Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body and plays a role in the structures of the skin, cartilage, bones, and connective tissues. Collagen is often taken as a supplement to promote skin health, bone health, and healthy joints.
Collagen is composed of several key nutrients that are only available through diet - your body can't manufacture them. It's three primary amino acids are glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline. These amino acids form a unique triple-helix structure, giving collagen its strength and stability.
Glycine:
Supporting nutrients:
Vitamin C:
Deficiency in any of these key nutrients leads to a collagen deficiency and opens the door to cancer, heart disease, and so much more.
Collagen is composed of several key nutrients that are only available through diet - your body can't manufacture them. It's three primary amino acids are glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline. These amino acids form a unique triple-helix structure, giving collagen its strength and stability.
Glycine:
- Makes up about one-third of collagen’s amino acid content.
- The smallest amino acid, allowing tight helical packing.
- Essential for forming the triple-helix structure.
- Comprises around 17% of collagen.
- Provides rigidity and stability to the triple-helix structure.
- A post-translational modification of proline.
- Important for stabilizing the collagen helix through hydrogen bonding.
Supporting nutrients:
Vitamin C:
- Role: Vitamin C is crucial for collagen synthesis.
- Function: It acts as a cofactor for the enzymes prolyl hydroxylase and lysyl hydroxylase, which stabilize the collagen structure.
- Impact: Deficiency in vitamin C leads to impaired collagen synthesis, resulting in weakened connective tissues and conditions like scurvy.
- Role: Lysine is essential for collagen cross-linking.
- Function: It undergoes hydroxylation by the enzyme lysyl hydroxylase, a process that requires vitamin C, to form hydroxylysine, which helps in stabilizing collagen fibers.
- Impact: Adequate lysine ensures strong and stable collagen structures.
Deficiency in any of these key nutrients leads to a collagen deficiency and opens the door to cancer, heart disease, and so much more.
Functions of Collagen
- Structural Support: Collagen fibers provide tensile strength to tissues, ensuring they maintain their shape and resilience. This is vital for the skin's firmness, the bones' rigidity, and the tendons' and ligaments' ability to withstand tension.
- Tissue Repair: Collagen is essential for wound healing and the repair of damaged tissues. It acts as a scaffold for new tissue growth.
- Skin Health: Collagen is a key component of the dermis, the middle layer of the skin, which helps maintain skin elasticity and hydration.
- Joint Health: Collagen is found in cartilage, which cushions joints and allows for smooth movement. It also contributes to the strength and flexibility of tendons and ligaments.
Benefits
Consuming high-quality collagen has been clinically tested to:
- Promotes connective tissue regeneration: This includes cartilage, tendon, ligament, bone density, even skin (firmer and smoother), hair and fingernails.
- Supports the health and strength of tendons and ligaments: By strengthening these connective tissues, collagen helps maintain the integrity and elasticity necessary for muscles to function effectively and grow.
- Facilitates injury recovery: Building muscle often involves rigorous physical activity that can sometimes lead to injuries. Collagen is vital for the repair of connective tissues and can accelerate recovery from muscle injuries by promoting quicker regeneration of muscle fibers and connective tissue.
- Enhances joint health: Regular strength training and muscle building can put a strain on joints. Collagen helps maintain and promote the growth of new cartilage that cushions joints and may reduce the risk of joint deterioration and pain. Healthier joints support more consistent and intensive workouts. Collagen supplements can alleviate joint pain and stiffness, particularly in individuals with osteoarthritis. By supporting cartilage repair and reducing inflammation, collagen helps maintain joint health and mobility.
- Improves muscle elasticity: Collagen contributes to the elasticity and hydration of tissues. With better muscle elasticity, there is a lower risk of injuries during workouts, allowing for more effective muscle engagement and growth over time.
- Aids in muscle contraction: Collagen contains several amino acids, such as glycine and proline, which are important for the synthesis of creatine in the body. Creatine is a compound that provides energy for muscle contractions and is often supplemented to increase muscle mass and improve exercise performance.
- Deeper Sleep: Collagen contains glycine, an amino acid known to promote deeper and more restful sleep. Glycine works by lowering body temperature and relaxing the nervous system, which can enhance sleep quality.
- Improved Gut Health and Digestion: Glycine, found in collagen, supports gut health by maintaining the integrity of the gut lining. This can prevent conditions like leaky gut syndrome and improve overall digestion.
- Cardiovascular Health: Collagen contributes to improved blood pressure and reduced cardiovascular damage by maintaining the elasticity of arteries and supporting the repair of damaged blood vessels.
- Enhanced Glucose Tolerance: Collagen supplementation has been shown to improve glucose tolerance, which is beneficial for managing blood sugar levels and reducing the risk of diabetes.
- Reduced Inflammation and Oxidative Damage: Collagen has anti-inflammatory properties and can reduce oxidative stress in the body. This helps protect cells from damage and supports overall health.
Enhanced longevity
They say nobody wants to live forever. But perhaps that is only true because we associate high age with aches, pains, mental decline, and, well, feeling old. Perhaps this is only a temporal relationship, considering research shows you can live longer and healthier.
Even more exciting is that the secret has nothing to do with a new drug, expensive stem cell injections, or some outrageous workout regimen. Actually, the secret has been hiding in plain sight in a simple amino acid called glycine. Glycine is a non-essential amino acid. That simply means your body can make it from the foods you eat.
Glycine has been touted as the smallest anti-inflammatory micronutrient. Researchers have observed that supplementing with daily glycine can increase lifespan and healthspan by a whopping 28.4% in rats. The average life expectancy in the U.S. is a little over 77 years. But if people simply added the right amount of glycine to their diet, that average could potentially jump as high as 99 years old.
As it turns out, glycine works its magic by acting as a methionine restriction mimetic (mimics the restriction of methionine - excess methionine has been demonstrated to result in homocysteine, which can cause chronic conditions, such as heart disease). Like glycine, methionine is an amino acid. And while it helps build and repair muscle – which is important to your overall wellness – studies have shown that reducing your methionine levels can increase your lifespan and healthspan.
Just to be clear, methionine is not inherently harmful. But like so many of today’s health problems, the modern American diet has led to a nutrient imbalance that makes methionine only seem bad.
To provide some context, our ancestors ate the animals they caught “from nose-to-tail” - nothing went to waste. That meant they ate just as much methionine-rich muscle meats as they did glycine-rich bones, skins, and connective tissues. These days, we rarely see tendons, ligaments, skin, cartilage, or bones on the daily menu, so we tend to consume far more methionine than we need, and not nearly enough glycine – an imbalance now associated with accelerated aging. By simply adding more glycine to your diet, you’re restoring the nutrient balance your body needs and, in turn, decreasing the age-accelerating effects of too much methionine.
Glycine also helps promote autophagy – a process where old, damaged, or dying cells clear out parts of the cell that aren’t working and recycle parts to strengthen our cellular function. Autophagy, when in balance, is the closest thing we have to the fountain of youth.
As mentioned, glycine is primarily found in connective tissues like tendons and ligaments. It’s also found in high-quality collagen like you’d find in bone broth. It is best to find sources that are pasture-raised (therefore gluten-free, grain-free, soy-free), and organic (which implies non-GMO), or at least regenerative (time to get to know the farmer).
Embracing longevity is more than just a lifestyle choice - it's a commitment to a healthier, longer life.
Even more exciting is that the secret has nothing to do with a new drug, expensive stem cell injections, or some outrageous workout regimen. Actually, the secret has been hiding in plain sight in a simple amino acid called glycine. Glycine is a non-essential amino acid. That simply means your body can make it from the foods you eat.
Glycine has been touted as the smallest anti-inflammatory micronutrient. Researchers have observed that supplementing with daily glycine can increase lifespan and healthspan by a whopping 28.4% in rats. The average life expectancy in the U.S. is a little over 77 years. But if people simply added the right amount of glycine to their diet, that average could potentially jump as high as 99 years old.
As it turns out, glycine works its magic by acting as a methionine restriction mimetic (mimics the restriction of methionine - excess methionine has been demonstrated to result in homocysteine, which can cause chronic conditions, such as heart disease). Like glycine, methionine is an amino acid. And while it helps build and repair muscle – which is important to your overall wellness – studies have shown that reducing your methionine levels can increase your lifespan and healthspan.
Just to be clear, methionine is not inherently harmful. But like so many of today’s health problems, the modern American diet has led to a nutrient imbalance that makes methionine only seem bad.
To provide some context, our ancestors ate the animals they caught “from nose-to-tail” - nothing went to waste. That meant they ate just as much methionine-rich muscle meats as they did glycine-rich bones, skins, and connective tissues. These days, we rarely see tendons, ligaments, skin, cartilage, or bones on the daily menu, so we tend to consume far more methionine than we need, and not nearly enough glycine – an imbalance now associated with accelerated aging. By simply adding more glycine to your diet, you’re restoring the nutrient balance your body needs and, in turn, decreasing the age-accelerating effects of too much methionine.
Glycine also helps promote autophagy – a process where old, damaged, or dying cells clear out parts of the cell that aren’t working and recycle parts to strengthen our cellular function. Autophagy, when in balance, is the closest thing we have to the fountain of youth.
As mentioned, glycine is primarily found in connective tissues like tendons and ligaments. It’s also found in high-quality collagen like you’d find in bone broth. It is best to find sources that are pasture-raised (therefore gluten-free, grain-free, soy-free), and organic (which implies non-GMO), or at least regenerative (time to get to know the farmer).
Embracing longevity is more than just a lifestyle choice - it's a commitment to a healthier, longer life.
Connection to Cancer
Believe it or not, ninety percent of all cancer fatalities result from metastasis. Metastasis is what happens when cancer spreads to a different part of the body from where it started.
Yet, conventional cancer treatments do nothing to stop cancer from spreading and preventing the invasion of cancer cells into other organs and tissues. Thankfully, ignored and often overlooked research demonstrates that a simple combination of very specific nutrients stops the spread of cancer cells in its tracks: through connective tissue, the means by which metastasis occurs.
Linus Pauling and Mathias Rath completed a 15-year study in which they demonstrated that cancer is a collagen disease that is lethal when it metastasizes to the different tissues through the collagen matrix. 1, 2
Gram-for-gram, some types of collagen fibrils are stronger than steel. Even so, there are enzymes in cancer cells that can eat through your body's collagen. 2 Lysine, for example, destroys the collagen-eating enzymes contained in cancer cells. High amounts of vitamin C strengthens the collagen so the cancer can't penetrate and spread.
Modern researchers have continued to look further into the collagen connection to cancer and found that while healthy collagen halts the spread of cancer, weak collagen actually works with the cancer and encourages its spread.
Researchers have demonstrated that collagen is a double-edged sword. It can be recruited to work for the "dark side" of cancer, triggering a cascade of biological events that can lead to cancer growth. 3 But you can protect your collagen by taking some simple steps.
Pauling's and Rath's research that collagen is key to overcoming the cancer, and those who added their protocol to their arsenal of anti-cancer tools have reported immediate results. Pauling's and Rath's research also showed cardiovascular disease is actually arterial scurvy - a simple vitamin C deficiency that weakens the collagen in the blood vessels. 4
Research shows that it is more effective to supplement with the nutrients your body uses to make the types of collagen it needs and to eliminate those habits that help to deplete vitamin C and weaken the collagen matrix. Here are some ways to strengthen collagen:
Yet, conventional cancer treatments do nothing to stop cancer from spreading and preventing the invasion of cancer cells into other organs and tissues. Thankfully, ignored and often overlooked research demonstrates that a simple combination of very specific nutrients stops the spread of cancer cells in its tracks: through connective tissue, the means by which metastasis occurs.
Linus Pauling and Mathias Rath completed a 15-year study in which they demonstrated that cancer is a collagen disease that is lethal when it metastasizes to the different tissues through the collagen matrix. 1, 2
Gram-for-gram, some types of collagen fibrils are stronger than steel. Even so, there are enzymes in cancer cells that can eat through your body's collagen. 2 Lysine, for example, destroys the collagen-eating enzymes contained in cancer cells. High amounts of vitamin C strengthens the collagen so the cancer can't penetrate and spread.
Modern researchers have continued to look further into the collagen connection to cancer and found that while healthy collagen halts the spread of cancer, weak collagen actually works with the cancer and encourages its spread.
Researchers have demonstrated that collagen is a double-edged sword. It can be recruited to work for the "dark side" of cancer, triggering a cascade of biological events that can lead to cancer growth. 3 But you can protect your collagen by taking some simple steps.
Pauling's and Rath's research that collagen is key to overcoming the cancer, and those who added their protocol to their arsenal of anti-cancer tools have reported immediate results. Pauling's and Rath's research also showed cardiovascular disease is actually arterial scurvy - a simple vitamin C deficiency that weakens the collagen in the blood vessels. 4
Research shows that it is more effective to supplement with the nutrients your body uses to make the types of collagen it needs and to eliminate those habits that help to deplete vitamin C and weaken the collagen matrix. Here are some ways to strengthen collagen:
- Boost Collagen with Key Supporting Nutrients: The original formula from Pauling and Rath includes high dose vitamin C in combination with l-lysine, l-proline, EGCG (a green tea extract rich in polyphenols that acts as an antioxidant), and quercetin (works synergistically with EGCG). This nutrient synergy blocks several cancer types from invading the collagen layers, including melanoma, cervical, ovarian, breast, prostate, testes, lung, kidney, pancreas, colon, bladder, osteosarcoma, fibrosarcoma, and synovial sarcoma.
- Eliminate Sugar and Choose Low Glycemic Carbs: Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) are formed when sugars in the blood first attach to proteins, then target collagen, making the collagen brittle and weak. A diet high in sugar speeds up this process even more. A low-carbohydrate diet, with only a minimal amount of fruit, helps to halt the formation of AGEs.
- Supplement with Niacin (Vitamin B3): Niacin promotes healthy collagen production and also decreases protein glycation, which is the process that forms AGEs from a high carbohydrate diet. Niacin also protects the skin and promotes cardiovascular health.
- Supplement with L-Arginine. This amino acid is essential for collagen and elastin production.
Sources of collagen
Collagen can be obtained from various dietary sources, including:
- Bone Broth: Rich in collagen, made by simmering animal bones and connective tissues.
- Meat: Particularly cuts containing connective tissues such as brisket or shank.
- Fish: Fish skin and scales are excellent sources of collagen.
- Egg Whites: Contain proline, an amino acid necessary for collagen production.
- Collagen Supplements: Available in powder or capsule form, derived from animal or marine sources.
supplementation
Pro-tip: Glycine lowers body temperature. Take it in the morning. It also functions as a sweetener. It functions to reduce anxiety. It also facilitates sleep, so it can also be taken in the evening.
references
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10379184/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1568163723000818?via%3Dihub
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/24058-autophagy
https://www.dr-rath-foundation.org/2019/02/how-i-came-to-work-with-linus-pauling/
https://www.dr-rath-foundation.org/2017/04/dr-matthias-rath-biography/
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/262881.php
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3980040/
https://www.dr-rath-foundation.org/2019/03/dont-skip-the-vitamin-c-only-regular-supplementation-can-ensure-cardiovascular-protection/
https://www.dr-rath-foundation.org/2015/06/new-study-provides-further-evidence-that-green-tea-extract-can-prevent-prostate-cancer/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1568163723000818?via%3Dihub
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/24058-autophagy
https://www.dr-rath-foundation.org/2019/02/how-i-came-to-work-with-linus-pauling/
https://www.dr-rath-foundation.org/2017/04/dr-matthias-rath-biography/
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/262881.php
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3980040/
https://www.dr-rath-foundation.org/2019/03/dont-skip-the-vitamin-c-only-regular-supplementation-can-ensure-cardiovascular-protection/
https://www.dr-rath-foundation.org/2015/06/new-study-provides-further-evidence-that-green-tea-extract-can-prevent-prostate-cancer/
