Welcome to the show. Today we are talking about collagen because it is all the rage on the internet and even in some health food stores. This is coming from a lecture in my Sports Nutrition class which I am not enjoying in the least. I am learning a lot but it is really hard. There is a lot expected of us from the teaching staff many of whom are knee deep in scientific research for a living. I hate reading scientific research studies. I know they are important but that doesn’t mean I have to like doing it, especially about a topic I am not interested in.
Okay, on to collagen. Glycine is an amino acid that is part of collagen. It is not considered essential because we can make it in our body from other amino acids but it doesn’t mean it isn’t an important one. It isn’t something that we get a lot of from our diet as it is found in high amounts in collagenous proteins- so in meat, gristle, and connective tissue basically. In other words it is found in collagen.
Glycine plays a role in many many body functions, one of which is collagen turnover. It is also a neurotransmitter - those are chemical messengers that send signals from one nerve cell to another specific nerve cell such as a muscle cell or a gland cell (thyroid is a gland). It helps your body make methyltetrahydrofolate- MTHF which helps your body detoxify, it plays a role in lowering homocysteine levels in the body too. High levels of homocysteine in the blood lead to inflammation of blood vessels which can lead to heart disease. Hypothyroidism that is mismanaged is a risk factor for heart disease.
The Standard American Diet will give you around 2 grams of glycine per day and a very conservative estimate on how much the body needs per day is at least 15 grams. Now the body can make about 3 grams per day if your body is working as it should for a total of 5 grams per day and maybe a bit more if you are getting enough protein.
You can do that by eating collagenous proteins- things that gel up when cooled. I find that collagenous gooey stuff in a beef roast, salmon skin, chicken skin and making broth with knuckle bones and chicken feet. It is also in the hooves of animals but, you know, most of us are not eating that kind of stuff. I do make a bean and ham soup with ham hocks which have quite a bit of collagen. So there are ways to get it from your diet. Just be sure the whole animal sources you are getting them from are from a trusted source, pastured, organic is best due to the potential heavy metal burden coming from conventionally raised animals.
We are likely running at a deficit in collagen for our whole lives as one of my course facilitators puts it. We are not getting enough right from the start and there are researchers hypothesizing that this deficit is what contributes to the aging process in things like wrinkles and osteoporosis (another issue those of us with mismanaged hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s have to be concerned with). Wrinkles and osteoporosis don’t present an immediate threat to our survival so our body has not evolved to make collagen production or non production an issue.
You can also just supplement with hydrolyzed collagen which has been shown to partially absorb right in to the blood stream through the small intestine and it will tell your body to make more collagen. It has been studied in athletes where consuming collagen peptides with vitamin C does cause your body to make more collagen. It has also been shown that it can help with joint pain and increasing the ability to move a joint better in osteoarthritis or just arthritis.
There has even been a study done on diabetics (insulin resistance can be an issue for many of us) which found hydrolyzed collagen lowered blood sugar by about half so if you take collagen peptides or consume collagen in supplement form and you don’t feel well on it, this could be why. Another potential reason is if you are not a good methylator- have MTHFR issues, you may not do well on it either.
You can take 2 heaping tablespoons of collagen each day with some vitamin C or ascorbic acid.
I’m currently taking Garden of Life Collagen but you can get Vital Proteins via a link on the sidebar of my website or you can do Great Lakes Gelatin which is a good brand and frankly is the most affordable. I will link to that one too.
Thanks so much for listening. Do you take collagen? Shoot me an email and let me know how you use it.
Come join me in the Help for Hashimoto’s facebook group and sign up for my newsletter at helpforhashimotos.com. I just sent out information about resistant starch with a really good recipe link for a great way to get more of it.
Until next week!
Create an account with Fullscript here for Garden of Life Collagen Peptides (other brands available too) and ascorbic acid or chewable vitamin c.