Collagen for perimenopause: trend or truth?

Collagen for perimenopause: trend or truth?

The benefits of collagen for perimenopause have been well documented for some time now. It is common to find promotion on social media and endorsement by celebrities about glowing skin, voluminous hair and boosted energy levels during menopause. This can be very attractive to perimenopausal women as they notice changes in their skin like a loss of firmness and the development of wrinkles.

The drop in oestrogen levels is a leading factor in the sudden, rapid decline in collagen for women during perimenopause. This is commonly associated with decreased attractiveness due to the effects it has on skin, hair and nails, but can also cause health issues relating to the joints, bones and arteries. With their lauded benefits for perimenopause, it’s important to know whether collagen supplements are a true help or simply a passing trend.

The role of collagen in the body

Collagen is our body’s most abundant protein, playing a fundamental role in the structure of virtually every tissue. It has something of a glue-like capacity, fundamental for connective tissues – the name is derived from the Greek word ‘kólla’, which means ‘glue’.

The dermal layer of the skin is composed of skin cells suspended in the extracellular matrix, and it is here that we find collagen. It provides strength and structure to the skin. Collagen is produced by cells called fibroblasts and, in addition to the skin, it plays a fundamental role in the structure of bones, muscles, tendons, cartilage and more. Essentially, it provides elasticity, tensile strength, firmness and hydration.

The body requires certain amino acids, vitamins and other nutrients to form endogenous collagen. But as we age, the collagen in our bodies starts to deplete faster than we can replace it. Fibroblasts collapse, diminishing our capacity to produce collagen, and the levels of collagen-degrading enzymes in our bodies start to increase. From around the mid-twenties, we lose about 1% of our collagen per year, but this can increase to between 30% and 50% during the perimenopause. So our requirement for the nutrients that help produce collagen increase with age.

Manufactured collagen for perimenopause

The process of collagen decline is the reason why collagen supplements were created. The concept is simple: our collagen deficit increases, so we should boost our capacity to replace the collagen we lose. When you purchase manufactured collagen for perimenopause, know that it is derived from animals in the most sustainable way possible. It is extracted from parts of the animals that are not used by the meat industry – for marine collagen like Kollo, this means the skin and scales of fish.

Collagen supplements are available in various forms, including liquid shots, powders, tablets, gummy sweets and more.

The raw material is collagen sourced from animals, but these large, tough molecules are broken down to produce hydrolysed collagen, or collagen peptides. These are far easier for our bodies to digest and absorb those all-important amino acids from the collagen, which are available in unique abundance from actual collagen sources. The bioavailable collagen peptides pass through the gut wall of the small intestines into the bloodstream to be distributed around the body to influence the activity of our cells.

Bioactive collagen for perimenopause symptoms

One example of what happens when those nutrients are made available to your body is that they stimulate fibroblasts to produce more hyaluronic acid which, in turn, hydrates skin that has become dry and dull during perimenopause. This particular effect is supported by a study that highlighted bioactive peptides in the bloodstream after the ingestion of hydrolysed collagen over an extended period of time. The conclusion of that study was that the finding would lead to benefits for the body and the skin.

With Kollo, we add vitamins and other nutrients to the liquid formula to assist the efficacy of the collagen peptides when they engage with the fibroblasts. Vitamin C is known to play a key role in collagen synthesis, so we provide 100% of your RDA of vitamin C in every sachet of Kollo. Various B vitamins are also known to be important for the synthesis of collagen, so we provide them as well.

What evidence is there that collagen for perimenopause works?

There are numerous clinical studies that support the claims of taking oral collagen for perimenopause to boost the collagen levels in our bodies. Some of the benefits you may experience include:

• Firmer, glowing skin
• A reduction in the appearance of wrinkles
• More lustrous hair and nails
• Improved comfort in the joints
• Decreased loss of bone density

Let’s take a look at some double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trials that looked at this very claim.

Czajka et al (2018)

This study showed that daily consumption of collagen peptides (along with a balanced diet and other vitamins) had a positive impact on skin elasticity. 120 subjects took the test collagen supplement for 90 days and the results were as follows:

• A ~40% increase in skin elasticity as compared to the placebo
• Positive changes in the structure of the skin and improvements in collagen fibre organisation
• Subjects reported that their skin felt better hydrated

Choi et al (2019)

This was a review of 11 clinical trials that involved a total of 805 participants. The conclusion was that oral collagen supplements, in both the short and long term, had positive results for skin ageing. The benefits include an increase in dermal collagen density, improvements in skin elasticity and greater overall hydration. This review also determined collagen supplements to be safe, with no reported adverse side effects.

Barati (2020)

This was another review, this time focusing on the impact of collagen supplements on the precise mechanisms by which collagen is produced in the body. Compiling the findings of 10 publications, the review concluded that hydrolysed collagen taken as a supplement had benefits to skin health. However, it also indicated that there was no telling which tissues the increased collagen levels would affect, so it’s important to take a supplement that contains a sufficient collagen dosage to deliver benefits to all potential areas of the body. Kollo’s 10g daily sachets are optimal for this.

Kollo as your source of collagen for perimenopause

There is no doubt that one of the most important considerations for many women when starting a new supplement for menopause is that it must be a pleasant experience to take it. If you are having difficulties with some of the symptoms of perimenopause, the last thing you want is to have to swallow several gigantic pills or spend time making a smoothie so you can add the powder to it. You also don’t want to be swallowing a supplement that still tastes vaguely of fish or beef.

Kollo understands the needs of women during perimenopause, and we have developed our product to ensure a superb experience. This starts with the presentation of our product – the elegant packaging (which is fully recyclable), the colours, the branding; all of this makes Kollo exciting from the moment it enters your door. We make it a liquid supplement because this makes it really easy to add to your daily routine. Simply add the contents of a sachet to water, stir it and drink, or if you prefer, you can drink it straight from the sachet. With the natural tropical flavourings we add, it tastes great and we ensure it is completely sugar-free.

The liquid suspension makes it very easy to take your supplement each day, but it also has more significant benefits.

The benefits of liquid marine collagen for perimenopause

We determined that liquid marine collagen is the best type of collagen supplement. The reasons for this are as follows:

• Marine collagen is highly bioavailable and very similar in structure to human collagen

• The precise liquid formulation allows for a consistent 10g dosage in each sachet

• The liquid also allows for the inclusion of B vitamins, vitamin C and l-lysine nutrients

• With a liquid suspension, your body doesn’t have to break anything down to access the active ingredients

Kollo is gentle on your gut and provides a powerful and abundant dose of collagen peptides to really kickstart collagen production in your body. We have over two thousand 5-star reviews from verified buyers, many of whom are women in various stages of menopause. Their stories are incredibly inspiring and we encourage you to read them on our website. We have also won numerous awards in the two short years Kollo has existed, so there is plenty of reason to be confident that we stand out from the crowd.

Learn more

Please feel free to explore our website to learn everything there is to know about collagen supplementation and Kollo. Check out our customer reviews, the studies and our blog section that contains detailed information about the world of collagen.

If you still have any questions, our team can be reached via the contact page or through social media. We would love to hear from you and will endeavour to answer your queries as thoroughly as possible.