Can Plant-Based Collagen Actually Reverse Aging? A Quick Lowdown on the Popular Variant Hitting the Beauty Market!

We started waking up to the numerous benefits of collagen as beauty influencers started mixing collagen powders to their coffees and vouching for their numerous benefits on Instagram.  They put their newfound glow down to collagen.  We will review their statements, but first, let’s find out what collagen is and is an integral part of our bodies. Why do we need to have more of the same to keep wrinkles at bay?

Collagen is a vital protein structure that forms our bodies’ connective tissues, and it forms one-third of the protein in our bodies overall. As we start aging, our bodies produce lesser and lesser amounts of protein. The slowdown leads to the breakdown of skin collagen and leads to skin sagging and wrinkles, along with other internal symptoms such as slowing down the healing time of injuries. Animal-derived collagen has been doing the rounds for almost a decade. And the studies slow down osteoporosis to reduce the formation of wrinkles.

All About Animal Collagen

It has been seen that reaping that taking animal collagen has shown significant benefits. But maybe it is not the most sustainable way of taking care of your skin. The methane from cows contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, and cattle raising in rainforests has led to 80% of Amazon deforestation.

Many climate scientists have emphasized shifting focus towards buying more plants and eating fewer large animals. This is why there is a need for vegan collagen in the market, the perfect plant-based option for taking care of your bone health.

 Plant-Based or Vegan Collagen What is it Made of

The surge of plant-based collagen flooding the consumer market may make us believe that it is actually part of plants or they naturally occur in plants. However, it is not true plant collagen protein contains an array of amino acids. That is why now you see more vegan bone broth recipes trending on social media, much like animal collagen.

Plant-based collagen doesn’t contain gelatin (the collagen protein found in bone broth is good for joints, bones, and skin). Still, it contains many vitamins, amino acids, and minerals that are very much like the liquid you get after boiling animal bones.

It is not the real thing. Most plant-based collagen you see is chiefly composed of vitamin C. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that humans utilize to make more collagen. Most collagen brands contain rice bran solubles and butterfly pea powder which helps in absorbing other ingredients. However, vegan collagen can be a catalyst to produce more collagen.

The Efficacy of Plant-Based Collagen Products

If vegan collagen is not real, then are they effective? With vitamin C as the primary ingredient in these products, it’s safe to depend on the study results of vitamin C about collagen production. The chief takeaway here is that vitamin C can help in collagen synthesis and can act as an important anti-aging tool positive, it may not be as effective as we had thought. Also, we need further clinical studies to prove the efficacy of these over, say, a straightforward vitamin C supplementation.

The Other Key Things to Consider

Supplements, vegan collagen, or otherwise can be as effective as we want them to be. It is all about relying on a supplement taken internally to help promote the production of anything in our bodies. It can only be as effective as our bodies enable it to be. People with poor digestion, for example, won’t be able to assimilate the nutrients as well.

Also, older people start making less collagen, and supplementation may not enhance someone’s ability to absorb more collagen from these sources. Also, it depends a lot on what you are pairing it with. If you are pairing vitamin C in a base of rice bran, it may not be as effective as one would think.

Conclusion

So, before delving right into the world of vegan collagen, try and read the ingredients of the products you are selecting. Are these the bone-building, glow-inducing, and reducing-wrinkles kind of tool they are made out to be? Take an informed decision since most vegan collagen-based products are not cheap. Don’t buy the product because random people recommend it to you on their social media page.