Should I use collagen shampoo or a hair boost collagen drink?
Should I use collagen shampoo or a hair boost collagen drink?
When it comes to hair care, there is lots of conflicting advice and there is always some kind of trend that everyone swears by for fuller, shinier, healthier locks. One such trend you may have encountered is collagen shampoo – that is, shampoo infused with collagen to absorb into your scalp and stimulate the growth of healthy hair. But how effective is this approach for reaping the advantages collagen can bring to your hair? Might it be better to use a hair boost collagen drink instead? Or some other type of collagen product?
In this article, we will look at what collagen shampoo does and explore how collagen might help with growing healthier hair. Read on to learn what you need to know.
What is collagen and how does it affect hair?
Collagen is a protein and one of the building blocks of our bodies. Collagen molecules are composed of a triple helix of amino acid chains, providing structure to various connective tissues and helping to nourish the cells they are composed of. Collagen is a very important component of our skin, muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments, cartilage and more. As we age, the levels of collagen in our body naturally decline, and this is partly why we experience things like:
• Sagging skin
• Wrinkles
• Joint pain
• Loss of bone density
• Brittle nails
• Thinning hair
The reason it is believed that collagen has an impact on our hair is that the follicles from which hair grows are located within the scalp. Our scalps are all skin, and all the shampoos, conditioners, hair masks, treatments and other products are designed to promote good health in the scalp. But the collagen content of the skin is key to keeping it hydrated, nourished and generally healthy, so we must look after that aspect to ensure the hair follicles are functioning at their best. If we fail to do that, hair will be thin, lifeless and brittle and may not even grow in some cases.
The goal of collagen shampoos
The basic idea of collagen shampoos and conditioners is a simple one: to provide a topical collagen boost right where it is needed for your hair. But actually getting that collagen into your scalp to support the hair follicles is not so straightforward.
The skin is able to absorb some things through its outer layers so that they get into the capillaries and cells beneath. Research has shown that for molecules to pass through the skin, they must have a molecular weight of no more than 500 Daltons. Collagen molecules, in their complete form, have a molecular weight of approximately 300,000 Daltons and, even when you break collagen down into smaller collagen peptides, the molecular weight is 3,000 – 6,000 Daltons. As you can see, no form of collagen that can be put into a shampoo, conditioner, cream, balm or any other topical agent is small enough to be absorbed into the skin. Essentially, if you wash your hair with a collagen shampoo, the collagen content will, at best, sit on the surface of the skin or, at worst, simply wash away when you rinse your hair.
The other major problem with collagen shampoos
As we have previously stated, collagen is a protein that plays a critical role in the structure and function of many connective tissues, including the skin. We have established that collagen molecules, in any form, are too large to be absorbed into the skin. But even if the skin could absorb them, those proteins would do nothing once they got inside.
The collagen our bodies use is produced naturally within our bodies. Any exogenous collagen, meaning collagen that comes from outside our bodies, is only useful if it can be broken down so that the amino acids within are used to fuel the production of new endogenous collagen within our bodies. So if the collagen in your shampoo could get into your scalp (which it can’t) it would have absolutely no impact on the levels of functional collagen in the skin. You need to get that collagen into your body in such a way that it enters the bloodstream and provides your body with the fuel and the stimulus to start synthesising new collagen.
Enter the hair boost collagen drink...
What is a hair boost collagen drink?
With the knowledge that the only way exogenous collagen can be useful to our bodies is if it enters the bloodstream so that the amino acids contained within fuel new collagen production, the solution is simple. We need to consume that collagen orally so that it is digested and taken as nutrition. Research has suggested that the small intestine may be able to absorb molecules with a molecular weight of up to 14,000 Daltons. Moreover, the enzymes in our gut break down anything that comes in so the amino acids in collagen peptides may be separated further before absorption into the bloodstream.
In other words, highly bioavailable collagen peptides in a collagen supplement can be easily absorbed into the bloodstream via the digestive system. Once this happens, the amino acids glycine, proline and hydroxyproline will trigger and fuel collagen production within the body so that your overall collagen levels can be replenished and your skin and other tissues can be repaired.
A hair boost collagen drink is a liquid supplement fortified with collagen peptides that will enter the digestive system once swallowed. These collagen peptides will be absorbed into the body and help with boosting your body’s natural collagen levels. The benefits of this may help make your hair follicles function better so that you experience healthier hair growth. Other benefits you might experience include:
• Firmer, healthier skin
• A reduction in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
• Improved joint comfort
• An increase in bone density
• Gains in lean muscle mass
• Less brittle nails
• A boost to energy levels and better sleep
• Enhanced gut health
So a hair boost collagen drink is a collagen supplement that may help with your hair and a number of other things.
What other forms of collagen supplements are there?
A hair boost collagen drink isn’t the only way of getting collagen into your body, but we believe it is the best. Alternatives include powders that you mix into food or drink and pills, tablets or capsules. All of them contain collagen peptides derived from fish, cows, pigs or sometimes chickens. You swallow them so that the collagen can be absorbed into the bloodstream, but they have some issues that liquid collagen supplements do not.
For example, pills, tablets and capsules are very small and limited in what can be put into them. Each pill often contains a low collagen dose, so you have to take several at a time to get the optimum dosage for your body. Moreover, the pill takes time for your body to digest in order to access that collagen, so it puts more of a burden on your gut and takes longer to access the active ingredients. The common issue with powders, on the other hand, is that the contents of the tub are not evenly distributed and so you may not get a consistent dosage of collagen each day when consuming a powder. It also takes more work to prepare the powder, whether you mix it with a drink or food, so it can be more difficult to incorporate into your daily routine.
Why is Kollo hair boost collagen drink so effective?
When developing Kollo, we carefully compared all the considerations before making every decision so that we would deliver the ideal collagen supplement for our customers. First of all, we use Naticol marine collagen peptides, derived from the skin and scales of fish. This is type I collagen, which is the most abundant in our bodies, and research has shown that marine collagen is the most bioavailable. It also comes from aquaculture-farmed fish, meaning the purity is high and the practice is very sustainable. Enzymatic processes are used to extract and break down the collagen, so you can rest assured our collagen peptides are extremely high-quality and easy for your body to absorb.
By suspending the collagen peptides in a liquid solution, we keep that bioavailability to a maximum. Your body will not need to digest anything to access the collagen – they will be instantly available for absorption into the bloodstream. The liquid also enables a high, consistent dosage of collagen for daily consumption. We put 10 grams of collagen in every Kollo sachet, which research has shown to be a good daily dose for accessing the many benefits of collagen supplementation.
Another great benefit of the liquid is that it enables us to add additional ingredients that help stimulate and boost the collagen production process in your body. We add B vitamins, vitamin C and l-lysine, all of which are important for collagen synthesis. And the liquid is easy to incorporate into your daily routine – simply add to water and mix then it is ready to drink, with a great tropical taste that comes from natural flavourings.
Learn more about Kollo
We are confident you won’t find a better hair boost collagen drink – or any other kind of collagen supplement – than Kollo. Our multi-award winning product has earned us thousands of 5-star reviews from customers which you can look at on our website. We are proud of every success story that comes from Kollo, and it is a privilege to be able to deliver for so many satisfied customers.
We invite you to explore the blog on our website to learn more about collagen, Kollo and everything related. If you still have questions, please get in touch and someone from our team will make themselves available to answer.