How is collagen distributed in our body?

Collagen has become one of the main functional foods to support body health, improve skin, hair, and nails and alleviate joint pain. To understand better how collagen can do all of these wonderful things, let’s have a look at how collagen is distributed in our body.

Collagen is a protein and, like all proteins, is made of amino acids linked together to create a chain. When the collagen is ingested in the stomach and small intestine, these amino acids are broken down in order to facilitate absorption. Subsequently, they are released into the bloodstream and distributed throughout the body. The cells construct collagen from available amino acids and build and restore collagen-based tissues such as skin, joints, cartilage, muscles, bones, hair, and nails.

The role of tripeptide during the distribution

What is interesting to note is that, during this process, not all of the collagen protein strings are completely broken down into single amino acids. Some stay together as a group of three which is called tripeptide. What is special about it is that once arrived in the stomach it is already bioactive, which means it is ready to be absorbed by the intestinal tract and to give a signal to our cells to upregulate the body’s own collagen production.

Tripeptide collagen is the reason why vegan collagen alternatives or simply eating a lot of protein does not provide the same benefit to your body. Because in vegan collagen or just protein, there is no tripeptide. Hence, no signal is given to the body to synthesize collagen.

The collagen mix for the optimal distribution 

You might wonder: If tripeptide is the signaling molecule, why do we also need collagen peptides?

Collagen peptides are fundamental in the collagen mix. In fact, collagen tripeptide on its own is not as effective as if combined with regular collagen peptides. The latter, which naturally contains tripeptide molecules in smaller quantities, provides our body with a wide array of essential amino acids necessary to build collagen that tripeptide cannot fully deliver. If only tripeptide was consumed, the signal to build collagen would be there, but not enough building blocks to create more collagen. So, it is clear that the optimal solution is to have a mix of collagen peptides and tripeptides.

Collamin and tripeptide

At Collamin, we took advantage of this fascinating bioactive tripeptide molecule becoming the first brand in Europe to include tripeptide in our product formulations.

These Collamin products, Natur’Beauty and Derm’Nutrition, are therefore more powerful and stronger when it comes to the method of action as they combine collagen peptides with tripeptides.

Follow us on Instagram to stay updated on the world of collagen!

Upgrade your beauty routine with our tripeptide collagen products!