First issues first: Collagen doesn’t make up hair.
Collagen is a protein discovered within the pores and skin, intestine, joints, and all through the physique to offer construction and power. Hair, however, is predominantly made up of one other protein, keratin. (Keratin can also be present in your dermis and nails.) Keratin is a protecting protein that acts as a barrier. All proteins are made up of amino acids, usually referred to as “the constructing blocks” of proteins.
So why is collagen usually marketed towards hair well being? Nicely dietary supplements like collagen powder aren’t really the complete collagen molecule (which might be too giant to digest), however slightly damaged down and hydrolyzed collagen. On this kind, it’s really absorbable amino acids!
Basically: The amino acids in collagen dietary supplements can be utilized by the physique to provide different proteins, similar to keratin.
Licensed trichologist and founding father of Superior Trichology William Gaunitz, FWTS, advised mbg that the first amino acid that’s most useful known as proline1. Many collagen dietary supplements are clear concerning the amino acid profile inside their system, so you possibly can even discover choices that include this amino acid and are probably higher fitted to hair well being.
However it’s not simply concerning the hair fiber itself, collagen can really help the hair follicle and surrounding space. Rachel Maiman, M.D., board-certified dermatologist at Marmur Medical, notes that analysis has proven that collagen ranges in surrounding the hair follicle and bulb enhance throughout hair progress part2 (in any other case referred to as the anagen part).* Then after they go into the upkeep and shedding part, the collagen disappears.
So if the physique can create extra collagen, it could possibly help hair within the progress part for longer. “As our our bodies create extra collagen, the layers regenerate. This helps our hair follicles by helping them in re-entering the anagen part and sustaining the hair progress cycle,” says Maiman.*
Certainly, we regularly speak about how one can’t have wholesome hair with out a wholesome scalp. “Collagen helps the scalp’s thickness,”* Maiman says. “A skinny scalp with inadequate collagen is much less strong and fewer able to holding the hair follicle bulbs in place.”
