Can a collagen drink really keep you looking young?

One beautifully sunny, Somerset Sunday morning, I was introduced to mother at our sons' rugby match. A parallel was drawn as she was 'another one who travels to town for work'. Within minutes I discovered her to be Lois Rogers, healthcare journalist, researcher and biotech adviser.

BeBamBu had already discovered and sourced our collagen but it was early days before launching.

It was one of those chance meetings that left me with a smile, a self tap on the back and a shove to get on with it.

As we say to the juice bars and gyms we solicit, we're about 17 years behind Japan. Collagen really is a super food!

Here's what Lois had to say on the subject

... oh and yes we won the rugby match!

Can a collagen drink really keep you looking young?

The Sunday Times 24 February 2013

Anti-ageing wonder foods, beauty “cosmeceuticals” that you put in your mouth rather than on your skin, are set to become the boom of the decade.

Collagen-containing coffee, marshmallows, yoghurts and food additives have taken the Far East by storm and are beginning to arrive here. How logical, though, is it to tuck into an expensively packaged dose of skin-plumping agent in the hope it will magically pass from your intestines to your crow’s-feet?

Well, not as bonkers as you might think. Research appears to show that some of the breakdown products of hydrolysed collagen taken by mouth migrate to areas in need of repair to boost skin and joint regeneration.

The craze for oral collagen is well established in Japan, where, for more than a decade, scientists have been producing evidence that ingesting hydrolysed collagen can lead to skin regeneration. Experiments using sophisticated radioactive tags have shown the components of different types of hydrolysed collagen can be identified in areas far from the gut, where they may be stimulating the production of new skin cells and of hyaluronic acid, a natural skin-plumping agent produced in the body and now routinely used by cosmetic doctors as an injectable filler.

Collagen is a protein that forms the connective tissue found in all animals. In humans it provides suppleness, strength and elasticity for connective tissues, such as tendons, ligaments and, most importantly from a cosmetic point of view, skin.

However, if the secret of eternal youth were simply a matter of stuffing yourself with collagen-containing foods, then elderly meat eaters would look pretty good and ageing vegetarians appreciably more wizened and wrinkled. It does not work like that. The argument for consuming this modified collagen is that its specific breakdown products can travel through the walls of the digestive system and speed up cell production in the skin and joints.

Ian Hamley, professor of physical chemistry at Reading University, is about to publish a study showing that the production of fibroblasts, the principal component of skin cells, can be dramatically boosted in test tubes by using collagen-breakdown products. “There does seem to be some evidence that these fragments can be digested and pass into the bloodstream,” he says. “The problem is most of these companies don’t really publish their work, because they don’t want their competitors to copy it, so it is difficult to find out exactly what evidence they have.”

Many British skin experts can’t quite believe the hype. Des Tobin, professor of dermatology at Bradford University, acknowledges minor improvements in collagen have been shown from using skin creams, but, he says, “I’ll only really believe the collagen-drink story when independently validated evidence emerges to support the claims.”

Lois Rogers ~ 2013

What they say about Lois

"a unique gift for spotting social trends and emerging issues, as well as a sharp understanding of what’s shaping the policy agenda.”

So can consuming collagen orally really make a difference? Initially a sceptic, dermatologist Dr Stefanie Williams, medical director at European Dermatology London, now believes some products live up to their claims.

‘Like many others, I thought the collagen would simply be digested and broken down before it entered the bloodstream and never reach the skin.’

Scrutinising the data, however, Dr Williams discovered the process works very differently. ‘After the molecule is broken down, the fragments are absorbed into the bloodstream and distributed through the entire body, including the skin, where small fragments remain for up to 14 days.

Sarah Stacey ~ 2015

And the reason for the photo attached to this blog? Surprisingly high on the list of "why I love BeBamBu Marine Collagen" is

~ the skin on my butt is as smooth as before I started wearing a thong!

Also on that list

~ my hair not only seems to be growing faster, it really is glossy and much stronger.

~ I'm suddenly more flexible than my kids!

~ I ate a cupcake last week, prepared for the big bloat ... sometimes it's worth it. Guess what? Nothing happened!

~ loving how strong my nails are

~ I have achey joints, that pain has lessened by about 40% in 3 months of regular use

Coming soon, our testimonials page. Email, call or write to tell us about your collagen stories.