If twenty-five years ago, someone had told you that you should take a bovine or fish collagen powder to look younger, you would have thought of some kind of sorcery.
If the hackneyed phrase “beauty on the inside” also comes to mind, you will not be surprised since, in recent years, large pharmaceutical corporations have allied with the giants of the food sector to produce the famous nutricosmetics.

These products promise to nourish our body from the inside so that the results are seen on the outside.
For this reason, Salengei, which has always been at the forefront of novelties in anti-aging medicine, allied with one of the pioneers in nutricosmetics, the REJUVENAL brand that began its journey in the creation of this type of supplements 17 years ago, and today the products developed by this laboratory continue to be at the forefront in terms of formulation and active ingredients that guarantee the best results, its top sellers being the SkinPro® and the MSMPro®.
Therefore, we can speak with knowledge of nutricosmetics.

Before talking about its benefits, we must, as always, start from the beginning by defining: What is nutricosmetics?

It is difficult to find a single definition with solid scientific bases, mainly because the term is a product coined by advertising marketing, but if we start from the basis that the word comes from “nutrition” and “cosmetics” separately, we could say:

COSMETICS:

“Any substance or mixture intended to be put in contact with the superficial parts of the human body (epidermis, hair and capillary system, nails, lips and external genital organs) or with the teeth and oral mucous membranes, for the sole or main purpose of cleaning, perfuming, modifying their appearance, protecting them, keeping them in good condition or correcting body odours”.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:342:0059:0209:es:PDF

NUTRIENT:

“They are the substances that make up the different foods useful for organic metabolism, and that correspond to the groups generically called proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, mineral substances and water.”

https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1967-16485

And if we combine these two definitions, we will obtain a NUTRICOSMÉTICO.

The most outstanding difference between a nutricosmetic product and a cosmetic product lies in the fact that, while the former are ingested, the latter are intended to be applied to the skin and other external parts of the body.

And what began as a fashion trend around 2010, was based on studies and articles with greater scientific support, which attracted more and more users, who were eager to include in their routines those products that not only gave a rejuvenated appearance to their skin, but could also have a healthy effect on their body.

That is why most of these products are composed of the active ingredient (Collagen or MSM) and is supplemented with antioxidants, vitamins and various substances that cause synergistic actions between them.

As it is already known, at Salengei, we always put a lot of dedication and effort into offering our customers the greatest responsibility and scientific criteria when communicating and offering products that have beneficial actions on our body, and that is how we have made a small list, starting with the star of nutricosmetics: collagen that once dissolved can be drunk.

These are collagen peptides obtained through hydrolysis.
The presentation to the public is in flavored powder to dilute with drinks or water.

However, not all collagens are absorbed and work equally well.

Collagen

Is collagen well absorbed?

Collagen itself is a protein, and many say that it is not absorbed because it is a very large molecule, but in reality it happens as with any protein we eat that once in our stomach the acids and digestive enzymes such as proteases come into action and break down this protein into more or less large amino acids or peptides composed of amino acids.
The main amino acids of collagen are proline, hydroxyproline and glycine, these join together forming chains and every three strands are wound forming a very resistant fiber

Collagen is found in all tissues in which it serves as a supporting framework.

Its importance corresponds to its high percentage: for example, it accounts for 4% of the liver, 10% of the lungs, 50% of the cartilage and 70% of the skin.

Type I collagen is found in bones, accounts for more than 90% of the organic mass of bone, and is also the main component of skin, tendons, and ligaments.
Type II collagen is the main collagen in cartilage.
Purified collagen II does not exist as such, only in combination with glucosamine and chondroitin, it is abundant in hyaline cartilage, in the vitreous humor of the eye and in the nucleus pulpasus of the intervertebral discs is made up of much thicker fibers.
Type III collagen is found in almost all tissues in which type I appears, with exceptions, bones, tendons and cornea.
Type VI collagen is found in many tissues, including the aorta, tendons, and skin.

The issue is that these fractionated amino acids will be used by the body based on its need for each of the functions, and it may be that the body needs some of these amino acids for functions other than just the de novo synthesis of collagen.

How collagen is synthesized within our body

In order for it to be synthesized, the ideal is that these amino acids have been absorbed correctly and therefore it is important that when we take a supplement we take it when it is broken down into peptides (unions of several specific amino acids to form Novo collagen within our body).

These peptides, once absorbed, go to the fibroblast and within the cytoplasm their synthesis begins, forming isolated chains that are taken to the endoplasmic reticulum where the lysine and proline residues are hydroxylated, by enzymes that require Fe+3 and vitamin C as cofactors.

Tropocollagen is assembled with glycine, every 3rd aa is glycine, one in 10 is Proline or hydroxyproline. The hydroxylation of proline makes the protein thermostable, while the hydroxylation of lysine will allow the crosslinking of several triple helixes.

The triple helices are transported to the Golgi apparatus where they are modified by sulfation, phosphorylating some serines.
The resulting finished procollagen is excreted from the cell through secretory vesicles.
The conversion of procollagen into collagen takes place extracellularly.

Connections between collagen molecules are made through disulfide bridges that come from MSM.

What type of peptides are used?
And which are the most effective?

There are many manufacturers of collagens, some call it hydrolyzed collagen and this means that the collagen has been digested normally enzymatically to break it down into smaller portions to make it easier to absorb.
But not all of them have the same quality, absorption capacity or endogenous synthesis capacity “de Novo” of this “final collagen” whether type I, II, III etc…

Fish collagen peptides (Peptan^® F2000 HD) are very easy to digest, already bioactive and with the ability to synthesize collagen within our body, but for this if we take it as a supplement we must associate it with vitamin C and MSM.

• These collagen peptides are easily absorbed as small peptides and are seen in the blood one hour after digestion. More than 90% of ingested collagen peptides are absorbed.
• Peptan^® F2000 HD bioactive because it contains elevated levels of amino acids Gli, Hip, Pro and Ala – offering benefits not found in other protein sources.

Experts note that after age 30, collagen production and cell turnover begin to decline, contributing to the natural aging process.
That is why an extra supply of collagen would be beneficial to counteract this loss. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24401291/

The amounts to be consumed vary, but as we explained before, collagen is not isolated in the preparations, but with vitamins and minerals, so we should consume approximately between 5 to 9 grams per day of commercial preparations to achieve useful plasma concentrations.
But the important thing is really that the preparation is effective, for example, the SkinPro® or ProCollagenMatrix®are effective with 5g of collagen peptides from fish, thanks to the excellent quality and its good ability to be absorbed since it is in the form of peptides and because the formulas contain other ingredients that synergize and enhance its absorption and effectiveness, improving not only the density of the skin, but also hydration, elasticity, and managing to hide fine expression wrinkles and improving the tightening effect of the skin.

Currently, two sources of collagen are used for the manufacture of oral preparations, the bovine derivative and the fish derivative.
In the case of the original fish, it is made using the skins of salmon and cod.
Rejuvenal only uses marine origin for its effectiveness.

Within the body, its action begins when it is absorbed in the form of peptides by the villi of the small intestine and transported through the bloodstream.
Japanese studies have shown that it is deposited in the dermis and this stimulates chemotaxis of fibroblasts towards the site of action. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26362110/

Fibroblasts react to the presence of collagen fragments as if it were a destruction of native collagen, so they begin to produce new chains in replacement.
The result is visible, usually from 6 to 12 weeks, with wrinkle reduction, skin hydration and greater elasticity, providing a more rejuvenated appearance.
It also positively affects hair, nails and joints due to its MSM and silica content.

At Salengei we have products that stimulate collagen production and the exclusive formulas are developed by the REJUVENAL laboratory in the Netherlands.
The products are:

• ProCollagenMatrix® is an effective collagen formula.
  In addition to containing collagen peptides formed mainly by the amino acids proline and lysine, it incorporates useful amounts of other synergistic nutrients such as vitamin C that stimulates collagen synthesis in bones, joints and dermis, it also contains Arginine, lysine, MSM, glucosamine, magnesium, manganese, pomegranate extract, copper, selenium and vitamin D.
• Among the active ingredients present in SkinPro® and SkinMatrix® , hyaluronic acid is the perfect ally to improve skin hydration and other unique components that make up the perfect nutrition to resupply the skin with elasticity and a lifting effect.
  The SkinPro® (in addition to everything that the ProCollagen Matrix contains), additionally contains fish cartilage, chondroitin, phytoceramides, silica, glutamine, elastin, niacin, zinc, and biotin.
• Now, if what we are looking for is the lifting effect in a more intense way then our perfect ally is MSMPro® this product carries in addition to collagen peptides a high concentration of MSM which allows it to act more intensely on the connective tissue and therefore improve flaccidity, something so important both after a weight loss diet, after pregnancy or due to the aging process.

We know that the health of our skin is the sum of daily care, genetic component, moderate sun exposure and adequate nutrition.
That is why the above are some tools that we like to share so that you can decide how, in addition to the more or less invasive procedures performed in an aesthetic clinic, the synergy with food supplements is much more effective.

As always, we recommend that you seek advice from trusted professionals and if you have any questions, you can write to us at info@salengei.com or through the contact form.