Ultimate Guide: Collagen Peptides

If you’re relatively active in the online fitness community, chances are you’ll have seen people online raving about the benefits of collagen peptides.

Collagen is a real buzzword as of late, but yet despite this, it seems as if the vast majority of people out there are not entirely sure what collagen is and more importantly, what collagen peptides are.

In the world of health and fitness, supplementation can play an essential role in determining just how much progress you make in your training, and in determining just how quickly you achieve your goals and make those all-important gains.

We’ve all heard of protein supplementation as far as muscle growth goes, but what about collagen peptides?

To help bring you up to speed, here is our definitive guide on collagen peptide supplementation.

First off, what exactly is collagen?

Before we can start looking at collagen peptides, we first need to take a look at what collagen is.

In the body, collagen is important.

No really, collagen is, like, super important.

In fact, it is the most crucial building block in the entire body.

Collagen is a protein, in fact, it is a fibrous protein that is required for a whole host of vital physiological processes carried out within our bodies.

Of all of the protein found within our bodies, collagen makes up an impressive 30%.

It is a key building block of the human anatomy and is therefore responsible for the elasticity, the cohesion, and the regeneration of all the connective tissue in the body.

This means that collagen is an essential building block for our skin, our hair, our nails, our ligaments, our tendons, our bones, and of course, our muscles.

Basically, collagen functions as the supportive structure that keeps our bodies in one piece.

As we grow older, collagen production declines, which is why collagen supplements have grown in popularity over the years.

Now, in the body, there are numerous forms of collagen.

Close to 90% of all collagen in the body, however, can be categorized as Class-I, Class-II, or Class-III.

Of these three classes, the majority of them are categorized as Class-I.

Class-I collagen is very beneficial as it naturally possesses a great deal of tensile strength.

In basic terms, tensile strength means that the fibers can be stretched hard without breaking.

We use different cells to synthesize collagen.

In order for the cells to produce collagen, they utilize amino acids and peptides.

Whereas in the past, collagen supplements have primarily been marketed for skin health, we now know that the benefits of collagen stretch (see what we did there?) way beyond the skin.

Introducing, collagen peptides.

What are collagen peptides?

So, we now know what collagen is and what it is that makes collagen so important.

Now, however, it’s time for us to look at the fitness side of things and look at collagen peptides.

If you take a look at the list of ingredients found in various beauty and cosmetic products, often you’ll see that they contain collagen peptides.

Scientifically speaking, a peptide is basically a short chain of amino acids.

Collagen protein is itself made up of amino acids.

To be precise, the amino acids responsible for collagen proteins are Glycine, Arginine, Hydroxyproline, and Proline.

Collagen peptides are bioactive peptides small in size which are obtained when collagen is hydrolyzed enzymatically. Still following?

If not, then don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Basically, collagen peptides are obtained when collagen strands are broken down at a molecular level to obtain the individual peptides.

This is why collagen peptide supplements are sometimes marketed as hydrolyzed collagen.

Why choose collagen peptides?

Basically, the reason why collagen peptide supplements are so popular in the fitness world is because of their high levels of bioavailability.

This means that the body is able to absorb more of these amino acids at a much faster rate, so fewer go to waste.

As you know, protein is essential for muscle growth and repair.

Protein is made up of amino acids and so collagen peptides are highly beneficial for muscle growth and recovery after strenuous exercise.

These peptides act as building blocks for your muscle tissues. They can help regenerate damaged muscle tissues following physical exercise and exertion.

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