Light on your skin: clinical study of marine collagen

Products extolling the merits of collagen are jostling in the world of anti-aging solutions. You even hear that it helps with sports recovery. However, how can we sort out fact from fiction in the rising tide of information?

The answer always comes down to two words: facts. Given the complexity of the mechanisms at work in marine collagen, facts must be gathered from experts dedicated to scientific research. This is what we do by providing you with the most enlightening clinical studies to answer your questions.

• Aging: is rejuvenating your skin really possible with marine collagen?
• Sport: should you consume marine collagen to protect your muscles and blood system?
• Practical recommendations: how much? how long ? how to consume it?

Collagen hydrolyzate as a supplement: astonishing results

One gram of marine collagen as a supplement for 3 months for an improvement of almost 20% in the quality of your skin: rehydrated, more elastic and more toned. This is the result highlighted by several studies carried out over the last 20 years on collagen hydrolyzate added to the daily diet of a panel of volunteers.

These clinical studies on marine collagen hydrolyzate in the form of a food supplement show in particular that:

• It is possible to prolong the youthfulness of the skin;
• It is possible to rebuild damaged skin (redness, irritation, wounds, etc.);
• It is possible to rebuild damaged blood vessels.

Health issues and nutrition: The skin is an organ that is nourished from the inside

It was doctoral student Sara Sibilla who put her finger on the astonishing results of nutrition enriched with collagen in a clinical study .

His research led to the conclusion that collagen from an external source, supplied to the human body in the form of a nutritional supplement, can:

• Gain epidermal elasticity;
• Recover good skin hydration;
• Tone this largest organ of the body, the skin.

Particularly suitable for people who suffer from fragile skin, marine collagen is even more effective in helping your skin recover from particularly violent external attacks, as shown by measurements carried out by Doctor Choi in 2014.

His clinical study on the therapeutic effects of collagen in the regeneration of skin wounds provided proof of a crucial element: bruised skin (skin wound, redness, irritation, etc.) heals more quickly when you consume collagen. marine in the form of a food supplement.

Anti-aging: marine collagen, a “superfood”?

The power of marine collagen in dietary supplementation lies in the very close link between nutrition and skin quality.

But that's not all: researchers have also realized the power that marine collagen offers in slowing down aging.

To understand this you have to imagine that at each moment, your skin is in a given state and that this state will disappear to give way to a new state the next moment. The reason why aging seems to us to be an inevitable process is explained by our inability to restore our skin to a previous state or, at least, to prolong the condition of the skin over a longer period of time.

This is where marine collagen comes in: by helping the skin to “stabilize”, to stay in its state for longer, this peptide “stops time” in a way. In other words: marine collagen helps slow down aging and therefore… prolong youth!

In your daily diet, it is possible (and it is even desirable) that you consume marine collagen: this is what happens when your menu includes fish, for example.

Collagen hydrolyzate: to really benefit from marine collagen

However, the marine collagen that you consume in your diet is not directly usable.

Your digestive system will indeed have to get it into shape so that the rest of your body can use it. Unfortunately, this operation causes a lot of waste: a good part of the marine collagen that you consume is thus destroyed during digestion.

This is why several researchers set out to find a way to avoid this waste.

They achieved this by “pre-digesting” with water (this is what we call “hydrolyzing”) marine collagen from nature.

The resulting product is called “collagen hydrolyzate”: natural marine collagen that can be used almost directly by your body.

Rebuild skin and blood vessels with marine collagen

The regenerative power of collagen, demonstrated by the work of Doctor Choi, is the extension of a long-standing research effort.

We had to wait until 2011 for the peptide to be propelled to the forefront of science thanks to a study published by Professor Zhaofeng Zhang on marine collagen . Zhang demonstrates that it is possible to rebuild blood vessels and skin more quickly and more effectively with marine collagen hydrolyzate.

Since then, research in this area has multiplied to determine the factors for optimizing cures, which are the quantity, frequency and form of consumption of marine collagen most suited to obtaining the best possible results.

A leap forward has been made in this case thanks to the results of several studies including that of Jérôme Asserin in 2015 on the effects of collagen associated with hyaluronic acid consumed orally .

Doctor Asserin's research shows that dietary supplementation with collagen hydrolyzate and hyaluronic acid allows a 16% increase in skin hydration from the first 4 weeks.

In practice: does the ideal daily dose exist?

If the minimum recommended dose per day which emerges from the literature is 1 mg, the ideal daily dose of marine collagen does not exist in absolute terms because it depends on the individual.

To be exact, a minimum quantity is necessary but the key factors that will allow you to obtain the best effects are:

• The regularity of the intake;
• The duration of the treatment;
• Synergy with other active ingredients.

In fact, some people start a treatment based on marine collagen but unfortunately forget to take their daily food supplement.

If an oversight can be negligible over 4 weeks, the results can clearly decrease if the days of failure multiply.

After 7 omissions, that's already a whole week, or 1/4 of the treatment, which is not following the program and the effects can thus be greatly reduced.

The duration of the treatment, moreover, is important. If 4 weeks is a minimum and offers surprising results, 3 months is an excellent basis for obtaining very long-lasting and in-depth results.

This is demonstrated by a 2019 study, conducted by Professor Voss and his team, highlighting the effectiveness of a 12-week treatment based on collagen, significantly improving elasticity, hydration, softness and grain density of the epidermis.

Another essential element highlighted by Professor Voss's research is the importance of the joint action of collagen in the presence of certain active ingredients.

In practice: when and how to consume collagen hydrolyzate for optimal effects?

Indeed, the cocktail consumed by the study subjects included bioactive collagen hydrolyzate as well as:

• Natural vitamin C extracted from acerola fruit;
• Vitamin E;
• Zinc;

An organic active marine collagen hydrolyzate consumed as a daily food supplement is therefore a healthy habit whose effectiveness is now scientifically proven.

But we may wish to go further.

Indeed, based on the results of the most recent studies in the field on vitamins, echoing the results of Doctor Voss, you will really be satisfied with the result if:

• You make sure that the food supplement you consume contains at least vitamin C, vitamin E, trace elements (such as zinc) and hyaluronic acid;
• You consume it at the end of a meal (when your blood sugar level is high enough to maximize its absorption);
• You consume it on a regular basis during a treatment of at least 4 weeks or more.

These practical recommendations are even more effective for people with dehydrated or fragile skin.