Skin health, bone strength, and hair health are just three of collagen’s many benefits. It is a protein of incredible importance in the body, but one that is less than common in the average person’s diet.
That’s where a supplement comes in. Collagen supplements are great ways to increase collagen consumption, assisting the body in its own production of this protein. If you want to know more about collagen supplements you can read full article on sdmag.
Before supplements, there was bone broth. This stock, made from simmering bones, contains an incredible amount of collagen with many vitamins and minerals alongside it.
What is Collagen?
Collagen is a protein found in the body. It is one of the major building blocks of the body. The body naturally produces collagen, but that production decreases with time.
There are over a dozen types of collagen, but four types (aptly named Type I, II, III, and IV) make up the great majority of the body’s total collagen levels.
Type of Collagen
Each type fulfills a specific role in the body. Here is a closer look at the four primary types of collagen:
- Type I - Around 90% of the body’s collagen is Type I. This type of collagen is made of densely packed fibers, providing structure to skin, bones, fibrous cartilage, connective tissue, and teeth.
- Type II - Loosely packed fibers found in elastic tissue that cushions your joints.
- Type III - Supports the structure of muscles, organs, and arteries.
- Type IV - Found in the layers of your skin, helping create a barrier between different layers.
These four types of collagen all have huge roles to play throughout the body. As collagen is so good for the body, it makes sense that people are interested in figuring out how to increase the body’s stores of this protein.
How Making Bone Broth Produces Collagen
What is Bone Broth?
Bone broth is a nutritious stock created by simmering a manner of animal bones in a mixture of water and acid (like vinegar) for many hours. This process breaks down the various vitamins and minerals in the bones.
This process also breaks down the bones themselves, which are made up of a lot of collagen. As they cook, the broken-up collagen turns into gelatin. This gelatin is full of amino acids, which the body uses to create proteins, like collagen, as it processes it.
Bone broth is full of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that you might not get in your diet elsewhere. They are less common in the kinds of foods that we generally consume, making bone broth an excellent addition to the mix.
The Inconsistency of Bone Broth
It is difficult to figure out the exact nutritional benefits of bone broth. Each batch of it will come out differently, depending on the amount and quality of bones that go into it, as well as a few other factors. Though the exact numbers are unknown, bone broth does contain a lot of collagen, vitamins, and minerals that provide a wide variety of benefits to the body as a whole.
Unfortunately, most of these perceived benefits are just speculation. While there are a few studies that have revolved around this stock and its myriad of boons, they shed little light on the exact nutritional benefits of bone broth. The main concern is whether or not the body can efficiently use the nutrient-dense stock as it digests it.
Bone Broth Versus a Collagen Supplement
Adding bone broth to your routine has its benefits and its drawbacks. Fortunately, that is not the only source of collagen out there. Collagen supplements are another way to get these nutrients into a daily routine.
The Case for Collagen Supplements
Collagen supplements give many of the same benefits that bone broth does in capsule form. One of the biggest benefits is an increase in overall skin health, both in diminishing wrinkles and increasing its elasticity. Taking a supplement can also increase hair and nail health while diminishing joint pain.
Taking a collagen supplement has a lot of benefits, including an overall consistency that bone broth cannot match. As it is processed, a collagen supplement will be exact in its amounts and dosage. If you are interested in adding a collagen supplement to your routine, be sure to check out Dr. Emil Nutrition’s Multi Collagen Plus, available in his online store. As with any supplement, be sure to discuss the potential addition of this supplement with your healthcare provider. They can inform you about any interactions this supplement may have with other supplements, herbal remedies, prescription medications, or over-the-counter medications. Before trying a collagen supplement, make sure to consult with your doctor to make sure a supplement is right for you.
The Case for Bone Broth
Though bone broth cannot match the consistency of a collagen supplement, there are benefits to adding it to your routine as well.
The biggest benefit is that it is more than just collagen. Though collagen exists in great quantities within it, bone broth also contains a wide variety of vitamins and minerals not found within a collagen supplement. Some of these nutrients are calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus, as well as iron and vitamins A and K.
The wide variety of nutritional benefits are the key component of this stock, as it provides more than just collagen to the body.
How to Choose Between One and the Other
Age and lifestyle, among other factors, will lead to different needs for collagen in your diet. If you are looking for a small collagen boost in the foods you eat, adding some bone broth into the mix might be best for you. It functions well as a stock used in all manner of cooking, making it nearly indistinguishable from using regular stock.
If you want to reap all the benefits of collagen, then the supplement may be right for you. It will provide you with a consistent amount of collagen every day with fewer variables than consuming bone broth will. It is easy to add to your daily routine, and if you do you can be confident that your body is getting all the collagen it needs.
