It’s important to maintain a healthy lifestyle that includes eating right, getting enough sleep, staying hydrated, and keeping active. This helps us maintain our health and keep us feeling young, both on the inside, and on the outside. Collagen is a popular supplement to take since it not only keeps our hair, skin, and nails looking good, but it also helps maintain strength and elasticity of tendons, ligaments, and joints. Because when you’re feeling good, and pain-free, it’s easy to take on anything the day can throw your way.
The one question that gets asked the most when it comes to collagen supplements is how long does it take before it starts to work? We’re going to explore all that and more in this article, including:
- What are the benefits of collagen?
- How long can it take to notice results from a collagen supplement?
- Our recommendation for the top collagen supplement
The Benefits of Collagen
A collagen supplement can provide your body with some amazing benefits
Collagen is a major component of our bodies and can be found almost all over. This protein is what keeps our skin elastic and young looking, our hair and nails strong, and also what keeps our bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments in proper condition. Unfortunately, as we age, we lose our steady supply of collagen, which is noticeable in wrinkled or papery skin, achy joints, and less flexibility. The effects of aging have led many people to turn to supplements to help keep collagen levels higher. Besides the potential for younger looking skin, what else can collagen do for your body?
- Keeps hair and nails strong. In the same way that collagen benefits skin, it also has a noticeable impact on the health of hair and nails. Since collagen is a part of the building blocks of both of these, it makes sense that when taking a supplement, you’ll notice healthier, stronger hair and nails.
- May lessen joint pain. When your joints hurt, you’re less likely to stick to an exercise routine, because nobody likes to be in pain! Taking a collagen supplement may help ease those chronic pains due to its anti-inflammatory effects and ability to repair cartilage.
- Help out with gut health. We all know that having a healthy gut is essential for your immune system and helps us feel our best. Collagen’s anti-inflammatory nature may help resolve digestive issues that are the result of inflammation such as irritable bowel disease.
- Beneficial to your heart. Adding a collagen supplement to your routine might help your heart health as well. One study found that taking collagen improved the build-up in artery walls, improved cholesterol markers, and helped to fortify the walls of blood vessels.
How Long Does it Take to Notice Results?
When can you expect to see the results of your daily collagen routine?
It’s good to know that adding collagen to your routine is a great way to keep your body healthy, but how long can you expect to wait before you see results? Although individual results may vary, you can expect to see results of your collagen supplement in about two to four months. This is why it’s so important that you stick to a regular schedule and take your collagen supplement daily. You might not see results right away, but know that you’re working towards a long term goal--and one that will give you results!
Everyone will respond differently to a collagen supplement, and there are factors that can determine how quickly or how slowly you see results.
Lifestyle factors that can influence collagen results:
- Exposure to pollution
- Not eating a healthy diet
- Alcohol and tobacco use
- Lack of hydration
- Poor skin care
These are all factors that you can adjust and change so that your collagen starts to work as quickly as possible. There are also factors that you cannot change, that are based on your own unique makeup, and they include:
- The rate at which collagen is broken down in your body
- How well/not well your skin maintains moisture
- How quickly your skin cells regenerate
- How fast skin cells can recover from damage
We recommend that if you’re going to start a collagen supplement, make sure you stick to a routine. If you choose a powder, make it a daily occurrence to put it in your coffee, tea, or other favorite beverage. If you’d rather take collagen in a capsule, try to take it at the same time each day. It helps to set a reminder on your phone so that you’re less likely to forget. Once you start on this schedule, you won’t miss a beat and will be seeing those benefits in no time!
Top Collagen Supplement
Our top choice for a collagen supplement
Dr. Emil Nutrition’s Multi Collagen Plus
If you’re looking for a simple but powerful collagen supplement, you can’t go wrong with these capsules. Made from five types of collagen derived from 100% grass fed beef, chicken, eggshells, and marine sources, these easy to swallow capsules are non-GMO, gluten-free, and dairy-free. Each capsule contains a high dose amount, that’s sure to get you the quick results you’re craving. This supplement also contains BioPerine (a black pepper extract), which helps the collagen absorb quickly and completely into your body.
“I have been taking collagen supplements for a few months and this one is by far my favorite! I believe it is attributed to Dr. Emil's product containing more types of collagen -- types I, II, III, V, and X. Plus it has BioPerine for better absorption.” -Amazon Review
Although you might have to wait a few weeks to see the results, the potential benefits of a collagen supplement are definitely worth the wait!
