Does Collagen Make You Gain Weight? All You Need To Know!

Collagen is popular today, and everyone prefers it. Brands are widely promoting Collagen as a miraculous substance that will augment your health. However, there are also talks that Collagen promotes weight gain.

As a result, you are worried and cannot decide whether to try collagen. You might hear that weight gain is collagen’s major side-effect. Another question that arises in people’s minds is that Collagen is a protein form. So, how can it cause weight gain issues?

No worries, as we will elaborately answer your question and explain if collagen leads to weight gain. But first, let’s understand what collagen is.

What Is Collagen?

Collagen is a protein that your body abundantly produces and is present in bones, skin, tendons, tissues, and muscles. It structures your body and holds all your cells and tissues together. Therefore, collagen is called building block that connects and structures your body. It also provides skin elasticity and strength to your body.

We call collagen an extracellular matrix that contributes to healthy joints, skin elasticity, and cardiovascular system formation. One-third of your body consists of collagen. Also, your body comprises 28 different types of collagen. For example, Fibrils, a collagen form, play a vital role in your body that is flexible and tough.

Our bodies produce Endogenous collagen, a naturally occurring substance. However, you can consume exogenous (artificial) collagen through a supplement to supply extra protein to your body. Therefore, several cosmetic treatments use exogenous collagen to improve skin texture. In addition, doctors use synthetic collagen to heal wounds.

Today’s anti-aging cosmetic procedures use collagen to provide accurate elasticity to people because our collagen fibers weaken as we age. Some people also consume collagen as a supplement to prevent aging symptoms. However, according to some people, taking artificial collagen for skin tightening treatment may result in weight gain.

So, let’s decode whether collagen contributes to weight gain.

Does Collagen Increase Weight?

You don’t have to worry about collagen promoting obesity because it doesn’t increase weight. It won’t explode your muscles or add extra pounds to your weight. Collagen helps build your muscles naturally in your body. In contrast, collagen benefits your health and helps you maintain your ideal weight.

Here are a few reasons that will prove how advantageous collagen is for your body.

🟢 Support metabolism: A person’s metabolism should be active to achieve healthy digestion and nutrition from food intake. It digests your food and converts it into energy. However, inactive or sluggish metabolism can cause weight gain issues.

Therefore, you must consume collagen-enriched food products to promote metabolism. Collagen is known to support metabolism in your body. As a result, a person’s lifestyle improves. Lean people consume collagen in supplements to increase their muscle mass. Simultaneously, it burns calories and regulates healthy metabolism.

🟢 Collagen provides a satiate feeling: Collagen improves your metabolism; thus, your food digests adequately. Consequently, we don’t crave carbohydrates, sugars, or other unhealthy food. Also, you don’t overeat and feel full every day. It happens because collagen provides all essential macronutrients, fats, and proteins. So, you experience satiate.

The consumption of collagen lessens your intake of harmful calories, suppresses hunger, and promotes weight loss.

🟢 Enhances muscle mass: Increasing muscle mass is crucial to losing weight. Your muscles in the building stage lose more calories. Additionally, you must know that collagen protein builds your muscles. Therefore, collagen supports weight loss and reduces unwanted fat by improving muscle mass.

🟢 Lessens fat storage: The body’s stubborn fat storage prevents you from losing weight and always becomes an obstacle in your weight loss journey. However, collagen will help you reduce fat accumulation by targeting adipocytes.

An anti-obesity study in 2018 indicates that collagen peptides regulate metabolism in fat mice and reduce fat accumulation.

🟢 Augments joint health: Excessive joint pain or other issues prevent us from exercising. As a result, we live a sedentary lifestyle and don’t participate in physical activity. It increases weight. However, consuming collagen supplements to augment joint health will encourage you to exercise or walk.

A study conducted in 2015 demonstrates that collagen plays a significant role in treating osteoarthritis.

🟢 Collagen is an excellent antioxidant: Excessive antioxidants increase oxidative stress in the body. Consequently, the body’s energy expenditure rises, which promotes fat oxidation. So, your body requires an antioxidant to reduce oxidative stress or free radicals.

Collagen is an antioxidant. It ebbs the free radicals and normalizes the oxidative stress. Even experts recommend a collagen-enriched supplement to patients suffering from weight gain issues.

So, these are some reasons showing why you should consume collagen in your weight loss journey. Now, let’s understand how to choose synthetic collagen to avail of these benefits.

Also read: Does Metoprolol Cause Weight Gain?

How to choose a collagen supplement?

Collagen supplements are prominently available in the market due to growing customer demand. Moreover, you can achieve flawless skin, a better digestive system, and improved muscular mass with collagen. It doesn’t show adverse side effects if you choose the right supplement. So, let’s understand how to select an accurate collagen supplement.

The collagen is extracted from animals for the supplements. For example, Bovine Collagen contains GMOs and synthetic hormones. These hormones badly impact your body and harmful fillers bind the supplement, which is not digestible. Therefore, you must prevent consuming them.

According to expert advice, people should select bioavailable collagen. Your body absorbs it effortlessly. Also, it is clinically proven to be effective and safe. The source of bioavailable collagen supplements is typically sea-derived. Hence, it is also known as marine collagen. They consist of amino acids that provide all the benefits of natural collagen.

Nevertheless, you can also opt for vegan alternatives if you are vegan.

Let’s look at factors that deteriorate collagen in your body.

What factors weaken collagen in the body?

Unarguably, everybody loses collagen strength with age. It is an aging symptom. However, some factors cause collagen loss. In such cases, your collagen weakens, and you face hair loss, weight gain, wrinkles, and fine lines.

Factors that weaken collagen:

Hormonal imbalances or changes in the body, e.g., pregnancy or menopause
Abnormal oxidative stress production
Poor lifestyle choices, such as smoking, alcohol, and diet
Exposure to the sun for a lengthier time
Body lacking ascorbic acid
Genetic conditions

So, take the help of artificial collagen for your body to enhance your overall health. Now, we’ll know how to prevent collagen loss.

How to prevent collagen loss?

Our body requires an ample amount of collagen to function appropriately. Losing or weakening collagen causes weight gain and other issues. So, remember the below-mentioned strategies to prevent collagen loss and weight gain.

✅You can consume vitamin and antioxidants enriched food items.

✅Improve your lifestyle and prevent smoking or alcohol.

✅Avoid consuming processed food because it contains harmful chemicals to preserve its shelf life.

✅Don’t expose your skin to sun exposure as UV rays weaken the collagen.

Now, let’s understand what you should do if a collagen supplement doesn’t help you lose weight.

What if you don’t lose weight after taking collagen supplements?

Persisting obesity or fat accumulation in your body parts may be a warning sign of an underlying condition. In addition, some hormonal imbalances trigger weight and other obesity conditions. Therefore, you cannot lose weight no matter how hard you try or consume collagen.

A sudden increase in weight may be a symptom of autoimmune disorders. So, inspect your body’s response to weight loss, and don’t blindly consume collagen. Also, see a healthcare expert to find the unexplainable weight gain cause.

Finally, let’s look at the last topic and know if collagen supplements are safe.

Is it safe to consume collagen supplements?

Researchers conduct much research on the authenticity and effectiveness of collagen supplements available in the market. The studies reveal that collagen supplements are not hazardous to health. However, consumers can experience a few side effects.

Also, many existing supplements still need to be tested. So, we need to find out if they are approved and safe. Therefore, a consumer must check the ingredients list and know if the supplement contains harmful elements, such as cadmium, hydrolyzed collagen, or other microbial pollutants. Don’t buy a supplement that contains these ingredients. It is best if you buy an authentic product.

Conclusion

Collagen supplements don’t promote weight gain or severe obesity issues. Instead, taking safe collagens helps you lose weight. Therefore, you may find collagen in many weight loss supplements as a part of their signature ingredient. Accompany this collagen supplement with proper exercise and diet to see exceptional results.

Collagen is good for skin, muscles, tissues, tendons, bones, and nails. Additionally, collagen supports cardiovascular health. In a nutshell, there is no harm in consuming a safe and clinically-proven collagen supplement. Check the supplement’s purity before purchasing, and you are good to go.