NUTRITION

Petra, a Facebook friend from Europe, asks:

“I am considering taking collagen peptides for my hair and skin. They are all the rage right now in Europe. What do you think?”

It is true that, as we age, the collagens in our skin, joints, and elsewhere in the body change, resulting in some of the common physical signs and symptoms of aging. I am referring to changes like wrinkles, sagging skin, hair changes and aching joints. The idea is that you might be able to slow down, prevent, or even reverse these common changes that occur during aging by eating collagen or small collagen precursors, such as collagen peptides.

Ah, if only that were true. What a simple way it would be to stop or reverse some of the effects of aging.

As with many ideas in what I call “armchair medicine,” this is more wishful thinking than fact. To determine if an idea is worthwhile scientific information rather than “mental gas,” you have to get out of your armchair, conduct experiments and get data to support your idea. Are there publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals studying the effect of collagen peptides on the human body’s collagen metabolism? Yes, there are. Are the studies conclusive? No, they are not. Is there presently sufficient scientific data to support taking collagen peptides? No. Collagen is the body, accounting for about 30% of our protein. One un usual fact about collagen is that, unlike other proteins in the body, it contains large amounts of the specific ami no acids, proline, hydroxy proline and glycine. However, these amino acids are found in the proteins we consume every day. For example, glycine is found in animal and vegetable proteins such as turkey, chicken and peanuts. Proline is common in fish, egg whites, meats, asparagus, peanuts and other veggies. And the human body naturally produces hydroxyproline from proline. Before spending money and taking an unproven protein or peptide supplement which claims to be “essential” to your body, first consider if you are already making that compound biologically in your very own body. If the answer is “yes,” then there is no need to search out and include that protein or its derivatives in your diet. Molecules that you can synthesize in your own body be eaten, digested, absorbed, transported and used directly. That is simply not how the human body works. humans, tissues and used for different purposes. Specific types of collagens are biosynthesized in our joints, in our skin, in our eyes and elsewhere.

The body’s biochemical and biological synthetic ability is awesome.

When you eat collagen protein or small collagen molecules, such as peptides, they are digested, similar to any other proteins in the diet. It is true that some smaller molecules, like peptides, may be directly absorbed by a non-digestive process called micropinocytosis. This type of absorption, although important from an immunological and allergy viewpoint, is so small that it does not adequately supply the raw materials necessary for protein synthesis. In addition, protein molecules — such as collagen — are made from amino acids at the point-of-need in the organ or tissue. They cannot

Worried about protecting your collagen? Then do not smoke, limit your exposure to UV radiation, and make sure your blood glucose is under control. Those three factors degrade your collagen big time. For diabetics, getting your diabetes under control and adopting a Mediterranean-styled way of eating are important ways to avoid spikes in your blood sugar. Elevated sugar in your blood can attach to collagen and change its properties. So, it’s far better and more effective to control all these factors rather than gobbling down collagen peptide supplements.

What is the “No-Nonsense Nutrition” advice for today? During digestion, protein molecules and peptides are broken down to their constituent amino acids and re-assembled into proteins at the site of need, a process called “in situ” synthesis. The amino acids needed for collagen synthesis are found in abundance in all the proteins that you eat every day. Eating extra collagen or collagen precursors will not improve your collagen or slow collagen breakdown. Finally, if you sit in an armchair and come up with an idea, then get out of that armchair and get the data needed to support your idea. Don’t make your important health decisions based on someone else’s wishful thinking.

Have a question about food, diet or nutrition? Post or private message your question on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/ AskDrKarp) or email your question to askdrkarp@gmail.com If your question is chosen for a column, your name will be changed to insure your privacy. Warren B. Karp, Ph.D., D.M.D., is Professor Emeritus at Augusta University. He has served as Director of the Nutrition Consult Service at the Dental College of Georgia and is past Vice Chair of the Columbia County Board of Health. You can find out more about Dr. Karp and the download site for the public domain eBook, Nutrition for Smarties, at www.wbkarp.com Dr. Karp obtains no funding for writing his columns, articles, or books, and has no financial or other interests in any food, book, nutrition product or company. His interest is only in providing freely available, evidenced-based, scientific nutrition knowledge and education. The information is for educational use only; it is not meant to be used to diagnose, manage or treat any patient or client. Although Dr. Karp is a Professor Emeritus at Augusta University, the views and opinions expressed here are his and his alone and do not reflect the views and opinions of Augusta University or anyone else.