Are collagen hair products worth my time?

 Are collagen hair products worth my time?

Collagen hair products include, shampoos, conditioners and scalp oils that claim to boost the collagen in your scalp to promote thicker, stronger, healthier hair. But can a topical collagen product actually achieve this or is there a better way to increase collagen in your body to improve the health of your hair? Let’s take a closer look at exactly how collagen might help with hair growth and what is the best way to get it to do exactly that.

The evidence-based collagen hair benefits

There is lots of evidence that indicates collagen may be beneficial for your hair. However, while the existing studies give strong indications about collagen hair benefits, there is limited research specifically into the links between collagen supplementation and hair.

Here are 4 things to consider:

#1. Collagen provides amino acids used in building hair

The main component of hair is a protein called keratin, which the body uses several amino acids to build. Some of these amino acids are present in collagen, so your keratin production can be fuelled by collagen peptides. The main amino acid used in producing keratin is proline, and collagen supplements can provide this. While studies into the effects of collagen in hair growth are limited, the provision of a nutrient needed to produce keratin is a strong reason to take it for healthy hair.

#2. Collagen can help repair damage to hair follicles

Collagen is a powerful antioxidant that can fight back against the damage caused by free radicals. These harmful compounds enter our bodies via a number of environmental influences, and it is known that their presence can damage cells, proteins, DNA and, crucially, hair follicles. Several lab-based studies have indicated that collagen – particularly marine collagen – is a strong antioxidant that can fight various types of free radicals which may help prevent damage to hair follicles and thus promote the growth of healthy hair.

#3. It may prevent the hair thinning that happens as we age

Collagen is abundant in the dermis, which contains the root of every individual hair in the body. As we age, our bodies become less efficient at producing collagen to replenish cells in the dermis, so supplementing with collagen may help reduce hair thinning by increasing dermis health. Studies have indicated that collagen supplements improve the levels of the protein in the skin and reduce the signs of ageing and, since hair grows out of that skin, it is logical that hair will grow stronger and healthier when that skin is in good condition.

#4. Collagen may help slow greying

The antioxidant properties of collagen may help fight the cell damage that leads to greying hair. This is because part of the loss of colour in hair is known to be down to free radical damage. You need lots of antioxidants to keep fighting free radicals, and collagen has been shown to do this in lab testing. Consequently, we can conclude that collagen may prevent premature greying and even slow down age-related greying in some cases.

What do collagen hair products claim to do?

Collagen hair products like shampoos and conditioners claim to help achieve the above benefits through a topical application of collagen to the scalp and hair strands themselves. They usually contain other things in addition to collagen, such as biotin, keratin and other nutrients known to be beneficial to hair health. They make claims like working to wrap the hair in a protective layer that deeply nourishes it to provide shine and gloss.

While these products will often leave your hair looking shiny and lustrous, and may even provide some benefits to the health of your scalp, the claims about boosting collagen may not stand up to scrutiny. Topical products like creams, oils, balms and shampoos rely on your skin’s ability to absorb and utilise the active ingredients. Beyond moisturising and hydrating your skin, there is little that these topical products can do, because to impact your body on a cellular level, the ingredients need to enter the bloodstream.

Why do collagen hair products usually fail to boost collagen?

The main issue with these topical products is their ability (or lack thereof) to penetrate the skin. Collagen is no use to us just sitting on the surface of the skin or hair, but that is pretty much all it does when we rub a shampoo, conditioner or scalp oil onto our body. The reason for this comes down to the molecular weight and size of the collagen molecules.

Our skin functions as a barrier and, whilst it is porous, it only allows small molecules to pass inside. These molecules need to have a molecular weight of less than 500 Daltons to be able to penetrate the skin and deliver any benefits. Collagen in its virgin form has an approximate molecular weight of 300,000 Daltons which, obviously, is far too large to penetrate the skin. Even when the collagen is broken down into collagen peptides via hydrolysis, the molecular weight of those amino acid chains comes in at between 3,000 and 6,000 Daltons, so it is still too large to get past the barrier of our skin.

Moisturising components that have a beneficial effect on the skin tend to have a far lower molecular weight and can help hydrate the skin. But, even if the collagen could enter our bodies this way, it would still have little benefit for our hair since it would need to enter the bloodstream to deliver the benefits we want for strong, healthy hair growth.

The collagen hair solution: supplements

Whilst there may be benefits to the look and feel of your hair from using these collagen hair products, they are unlikely to come from the collagen content. If you want to reap the benefits that collagen can have for your hair, you need to get it in your body rather than on it. This way, the amino acids can get into your bloodstream and stimulate the production of new collagen along with fuelling other hair-related processes like keratin formation.

Diet is key when it comes to anything health and cosmetic. Our bodies need all the nutrients that power its functions, and those nutrients can come from the food we eat and the supplements we take. So what you need is a powerful food supplement that contains pure, highly bioavailable collagen and other complementary ingredients that supercharge your body’s natural collagen synthesis internally. Enter Kollo.

How does Kollo deliver what you need?

The primary ingredient of Kollo is premium grade marine collagen peptides. This means the collagen is very pure, free from contaminants and broken down into hydrolysed collagen that is easy for the body to absorb. The digestive system can absorb much larger molecules than the skin can, and it also has enzymes and acids that break things down to make them more absorbable. Kollo is specially designed to be highly bioavailable, meaning the digestive system can absorb the collagen peptides, B vitamins, vitamin C and l-lysine very quickly and efficiently so that they can get to work in the bloodstream.

What’s more, we suspend those nutrients in liquid rather than a solid powder or tablet, so the body has to do no work to break anything down and access those all-important ingredients. Essentially, they are absorbed almost immediately since they arrive in a ‘pre-digested’ form. They will enter the bloodstream and be carried off to the cells where they are needed to stimulate collagen production, fight free radicals and generally improve the health of your skin, hair and other body parts and functions.

This is a far more efficient and effective way of accessing the benefits of collagen than by applying it to your skin and hair. With oral collagen supplements, you will get those collagen hair benefits along with:

• Improved skin elasticity
• A reduction in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
• Improved muscle growth (when taking after exercise)
• Stronger, denser bones
• Less inflamed, more supple joints
• A healthier gut
• Increased strength in your nails

If you have any questions

While the collagen hair benefits have not yet been extensively studied, there is a strong body of supplementary evidence to suggest the effectiveness of collagen for stronger, healthier hair. The key is getting that collagen into your body so that it can do the work, and this simply isn’t possible with collagen hair products or other topical collagen creams, oils, balms, ointments and the like.

Oral supplements are the solution, and Kollo is among the best on the market with high-quality marine collagen backed by a wealth of evidence for its effectiveness. We have won many awards and have a long list of 5-star reviews from thousands of satisfied customers. Please explore our website further to learn more about the benefits of taking Kollo and why it is far more effective than a topical product could ever be.