While many supplements can be taken to protect the joints, one that your body makes naturally is collagen. Because collagen production lowers with age, many turn to this supplement for further support. Joints are made of cartilage, a tough but flexible connective tissue that has no blood vessels or nerves and is mostly made from collagen fibres.
Those who suffer from joint issues have many supplement options available. Continue reading to learn how collagen is a major contender in helping joint health thrive. In this article, we will explore your joints, how they work, and how the best collagen supplement can help support better joint health.
How Joints Function
Your body has over 300 joints, each made up of a cartilage-covered bone surrounded by a joint capsule. Cartilage cushions the ends of your bones and allows them to glide smoothly over each other when you bend or move. It's also made of collagen fibres—the same fibres that make up skin, tendons, and ligaments—which are arranged in layers that become denser as they approach the part that slides against another bone.
Joints and Your Soft Tissue
Joints are made up of soft tissue, which includes ligaments and tendons. The bones that make up a joint are covered by a thin layer of cartilage. That cartilage acts as a strong, flexible layer to reduce friction between the bones. Cartilage is made up of collagen fibres that connect in an organized structure.
Research shows with age, the type II collagen in joints declines, and puts you at a higher risk of developing osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that causes the cartilage in the joints to break down, leading to pain and inflammation.
Plus, the stress hormone cortisol can also destroy joint cartilage, so stress reduction can help protect the body's joints.
How Collagen Fibres Fray in Your Joints
Collagen is a fibrous protein, meaning it is made of long chains amino acids that are wound into a tight helix. Collagen helps to hold things together by providing strength and stability.
Fraying of collagen fibres can cause pain and stiffness due to increased movement between individual collagen strands within your joints. This increased movement causes friction between the joint surfaces, which then leads to inflammation.
How Collagen Supplementation Helps Joint Repair
As mentioned, collagen is a fibrous protein that is found in connective tissues in the body. Being the most abundant protein in the body, collagen makes up about 30% of your skin, bones, ligaments, and tendons. Collagen helps keep your joints strong and flexible by helping them heal after injury or wear and tear over time.
Types of Collagen
You might be familiar with the three main types of collagen: types I, II, and III. But there are at least 28 types of collagen. Type II collagen loss is associated with joint pain and osteoarthritis. While types I and III, which are abundant in bovine collagen, are usually found in tissues such as connective tissue.
Studies on Collagen for Joints
Type II collagen from bovine sources has been shown to provide the greatest benefit to joint health. In a study of 30 people with osteoarthritis affecting their knees, those who received 5 grams of bovine collagen each day for 13 weeks experienced improvements in symptoms.
In one meta-analysis, researchers reviewed the current medical studies on collagen supplementation and osteoarthritis. They found that collagen supplementation greatly reduced joint stiffness and other osteoarthritis symptoms.
Although this has not yet been studied, researchers theorize that collagen supplements can collect in the joints, thus stimulating the body to create more of its own collagen.
How to Take Collagen For Joints
When the body is injured, it requires the building blocks necessary to repair soft tissues such as tendons and ligaments. Collagen supplements provide your body with essential elements. Type I and III collagens help maintain bone and repair damaged tendons and ligaments. Type II collagen is used in the production and repair of cartilage in the body. Thus, supplementation with Type II collagen from bovine sources can promote the repair of internal joint structures.
After a few months of initial arthritic treatment, adding types I and III from marine collagen can help boost results. This may be due to the increased support of healthy bone regeneration or stronger joint support from the increased structural integrity of tendons and ligaments.
To get the maximum benefit from collagen supplements, try to take a daily dose of up to 10 grams per day for at least 12 weeks. If using a powdered form of the supplement, mix it with your favourite beverage and consume with meals as needed. Collagen powders are available in both flavoured and unflavoured varieties and can be mixed into a wide range of foods and beverages, including coffee, hot chocolate, and smoothies.
Precautions and Side Effects
You may notice better joint mobility after taking a collagen supplement for several weeks—and if so, keep going. This means that your body will use its own natural healing abilities instead of relying on outside sources like prescription medications, which often have unwanted side effects.
Collagen is effective when taken regularly for up to six months (with little evidence of negative side effects).
Collagen is the connective tissue that keeps our joints strong and healthy. In this article, you've learned about how collagen fibres fray, break down in your joints and how collagen supplementation can help rebuild your joints.
References
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24852756/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30368550/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28049007/
