The following article by LEE HUI CHIEH is from Mind Your Body of the Straits Times dated 25 November 2010
Collagen myths busted
Collagen injections may cause allergies while eating it does not translate into more collagen in the skin. LEE HUI CHIEH reports
How would you like your collagen? Injected? Applied as a cream? Popped as a pill, eaten as sweets and chocolate or slurped in drinks and ramen (Japanese noodle) soups?
You can have any of it, with the current craze over collagen - a group of proteins needed for healthy skin, connective tissues and bones.
Its popularity has evolved over the last four decades, starting with injections in the 1970s, then creams and lotions, and pills, beverages and food in the last decade.
But all this is much ado about nothing - not because collagen has no value but because most products cannot replicate it.
Essential to keeping the body healthy, collagen comes in 29 different types and constitutes 20 to 30 per cent of protein in the body.
Derived from the Greek word for glue, kolla, it holds connective tissues together and is the main component of skin, connective tissues, cartilage, ligaments, tendons and bones, said DrAnjali Jhingan, a clinical fellow from the National Skin Centre.
It is also required to create the 'scaffold' on which cells are laid, so it is vital in the development of organs, said Dr Eric Wee, associate consultant gastroenterologist from Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
Collagen is produced by cells in connective tissues and skin. The cells assemble amino acids made by the body or absorbed from dietary protein into collagen and deposit it where needed, Dr Wee said.
Wear and tear
Collagen breaks down over time from wear and tear and has to be replaced, said Dr Ang Por, a dermatologist from a Paragon clinic.
The wear is accelerated by free radicals - toxic by-products of cells breaking down because of sun exposure, pollution, smoking, alcohol use, stress and ageing.
'As we age, the skin's ability to replace damaged collagen diminishes, so the collagen becomes of poorer quality over time,' she said.
The body can also no longer produce enough to compensate for what is damaged, she said. As a result, skin sags, wrinkles form and wounds heal poorly.
A lack of amino acids and vitamin C, needed to form collagen, can also affect its production, said Dr Jhingan.
But it would be unusual for a healthy person to make too little collagen, resulting in medical problems, if he gets good nutrition, said Dr Wee.
Some genetic conditions can cause production to be insufficient or defective, which could lead to heart, eye and skeletal problems.
These include Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome resulting in paper-thin skin; Marfan's syndrome, causing patients to have long limbs and fingers; and osteogenesis imperfecta or brittle bone disease.
These cannot be cured but patients are monitored and their symptoms treated.
Oral supplements not effective
Dr Ang said: 'One must have adequate nutrition for the protein building blocks. Otherwise there is no raw material for the skin to manufacture collagen.
'But eating collagen does not translate into more collagen in the skin.'
Collagen in or added to food, beverages and pills is digested into amino acids, absorbed by the cells in the small intestine and used to make proteins the body needs.
Some evidence shows that amino acids from digested collagen can be used to synthesise collagen in the human body, DrWee said.
But these amino acids can also be used to create proteins other than collagen, he said.
There is scant evidence that oral collagen supplementation is warranted for any medical condition, he added.
Can't be absorbed by skin
It seems logical that applying collagen to the skin would help supplement levels.
It does not.Dr Jhingan said: 'The collagen molecules in skin care products are simply too large to be absorbed by the skin. Most just sit on top of the skin, and do nothing to help collagen reproduction deep in the facial tissue.'
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