Are you wondering whether collagen can make you gain weight or not? Well, chances are that you are not the only one having this question. For many years, the issue of collagen and weight gain has been debated in different forums. To start with, collagen is the most abundant protein in the body of a human being.
From the bones to the nails, there are many body parts that have this protein. Due to its abundance, most people have always thought collagen could cause weight gain in the long run. In this article, we shall take a broader look at whether collagen can make someone lose weight or not, among other facets.
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Does Collagen Make You Gain Weight?
Does collagen make you gain weight? This is a question that lingers in the minds of many who are concerned about weight gain. A precise answer to this question is that collagen will not result in weight gain. First and foremost, weight gain is usually caused by factors such as consuming more calories than you are burning.
Fortunately, collagen does not contain excessive calories. To put it into perspective, collagen usually contains about 36 calories per 10 g daily serving. Therefore, collagen will not have a significant impact as far as weight gain is concerned.
What Does Collagen Do?
Since we have seen that collagen does not make one gain weight, there are certain roles that this protein does to the body. From relieving joint pains to improving the health of your skin, there are many benefits that collagen offers to the body. To put it into perspective, these are the main benefits of collagen to the body.
1. Helps Improve Your Skin’s Health
Collagens play a significant role in improving your skin’s health in a number of ways. First of all, it helps to strengthen your skin. Also, it contributes to the hydration and elasticity of your skin. When someone is young, his or her skin is usually soft and supple. This is because the body usually produces a lot of collagen when someone is young.
However, as you advance in age, the skin tends to become dry and can have wrinkles. This can be attributed to the fact that the body produces less collagen as someone ages.
However, the good news is that you can prevent the formation of wrinkles by taking collagen peptides. One of the many collagen peptides benefits is that it can help increase your skin’s elasticity. Besides this, it will boost your skin’s hydration and thus prevent wrinkles by a large margin.
2. Aids In Relieving Joint Pain
Besides enabling your skin to look soft and supple, collagen can help relieve joint pain. This is because it plays a major role in maintaining the integrity of your cartilage. Studies show that collagen helps improve symptoms of joint disorders such as osteoarthritis. Therefore, the elderly can readily consume foods or supplements rich in collagen in order to alleviate such problems.
3. Helps To Boost Muscle Mass
Did you know that 1-10% of your muscle tissue is usually composed of collagen? This is the reason why you need this protein so that your muscles can remain strong and function optimally. If you are suffering from loss of the muscle mass, popularly known as sarcopenia, you should consider taking collagen supplements today. Even as you age, you will still look strong and muscular, thanks to the collagen in your body muscles.
4. Help Prevent Bone Loss
One of the things that keep your bones strong and give them structure is collagen. However, as one ages, the body reduces the production of collagen, and thus, your bone mass might start reducing. Consequently, this might lead to health conditions such as osteoporosis. To avert such health conditions, you should consider taking collagen supplements in plenty.
5. Good For The Heart
There are many things that can contribute to heart-related diseases. From the foods we eat to the lifestyle that we lead, there are many things that can compromise the health of your heart. To keep your heart strong, your heart organ needs to have enough collagen. With this protein in place, the arteries will remain strong and thus transport blood to essential body organs seamlessly.
Which Foods Contain Collagen?
Connective tissues of animals are known to be good sources of collagen. Therefore, foods such as pork skin, chicken skin, fish, and beef are good sources of collagen. Besides this, bone broth is another good source of collagen. After all, it contains a large percentage of gelatin. Remember that gelatin is the protein that is obtained from collagen once it has been cooked. If you cannot access these foods with ease, you can consider taking collagen peptides or supplements.
What Are Collagen Peptides?
Simply put, collagen peptides refer to small prices of proteins from animal collagen. Unlike the above-mentioned sources of collagen, collagen peptides are easier to digest and transport to the rest of the body through the bloodstream. For optimal results, you should go for collagen peptides that are hydrolyzed. Besides the benefits mentioned above, here are other collagen peptides benefits:
- They can help heal the gut
- Help improve the recovery time in case an individual has had an injury
- They can make someone feel full, thanks to their ability to increase the satiety hormone.
- Since they help boost the body’s metabolism, these supplements can help increase lean muscle mass. If you are able to combine these supplements with exercises, you will be able to reduce weight over time.
To understand what is collagen good for? You should go ahead and purchase vital proteins collagen peptides before and after. You will note that your skin will look smoother than before, and you will have strong bones. Besides this, you will be able to prevent joint pains and shed more weight.
Can You Take Too Much Collagen?
No. Although this protein is safe to consume, it is not safe to consume it in excess. Ideally, you should take about 1 to 3 scoops per day. Beyond that, you may experience some side effects. Too much collagen symptoms include unappetizing leftover taste in your mouth, feeling overly full, heartburn, and so on.
Some users have also complained about stomach upsets, among other effects. This is the reason why you should check with your doctor or healthcare provider so that you can get to know about the right dosage so that you can enjoy the benefits we have mentioned above.
What Are Collagen Side Effects On Kidney?
When consumed in high amounts, collagen can be detrimental to your kidney. In fact one of the collagen side effects on the kidney is that it can cause kidney stones. Besides this, it can increase urinary oxalate excretion. Most doctors usually recommend people who are at the risk of developing kidney stones not to take collagen peptides. Therefore, you should be careful with how you consume collagen supplements out there.
If collagen does not make you gain weight, what can make you gain weight tremendously?
Since collagen cannot make you gain weight, it is important that you know what can make you gain weight tremendously. Some of these factors include:
1. Taking Too Many Processed Foods
Although you may want to take a few processed foods, too much of these foods can make you gain weight. Some of these foods include sugary cereals, microwave dinners, fast foods, and so forth. Instead, you should consider taking healthy snacks such as eggs, yogurt, frozen fruits, and so forth.
2. Sedentary Lifestyle
How active are you at home? Some usually prefer to sit all day watching movies or even sleeping whenever they are free. Although this kind of lifestyle is good, you may end up gaining weight unawares.
This can be attributed to the fact that you are hardly burning your calories. Ideally, you should be active both at work and home so that you can burn excess calories. Consequently, you will be able to reduce your weight by a large margin.
3. Failure To Get Sufficient Sleep
Sleep is very important for your body. To start with, it helps your body to relax and get revitalized. Besides this, it can help you reduce your weight in the long run. This is the reason why you should aim to sleep at least 8 hours a day or even more.
4. Chronic Stress
It is no secret that stress can have adverse effects on your health. This is because your body will be releasing the hormone cortisol in response to stress. Consequently, your hunger levels will rise and thus prompt you to eat more. If you eat foods rich in calories, you are bound to gain more weight.
5. Presence Of An Undiagnosed Medical Issue
Some people are struggling with medical issues that are yet to be diagnosed. From depression to hypothyroidism, there are many conditions that may make you gain weight and even result in obesity. To be on the safe side, these conditions should be diagnosed in good time to avoid future problems.
Final words
From what we have discussed above, it is evident that collagen does not make one gain weight. Instead, it makes some lose weight as it boosts the body’s metabolism. If you want to boost the collagen levels in your body, you can consider buying liquid collagen.
Which comes in the form of collagen peptides, and take it as instructed by your physician. As long as you watch out for the above-mentioned weight gain factors, be sure that you will maintain a reasonable weight and thus lead a healthy lifestyle.
