All about Collagen
What Is Collagen
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body. We often find collagen in the ligaments, bones, muscles, skin, blood vessels, cartilage, and tendons of your body.
Types Of Collagen
As technology evolves, scientists were able to identify many different types of collagen. The most common types of collagen are:
Type I and III collagen comprise 90% of all the collagen in the human body. They support skin, muscles, bone health, hair and nail growth. Type I collagen is the major structural component of the skin, tendons, bones, and organs, while Type III collagen can be found in the bone marrow. It helps to form the arterial walls which are the key to cardiovascular health.
The combination of Type I & III Collagen helps to:
- Improve the elasticity of skin, tendons, and ligaments
- Supports bone matrix
- Thicken hair and reduce hair loss
- Reduce fine lines and wrinkles
- Improve nail strengths
- Repair and assist in the maintenance of connective tissues
- Promotes wound healing
Type II collagen is found in your cartilage. It makes up the gel-like fluids providing lubrication for easy movement. When it breaks down, our joints begin to grind, and hence causes pain and inflammation. Yes, it links to arthritis. On top of that, it also links to patients who have irritable bowel disease due to low collagen level in the body. Type II collagen helps repair tissues along the digestive tract and promotes gut health.
The main source for collagen:
Type I = Marine Extracts from fish (skin, bone or scales).
Type II & III = Animal Extracts, mainly from Bovine (Cow or Beef) & Chicken
What Can Collagen Do?
It basically connects tissues in the body. Collagen supports internal organs, combines cells to structure the body, provides oxygen and nutrients. On top of that, it strengthens bones.
Your body contains 30% of this protein and IS ABUNDANT IN SKIN. It is how the abundance of collagen promotes the elasticity of your skin.
The Good News is, our body produces collagen. That’s great right? However…
The Bad News is…
From the age of 20s, your body starts to lose collagen! …and it produces less and less collagen as you age, meaning you will start getting:
- Wrinkles
- Fine lines
- Sagging skin
- Grey Hair
- Hair loss
- High Blood Pressure
- Bone Loss
- Arthritis
- Farsightedness
- Atherosclerosis
Wait. There’s WORSE! Collagen production decreases more for women after menopause.
During menopause, a woman will experience hormonal changes in her body. The level of a hormone in her body, called estrogen starts to decrease. Estrogen plays an important role in skin health. It stimulates the production of collagen and natural oils in your body which keeps your skin moisturized.
The point is your body is already losing collagen every single day starting from the age of 20. Can you imagine how much more you lose with less estrogen?
Oh no, what do we do to fight all these lack of collagen issues ?
Yes, retain body collagen and replenish the lost collagen.
Bad habits contribute to the loss of the body’s natural collagen at a faster rate. Simple logic says it accelerates aging if you lose the natural collagen in your body. Smoking, high sugar consumption, sun, and toxins exposure including indoor artificial UV light exposure and poor diet lead to wrinkles and sagging skin.
You cannot avoid environmental factors, neither can you stop getting old. This simply means that collagen loss in your body is inevitable.
Dry skin, fine lines, wrinkles, age spots, sagging skin, broken nails or damaged hair are signs of collagen deficiency.
Here comes the SCARY effect of collagen deficiency - AGING
We need to restore aged collagen to counter the effects of aging, in order to improve the appearance of our skin and body health. This is the most common words used in this wellness world of today - ANTI-AGING.
We now talk about replenishing the lost collagen.
Throughout the years, you might have heard news about beauty treatments gone wrong or bad Botox experiences. People spent hundreds of thousands on laser treatments, Botox and fillers just to look younger. That does make you look “Insta-Worthy”, but only on the outer layer.
Fortunately, there are ways to regenerate YOUTH FROM WITHIN your body. As the saying goes, kill two birds with one stone. Taking collagen as a dietary supplement not only promotes health, it makes you feel good and look younger as well.
Animal vs Marine
It is like ordering a meal at the dining table, fish, chicken or beef ? Remember, collagen is big protein. You can consume abundance to enjoy same benefits. Bone broth is the most common way for certain amino acids intake. Gelatine in bone broths contains glycine, glutamine, proline and arginine. No, it is not a complete sessential amino acids profile. But still, thanks to its collagen content.
Wait a minute. Bovine, chicken feet, pig trotter are the main foods that give you collagen. However, you cannot consume them everyday as it cannot be on the daily menu and those foods contain high fat and cholesterol. We are concerned about fat intake whenever we think about replenishing the lost collagen.
There are two types of extracts the manufacturers will consider in order to produce different types of quality, namely Bovine Extracts, and Marine Extracts. Fishes are the main source to derive the marine extract. Whereas animal source for collagen comes from bovine (cow or beef), chicken, pig, etc…
Our digestive enzymes play an important role in breaking down collagen into peptides so that it can be absorbed by our bodies. Studies have shown that fish collagen peptides are smaller than bovine collagen peptides, thus giving them superior bioavailability and digestibility. Due to its low molecular weight, marine collagen proves to be 1.5 times more absorbent than bovine collagen. This enhanced absorption ability helps to bring the collagen deep into your skin, hence giving you a youthful look.
Now, let us understand how marine collagen is extracted.
Collagen from fish is extracted from the fish waste, is known as fish collagen or marine collagen. Fish waste or fish remains are skin, scales, bones, fins, stomach, etc. Many marine collagen in the market today is extracted from the scales of fish. They are generally cheaper than those from fish skin. For obvious reason, many manufacturers go for cheaper fish scales for extraction of collagen in order to obtain highest profit margin.
Though both fish skin and fish scales give us the same Type 1 collagen, they are at a totally different level. The fish skin is superior in quality than fish scales. That is because fish skin is soft and collagen can be extracted completely with heat and enzymes.
In contrast, fish scales are hard and need to be dissolved with hydrochloric acid. Hydrochloric acid is a strong chemical substance that not only dissolves scales but also the amino acids (collagen), meaning while they are trying to extract collagen from fish scales, they are indirectly destroying collagen in the process.
Fish scales have mostly been sourced from cultivated Tilapia (freshwater fish) in ponds. To maintain profitability, they often use antibiotics to treat bacterial infections in the pond.
In Aishitoto, we care about the well-being of our customers. We serve our customers with utmost sincerity and dedication. Above all, we want our customers to have the best that we can offer. Thus, we make sure that our marine collagen jelly is made from extracts from the deep-sea fish skin.
How to choose the best collagen supplement?
Choosing the best and effective collagen is always the toughest job to do. Living in a fast-paced world today, it's getting harder to consume enough nutrients from our daily diet. As collagen is so vital to our wellness, collagen supplement should come in handy nowadays. What kind of collagen supplement suit us ?
There are tons of collagen supplements available in the market. There are collagen powder, collagen drink, collagen tablets, capsules, jelly, snacks, etc. How would you know which type of supplements will give you the best result?
Well, that’s what we are here for…
There is a common thought in customers’ minds that “collagen is collagen, same protein regardless of the source”. The fact is the ratio and concentration of amino acids may vary from source to source, therefore affecting effectiveness in supplying collagen to our body.
Let us find out.
1. Marine collagen vs. Mammal-Derived Collagen
Marine collagen or fish-derived collagen is known as type 1 collagen, the most abundant collagen type in our body. Especially in the dermis, it must be an ideal compensator for skin collagen loss.
As you might be aware, collagen cannot be absorbed by the body in its whole form. No whole collagen can make it to our bloodstream even some bone broth can be broken down and absorbed by our body. Making it worse, as desperate as we always want it, it does not make it to our skin layer. Hence, we need our collagen proteins to be broken down into smaller peptides or amino acids before they can be absorbed.
Studies have shown that fish collagen peptides are smaller, giving them superior bioavailability and digestibility. This enhanced absorption ability would help to bring the collagen deep into our skin, thus promotes elasticity we have always wanted.
Scientific research shows animal collagen is 1/7 inferior to marine collagen when broken to molecular weight. As such, fish-derived collagen peptides appears to be the winner in terms of bioavailability comparison thanks to its safety, purity and high solubility.
Different sources of extracts for marine collagen gives different effectiveness of active collagen. PAY WISELY.
* The Islamic community prohibits the consumption of animal-derived food.
* Meanwhile, fish-derived food seems to be more halal-friendly.
2. Wild-Caught vs Farmed Fish
Wild-caught fish feeds on a natural diet and encounters fewer bacteria and parasites. They are often healthier, purer and richer in nutrient values than those of farmed fish. Farmed fishes are given a processed, high-fat, high-protein feed in order to produce larger fish. Arguably the most dangerous environmental hazard and potential health concern is the frequent adding of antibiotic in fish feed.
Fishes used for Aishitoto collagen extraction is wild-caught from Seas of Japan and must meet strict sanitary and hygienic standards of Japan in order to guarantee the best collagen input.
3. Collagen’s Molecular Size Defines Its Digestibility
Together with collagen source, the molecular size appears an important factor deciding collagen quality once mainly defining how effective human body absorbs collagen. As developed under advanced hydrolyzation technology, the complex collagen molecules are broken down into super tiny peptides, helping human body to absorb quickly and effectively.
4. Free of BSE and TSE Risk
To produce marine collagen jelly entirely from non-mammal sources, Aishitoto has built a separate room exclusively from animal-free processing. Along with associated warehouse, processing controls, and cleaning procedures, the manufacturing zone is completely segregated from any possible sources of animal-derived materials. It is therefore unlikely to present any risk of TSE or BSE contamination
*TSE: Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy
*BSE: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
5. No Fishy Smell Or Taste
Aishitoto produces the purest and finest quality of marine collagen by removing fish oils during processing. There is no fishy aftertaste in Aishitoto’s marine collagen jelly and can thus be added into beverages or eat directly.
What makes Aishitoto Collagen Jelly the BEST SELLER in Japan for 15 consecutive years ?
The goodness of eating the right collagen makes us the best seller year after year. Rational explanations as below also imply one's belief in Aishitoto products to achieve optimal benefits.
1. " Youth from Within" by supplying your body's collagen need sufficiently
Depletion of collagen in the skin is the main factor for the formation of wrinkles and fine lines and the cause of sagging. It is reported that our body collagen synthesis starts declining since 20s, may lose 25% and 50% when we reach 40s and 60s repectively. Understanding this fact, Aishitoto's marine collagen jellies provide suffficiently your collagen need with reasonably recommended dosage as an effective strategy for bringing beauty from inside out.
2. Quality is decisive factor rather than quantity
Aishitoto has invested in many years of researches and development to obtain the most bioactive and effective collagen supplement. We are proud of providing high-quality collagen characterized with tiny-molecular size and marine collagen structure, it helps your body to absorb quickly and effectively. As a result, your skin condition will get improved with more elasticity, wrinkle reduction and younger look.
3. Convenient - Collagen on the Go
Aishitoto is the trend pioneer of "BEAUTY ON THE GO" over the world once developing absolutely convenient collagen supplement. It has been designed with small-size and convenient sachet for you to bring along to any where.
4. Delicious and Fat Free
Aishitoto jellies are blended with fresh and delicious fruit juice. It is also fat free.
5. Certified by Monde Selection International High-Quality Award
Aishitoto collagen jelly is proud of being the Monde Selection Gold Award for 13 consecutive years and holder of 4 times International High-Quality Trophy
