Marine Collagen for Health and Skin Benefits

Cole Wellness Co.’s Marine Collagen

Collagen has become a trendy supplement in the anti-aging industry - and for a good reason.  There are a number of studies, as well as consumer reports touting the benefits of a daily dose of collagen in the diet.

But what form and how much should you be taking?

First, let’s dive into what collagen is and why it matters.

Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body and helps give tissues in your body structure and strength.  There are 28 different forms of collagen in the body, with type I collagen being the most abundant form.

Collagen isn’t just a thing for improving skin health as it’s so commonly known for.  It also helps in the development of organs, contributes to cornea (eye) health, bone and vascular health and oral gum health.  It’s present in our bones, tendons, ligaments, hair, skin and muscles.

In addition to offering structural support, collagen also plays a role in tissue and wound healing and is involved in cellular functions like cell proliferation and differentiation.  Collagen also communicates with the fibroblasts in our skin, stimulating the production of collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid.

Collagen loss in our bodies starts in our 20s and it’s even estimated that after 40 years we lose about 1% per year!  By the time we’re in our 80s we may have lost about 75% of our collagen, compared to when we were in our 20s.  In addition to the normal processes of aging, certain lifestyle factors like environment (ex. pollution exposure, excessive UV exposure), poor nutrition, smoking, alcoholism and chronic disease can enhance collagen loss in the body.

Collagen Supplements

Collagen supplements can be obtained from a number of different sources, but not all of these sources are the same.  Collagen supplements are derived from mammal or marine sources and the only way to obtain plant-based collagen is when it’s synthesized in a lab (which I haven’t yet come across as a product in the Canadian market).  

If your nutritional habits do not include animal or marine sources, the best way to support collagen in your body would be to supplement with formulas that offer collagen building blocks, like amino acids (glycine, lysine and proline especially), B vitamins, minerals (like zinc, manganese, copper and selenium), vitamin A and vitamin C…to name a few, there are more but I won’t exhaust my list here.

Marine vs Bovine Collagen

Another common question is whether to choose marine collagen or bovine collagen, as these are the two most common forms of collagen on the market today.  While both have their benefits, I personally tend to prefer marine collagen for a few different reasons.

One, marine organisms do not harbour transmissible disease and has less of an environmental impact.

Second reason, marine collagen peptides have a lower molecular weight than collagen peptides derives from land animals like beef and pork, meaning it has higher bioavailability, greater antioxidant capacity and greater antimicrobial activity.

Marine collagen is composed primarily of type I collagen, which is mainly present in the tendons and skin, making it the reason why marine collagen is marketed to the skincare and anti-aging industry.  I want to point out though that collagen helps rebuilding collagen in the body, not just specific types of collagen.  Which means, while marine collagen may be most abundant in type I collagen, it will help contribute to the generation of collagen in all places of your body, not just the places where type I may be most abundant but also in other places where other types of collagen, like type II, III, IV, V, etc. are present (ex. Gut lining, joints, muscles, corneas, etc.).

Other incredible things that marine collagen supplementation can do:

• Reduce winkles, improve skin hydration, skin radiance and skin firmness

• Increased levels of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase (potent cellular antioxidants)

• Enhanced wound healing and increase fibroblast activity

• Improved density and spread of type I and type III collagen fibres in the epidermis and dermis

• Significantly reduced levels of lipid peroxidation markers

• Aid in the absorption of calcium and zinc which are important for osteoporosis prevention, as well as skin health

• Improved bone mineral density and improved bone regeneration

• Attenuates blood glucose levels, as well as glucose-mediated apoptosis (cellular death)

• Increases levels of NFkB - supportive for the innate immune system, mitochondrial function and inflammatory pathways

• Increases levels of certain growth factors helpful in wound repair

• And so much more…

There are also few limitations with marine collagen as numerous studies show that supplementation with this ingredient does not cause adverse effects.

So how much should you take? 

Studies on marine collagen supplementation vary from as little as 2.5g/day to 10g/day so as long as you’re in that window you’re getting enough.

Our Marine Collagen happens to have a whopping 10g of hydrolyzed collagen derived from responsible cod, haddock and pollock fishing.  It’s also completely tasteless and disperses easily in water, making it easy to either toss in water with our Super Greens powder, into a smoothie, a parfait, chia seed pudding, blend into a latte or even bake with it.

Conclusion

Marine Collagen is an excellent collagen option for anyone, irregardless of what their goals are with wanting to supplement with collagen.  While it shines when it comes to enhancing many aspects of keratinocyte and fibroblast cellular health to help with enhanced skin elasticity, skin thickness and skin radiance, it’s also beneficial for many other organs and tissues of the body.  Marine Collagen is easily digestible, even for the most sensitive digestive systems and is more bioavailable than other collagen sources on the market.

References

León-López, A., Morales-Peñaloza, A., Martínez-Juárez, V. M., Vargas-Torres, A., Zeugolis, D. I., & Aguirre-Álvarez, G. (2019). Hydrolyzed Collagen-Sources and Applications. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 24(22), 4031. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24224031

Geahchan, S., Baharlouei, P., & Rahman, A. (2022). Marine Collagen: A Promising Biomaterial for Wound Healing, Skin Anti-Aging, and Bone Regeneration. Marine drugs, 20(1), 61. https://doi.org/10.3390/md20010061

Wang, Z., Wang, Q., Wang, L., Xu, W., He, Y., Li, Y., He, S., & Ma, H. (2017). Improvement of skin condition by oral administration of collagen hydrolysates in chronologically aged mice. Journal of the science of food and agriculture, 97(9), 2721–2726. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.8098

Zhu, C., Zhang, W., Liu, J., Mu, B., Zhang, F., Lai, N., Zhou, J., Xu, A., & Li, Y. (2017). Marine collagen peptides reduce endothelial cell injury in diabetic rats by inhibiting apoptosis and the expression of coupling factor 6 and microparticles. Molecular medicine reports, 16(4), 3947–3957. https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2017.7061

Yang, F., Jin, S., & Tang, Y. (2019). Marine Collagen Peptides Promote Cell Proliferation of NIH-3T3 Fibroblasts via NF-κB Signaling Pathway. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 24(22), 4201. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24224201

De Luca, C., Mikhal'chik, E. V., Suprun, M. V., Papacharalambous, M., Truhanov, A. I., & Korkina, L. G. (2016). Skin Antiageing and Systemic Redox Effects of Supplementation with Marine Collagen Peptides and Plant-Derived Antioxidants: A Single-Blind Case-Control Clinical Study. Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity, 2016, 4389410. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/4389410

Evans, M., Lewis, E. D., Zakaria, N., Pelipyagina, T., & Guthrie, N. (2021). A randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel study to evaluate the efficacy of a freshwater marine collagen on skin wrinkles and elasticity. Journal of cosmetic dermatology, 20(3), 825–834. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocd.13676