this will vary from person to person. Most importantly, ensure to eat a healthy, balanced diet, rich in whole foods to reap the most benefit from your collagen supplement.
Type II collagen helps build cartilage, joint health, maintain our gut lining therefore supporting digestive health and support immune function.
It might seem easy and harmless to assume collagen is a probiotic, but it's not. Probiotics must, by definition, contain a living organism. Since collagen has no living organisms, it is not considered a probiotic.
Those who took collagen peptides experienced a greater improvement in muscle mass and strength. They also lost more fat mass than the placebo group. These results suggest that collagen supplements can support loss of body fat by enhancing the effects of weight training on muscle mass.
Collagen is essential for the health of bones, skin, blood vessels, and all the body's organs.
Can you take too much? Collagen is generally considered to be a safe and nontoxic daily supplement for healthy individuals, and most people won't experience adverse side effects. Still, some have reported symptoms, such as an unpleasant taste, feeling overly full, or other stomach complaints ( 27 ).
Collagen supplements may lead to mild side effects such as bloating, heartburn, and feelings of fullness. If you have food allergies, make sure to purchase supplements that don't contain your allergens.
Does Collagen Improve Microbiome Health? It's a protein, so it isn't a prebiotic or a probiotic, but it does help your gut more effectively support the environment that a healthy and thriving microbiome needs..
Should You Take Collagen and Probiotics Together? Absolutely. Since probiotics and collagen both support gut health and digestion, they naturally have a complementary relationship with one another. In fact, taking them together can improve their bioavailability or the ability of your body to assimilate the nutrients.
Strengthened gut lining: Collagen supports a healthier gut lining while probiotics help to maintain a more balanced gut microbiome. The amino acids in collagen can rebuild and strengthen your digestive tract lining as well, and a healthier gut makes it easier to absorb nutrients and probiotics.
No, collagen does not cause you to gain weight. Collagen won't cause you to explode with such massive increases of muscle in the gym that you'll put on twenty pounds of muscle, and aside from helping you build muscle, there's nothing in a collagen supplement that would cause you to gain weight.
You can take up to 20-30 grams per day. 15-20 grams is a good therapeutic dose for joints, skin, and leaky gut. The top end, 30 grams, is really only needed by those who work out a lot and are trying to build muscle. I recommend this collagen which you can easily mix into smoothies or drinks for a higher dose.
The types of collagen that are most effective for weight loss are Types I and III. Type I collagen is the most abundant type of collagen in the human body and is found in the skin, tendons, and bones. Type III collagen is found in the muscles, organs, and arteries.
After daily collagen supplementation for a few weeks, you will typically start to notice a few things: hair growth, skin hydration and skin moisture, improvement in joint health and skin health, lessening of fine lines, and other possible anti-aging improvements.
By supporting the microbiome, nourishing the gut lining, and even increasing butyrate production in the gut, collagen may help improve bowel movements and other gut symptoms like gas and bloating.
Additionally, some people may be allergic to collagen supplements. If you experience any itching, swelling, or difficulty breathing after taking collagen supplements, it's important to stop taking them and see a doctor immediately.
A surprising benefit of taking collagen is the positive impact it can have on your sleep. This is because collagen is loaded with the amino acid glycine, an inhibitory neurotransmitter that calms the central nervous system and helps us to unwind, relax, and fall asleep.