What You Should Know About Collagen: Animal vs. Plant Collagen-Builders + Exciting Announcement!
How collagen is made + why it’s important
Collagen is formed from three complex, long-chain proteins (made up of 19 amino acids) which twist into a triple stranded helix. Over 30% of all of your body’s protein is made up of collagen, which means having enough collagen in your body is essential for consistent health & vitality. Collagen is simply like the glue that holds everything together because it’s what makes up your skin, bones, intestinal barrier, muscles, tendons, and your joints.
What is a plant-based collagen builder & why should I consider it?
It’s no surprise that collagen builder supplements have become such a huge trend. They help maintain good gut health, skin health, and they even help to promote a more youthful glow. Plant-based collagen builders give your body the ingredients it needs to make collagen, without containing collagen itself. You don’t have to be vegan to use them, just like you don’t have to be vegan to eat a salad. Everyone can benefit from collagen builders, just as anyone would benefit from eating a luscious salad.
Vegan collagen builders work in a very different way from animal-based collagen supplements because they’re not made from collagen. As the name suggests; “collagen builders” are plant-based collagen supplements that help your body build its own collagen.
Basically, vegan collagen builders work in the same way of how you learn at school. You are taught material and information, and once you’ve learned and gathered all the information you need, you are ready to create a project or take a test in order to express what you’ve learned. Essentially, vegan collagen builders work in the exact same way by providing your body with all the knowledge or material it needs to produce more collagen, and give your body the results it needs to thrive and survive.
Your body already naturally makes its own collagen, but if you don’t get enough of what your body needs, it slows down the production of collagen. This also happens as you age, but at a much faster rate because you need more nutrients in your diet to combat the effects of aging. This is when collagen building supplements come in handy, and since in today’s world with the environmental pollutants, excessive stress, and the busy lives we all lead, your body may need a little extra support to produce the amount of collagen you need. Through supplementing with a vegan collagen builder, you’ll be able to help your bodies natural collagen production by directly supplying it with the nutrients your body needs.
I’m not advocating substituting nutrient-rich plant-based whole-foods, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle for mixing in some collagen-building powder into your smoothie, and calling it good. Collagen builders are meant to be used as a SUPPLEMENT, and my motto from the start has always been REAL PLANT-BASED WHOLE-FOODS over supplements. Collagen builders are meant to supplement what you’re already doing in your life to maintain a healthy lifestyle, not to replace what you’re doing.
FACTORS THAT COULD DEPLETE COLLAGEN PRODUCTION
+ HOW TO NATURALLY SLOW YOUR BODIES AGING PROCESS WITH WHOLE-FOODS
Both external and internal factors promote the physical process of skin aging that is associated with a decrease of collagen production. Collagen formation is diminished in mature skin, which then causes the skin to begin collapsing and collagen loses its strength and stability (leading to wrinkles/aging). Factors such as sunlight, smoking, environmental pollution, alcohol abuse, and nutrient deficiency can accelerate the aging process & decline of collagen. Once the elasticity is diminished, the lines and wrinkles appear, and the skin becomes much thinner and drier.
5 common factors + solutions to mitigate the decline of collagen production:
AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE (IMBALANCE WITHIN YOUR GUT/MICROBIOME): Combat by speaking with your integrative + functional medicine doctor to understand the root cause of the issue in order to get proper treatment and prevent further collagen loss.
SMOKING OR ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION: Combat by abstaining all together!
TOO MUCH SUN EXPOSURE: Combat by getting the right amount of sunlight and knowing your limits.
REFINED SUGAR CONSUMPTION: Combat by consuming low/no sugar, and instead opt for natural sugar sources from fresh or dried fruits.
FREE RADICALS: Combat with an antioxidant-rich, whole-foods plant-based diet + high quality collagen building supplement when necessary, such as Plant Fusion’s Complete Plant-based Collagen builder powder for your pre/post workout smoothie!
Ways to start implementing collagen builders into your routine TODAY
Your body produces collagen from protein peptides and vitamin C. Plant-based collagen proteins consist of the same non-essential amino acids we need to have glowing healthy skin, while also containing botanical extracts and antioxidants that help the collagen builder cells in your body function at their best. Here are a few key vitamins and minerals worth introducing into your diet to help support collagen production.
Top plant-based whole-food sources:
Chromium - found in sweet potato, peas and whole grains
Choline- Most abundant in animal products (liver, eggs, salmon), however broccoli, spinach and beans are also rich in choline, yet less absorbable in the body; which means if you’re vegan, you may want to consider supplementation since this is a crucial nutrient for optimal brain health.
Copper + zinc - found in nuts, pumpkin seeds, and kidney beans
Omega-3 fatty acids - found in spinach, flaxseed, pecans and soybeans or in a vegan algae omega-3 DHA +EPA supplement
Silica - found in strawberries, celery and asparagus
Sulfur - found in kale, onions and fermented vegetables
Vitamin C - found in citrus fruits, leafy greens, tomatoes and pineapple
Iron - found in spinach, broccoli and tempeh
Threonine - found in lentils, peanuts and chickpeas
Proline - found in cabbage, mushrooms and plant-based yogurt
Lysine - found in avocados, mangoes, black beans, cashews and quinoa
“Always choose real, plant-based whole-foods over supplements. Collagen builders are meant to supplement what you’re already doing in your life to maintain a healthy lifestyle, not to replace what you’re doing.
”
Why I avoid animal-based collagen supplements (aka hydrolyzed collagen peptides) +
Cons of animal-based collagen Products
The vast majority of collagen supplements you see on the shelves, are animal-based collagen supplements. This is because collagen is found only in animal proteins, which means, generally the difference between a collagen supplement and a collagen-building supplement, is that pure hydrolyzed collagen comes from animals bones, hooves, horns, or skin, but collagen builders come directly from plants. The benefits of collagen building supplements are not as obvious, but they go far beyond just the basic collagen protein.
Most animal collagen is a by-product of factory farming, where pesticides and herbicides like glyphosate are stored in the bones. The idea behind these supplements is that by taking animal collagen, you can replace the collagen levels in your body. For example, as the collagen levels in your joints begin to deplete as you age, animal-based collagen powders are supposed to replace the collagen you’ve lost. There are a couple of issues with these supplements, though. The first being, that there are many contaminants found in animal-based collagen supplements, such as harmful heavy metals like copper and arsenic. It’s also important to note that when animal tissues are processed and broken down into powders, they typically emit toxic compounds.
Avoiding false marketing from animal-based collagen supplements
You won’t increase your bodies level of collagen production through eating animal collagen. That’s the same thing as saying “I’m going to eat cow brain to become smarter.” It’s not true, and that’s not how our bodies work. Instead, we need to think more holistically and look at the bigger picture.
What you really need to be consuming in order to boost collagen production within your body is the essential collagen building blocks found in vitamin c, and amino acids right from their source. Animal-based collagen doesn’t confront the root cause of collagen loss. It’s like putting band-aids over scrapes.
Collagen production is influenced by several different factors. If you choose to take an animal-based collagen supplement or a vegan collagen builder, make sure you also take steps to make your lifestyle healthier overall.
“The best type of collagen your body can have is the collagen it creates on its OWN, making plant-based collagen builders your new best friend. ”
Animal collagen=harder to digest + absorb
Overall, the tightly twisted triple helix of full-form collagen (from animals) is difficult to break down during digestion and too large to cross the intestinal wall, which makes collagen from animals not as effective to absorb and digest as its plant-based counterparts. Animal derived collagen proteins are also missing other critical nutrients that your body needs in order to turn those amino acids into collagen proteins within your body, such as vitamin C.
Collagen peptides from animals contain high levels non-essential amino acids such as proline, hydroxyproline, alanine and glycine. These are all non-essential amino acids to supplement with because they’re already naturally produced in the body. Collagen production is a natural process your body was made to do, which is why providing it with important building blocks (collagen builders) will support your bodies natural process. When you consume a primarily plant-based diet your body takes the ingredients from your diet such as vitamin C, and transforms them into collagen. When your body uses vitamin C and protein from your diet, it will produce small molecules called pro-collagen. As more pro-collagen are produced, they’ll form tiny clumps, called fibrils. Then as the fibrils connect to one another, they start looking like a net, which is what we call collagen.
Plant-based collagen builders for the win
In an ideal world we’d have no stress, and no stress would mean that there wouldn’t be any breakdown of our body’s own collagen production. Unfortunately, that’s just not the case, and with so many outside environmental influences wreaking havoc on our skin, a natural collagen supplement that will help your body build more of its own natural collagen is something you can feel good about adding to your routine. Vegan collagen builders do more than the average collagen protein because they nourish your body’s OWN collagen creation process, instead of giving it non-absorbable collagen directly from animal sources. And the best type of collagen your body can have is the collagen it creates on its OWN.
EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!!
I have officially teamed up with Plant Fusion, a company that has sourced the best ingredients & most nourishing plant-based protein sources from around the world, to create the most nutrient-rich protein & collagen supplements.
I have been using Plant Fusion supplements and plant-based collagen builders for over a year now, and no product has disappointed. I decided to become a Plant Fusion ambassador after they reached out to me a few weeks ago; not only because I’m obsessed with their plant collagen, but also because I am such a huge advocate for quality companies & conscious consumerism.
We vote with our dollar, so anytime we hand over our money to purchase something, we are also saying that we believe in that company, its values, and their ethos. Majority of the time without even knowing it, you probably wouldn’t agree with most companies values and practices, which means it’s pivotal to do your research and truly ask yourself if what you’re about to purchase will benefit you and those around you. Plant Fusion is one of the few supplement companies I actually trust to create beautiful, plant-powered supplements without any B.S ingredients or fake sweeteners. I love their entire line, and I’ve been dabbling on & off with a few different Plant Fusion products throughout the past year from my local health-food market, and I’ve found that my favorite addition to my morning green smoothies has been their Complete Collagen Builder, I’m OBSESSED. I can’t wait to share all the epic recipe’s and reviews about Plant Fusion’s amazing protein + collagen powders and supplements, so stay tuned on my insta stories, posts, and future blog posts!
Plant-based nutrient dense products that taste amazing=COMPLETE NOURISHMENT
Be sure to head over to https://plantfusion.com/ & checkout their high quality supplements and powders, or visit your local health-food store to check them out!
Read more about Plant Fusion & their story at https://plantfusion.com/pages/about
Also watch the videos under the “Our story” tab on their website to learn more about where their ingredients are sourced from!
Don’t forget to checkout their insta @plantfusion & give them a follow!
#PlantFusion
Ambassador