The Protective Powers of Collagen Powder

This is the second blog in a series explaining exactly how collagen powders work and how they benefit our skin.

So far, we have discussed the fact that taking collagen powder can provide the nutritional building blocks required by our body to increase collagen production. In this blog, we will look at an additional benefit that involves protecting the collagen fibres we already have.

One of the things that destroy our existing collagen fibres are enzymes called Matrix Metalloproteinases, or for simplicity MMPs. Our body naturally makes MMP enzymes, and one in particular, collagenase, has the job of removing old matted fibres that are no longer doing their job. But certain things like dehydration, sun exposure, pollution or even just getting older, increase the production of these destructive enzymes too much and consequently, they breakdown healthy, well-functioning fibres and contribute to the rapid ageing of our skin.

It has been shown in several studies that taking collagen powder can help decrease the levels of the enzymes responsible for breaking down our collagen fibres. This helps us maintain the collagen we do have for longer and helps reduce the formation of wrinkles.

The exciting thing is that it is not only our collagen fibres that benefit from this property but our elastin fibres as well. Elastin is another type of fibre found in our skin. It is responsible for the elasticity of our skin, hence the name.  Whereas collagen fibres are responsible for our skin’s strength, elastin fibres give it its ‘snapback’ when pulled or stretched. Taking collagen powder also helps reduce the levels of elastase, an MMP enzyme responsible for breaking down our elastin fibres.