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Collagen, Collagen, Collagen. No longer just something you see on a female focused magazine, but it’s becoming a widely accepted form of protein for both men and women. But why? Doesn’t the usual whey protein shake do the trick just fine? Why do I need to now start taking this new thing. Well.. let’s do some digging.

For starters, don’t think suddenly your usual protein isn’t as effective. Collagen is just a little.. well.. different. Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body. While usually found in connective tissues of animals, it’s used and found all over in the human body. But why switch, or even add collagen to your supplement routine? Well let’s look at some potential benefits.

For starters collagen is a critical part of the arteries in the heart. This is the protein that allows those arteries to remain flexible and continue to work at peak performance. Keeping an optimal collagen level could help to keep your heart healthy longer.

Collagen is a key piece in your hair and nails. While be it, not everyone may care. For those that do collagen could be critical in helping to keep your nails and hair healthy and strong for a long time to come.

Collagen could help with your joint pain. Collagen levels decrease naturally over time as we age. Being a crucial part of the connective tissue, collagen could help to ease joint pain but helping to better support the joint structures and ease inflammation.

Your Skin is the biggest organ you have. Collagen is crucial in helping to support elasticity and hydration of this giant organ we call the skin. As we age, collagen levels naturally decrease and in turn, our skin becomes well.. wrinkly and dry! Supplementing collagen could potentially help to combat this by upping the collagen levels in our body even as we age.

Collagen = Swole…? Being that it is the most abundant protein in found in the body, and what we know about muscle protein synthesis. It would be a miss to not at least address that supplementing collagen could also aid in muscle growth. Now, it’s also worth mentioning, collagen does have a lower amino acid profile vs. our typical whey protein. Whey Protein houses all 9 essential amino acids, while collagen protein falls short in this category. So yes, collagen will aid in muscle growth, but your go to whey protein is going to be more effective in this process with a wider amino acid profile.

So in short, YES collagen has the potential to be incredibly beneficial as a part of your supplement routine. Does it replace your go to whey protein? Well not necessarily. This is when you take a hard look at your goals, are you trying to improve muscle mass, get swole, or gain weight? Then keep the whey in your diet. Are you looking to improve your overall wellness while upping your protein intake, then collage is your ticket! Want both? Take both! It won’t hurt to just add both into your daily supplement routine!