Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body. It provides elastic and radiant skin, it keeps your muscles and joints supple, your hair and nails strong. In short, collagen is the glue that holds your body together.

There are different types of collagen, type I collagen being the most important and found mainly in the skin. You'll also find type I collagen in Insentials Smart Collagen.

WHY TAKE COLLAGEN?

From the age of 25, your collagen production decreases and the effects of collagen loss start to show: more and more fine lines appear and your skin becomes more fragile.

There are several factors that accelerate this process:

Genetic factors
UV light
Unhealthy lifestyle: poor diet, smoking, alcohol & stress
Hormonal imbalance (e.g. menopause)
Inflammation
Pollution
But collagen has more than just aesthetic benefits: it also contains glutamine, an amino acid important for intestinal permeability. When intestinal permeability is increased, 'bad' substances can enter the body through the intestines and essential nutrients are not absorbed: this is known as leaky gut syndrome. Glutamine helps to keep the intestinal wall intact.

Healthy habits (such as drinking enough water or eating high-fibre food) can support collagen production, but is insufficient to completely maintain declining production. Extra intake of collagen is therefore recommended as an essential anti-ageing approach from within.

Insentials has chosen a unique formulation, brought together in a convenient Collagen shot on-the-go.

Is the Smart Collagen vegan?

No, and that makes perfect sense. After all, plant products never naturally contain collagen, you only find it in animal tissues. Fish and beef collagen are the most commonly used ingredients for collagen supplementation, and within the beauty sector, fish collagen is most commonly used for external applications. Insentials has chosen to work with bovine collagen, however, because at the hydrolysed level, it no longer makes any difference which origin you work with. Indeed, the peptides are made so small that the possible benefits of fish collagen (the so-called better absorption) are completely eliminated.

So at the peptide level, the components of fish collagen are the same size as those of bovine collagen, and it does not matter which type you work with. Yet Insentials' choice to opt for beef collagen offers many other advantages: 

• Marine collagen is up to 3x more expensive than the beef variety. So opting for beef collagen can definitely reduce the price of the final product.
• Beef collagen contains no allergens. After all, when you work with fish products, you exclude a large group of people: fish allergy is now common.
• Finally, there is also the texture specific to the type of collagen, and in collagen solutions of such high concentration, this texture is hugely important. Marine collagen at this concentration comes across as rather slimy, and is also generally not very pleasant in terms of taste perception. With bovine collagen, it is a lot more accessible. 

From when will you have effects?

Intake of collagen peptides reduces collagen fragmentation by 18% after 4 weeks and 31% after 12 weeks. Similar results are found for skin hydration: 16% increase after 4 weeks and 28% increase after 8 weeks (Asserin et al, 2015). The effective rate at which you will experience effects is always personal, at Insentials we recommend a 3-month course of treatment. Afterwards, you can maintain, for example, with the Inner Beauty capsules or the alternation of capsules and shots. 

How do you achieve optimal results?

At Insentials, we know that a healthy liver is essential for optimal absorption of your proteins, such as collagen. By making sure your liver is not overloaded, you will achieve the best results. But how do you do that?

1. Healthy diet : eat enough fibre (always fill your plate half with vegetables and eat vegetables at every meal), and eat as many unprocessed foods as possible (eat what you find in nature!)
2. Drink enough water! Extra tip: don't take small sips all day, but drink larger amounts spread throughout the day.
3. Avoid stress, get enough exercise and go to bed on time.
4. Insentials' Detox Boost can help you detox your liver, after all: a non-overloaded liver guarantees even better absorption of your proteins such as collagen.

Does taking collagen have side effects?

There are generally no known side effects of collagen. Moreover, Insentials' Smart Collagen is a very pure product, so the risk of hypersensitivity to ingredients is minimal. And since beef collagen contains no allergens, you rule out the chance of any allergic reactions (which you may have with the fish variant).

Can you use Smart Collagen during pregnancy/breastfeeding?

First of all, it is important to reiterate that collagen is a substance naturally occurring in the body, and that it occurs naturally in food. Pregnant or lactating women also have a higher protein requirement. However, little research is available on the use of collagen supplementation during pregnancy and lactation. It is therefore recommended to consult a doctor or specialist if you are considering this supplementation during your pregnancy or lactation.

How much Smart Collagen is best to take?

Because the breakdown of collagen production occurs gradually over the years, Insentials uses different recommendations by age:

• Younger than 25 years: 2 shots/week
• 25 - 40 years: 3 shots/week
• 40 - 50 years: 5 shots/week
• 50+ years: 1 shot per day

Is Smart Collagen only for women?

Absolutely not! In women, the decline in collagen production starts faster, especially during and after menopause. Men have the advantage of getting wrinkles later in life, as they have thicker skin and more collagen. This is because collagen is stimulated by male hormones, making skin 20% thicker than female skin.

However, once collagen in the skin decreases in men, the process does go faster than in women. A man's skin will sag more and wrinkles will be deeper and thicker.

Conclusion
Both men and women can experience beautiful results by taking collagen.

How does collagen differ from capsules? 

The biggest advantage of liquid collagen is that you can dose really high. You cannot achieve these high dosages with a capsule. With a capsule, however, you can work better with additional hyaluronic acid. Our body also produces this substance itself, but here too the story is similar to that of collagen: from the age of 35 its production will decrease. Hyaluronic acid binds 5x its own weight in water, and consequently ensures hydrated skin. This hydration of the skin is also crucial to combat skin ageing. However, since hyaluronic acid binds with a liquid, you can never go high with a liquid collagen. Hence the advice to combine our mono-dose shot with occasional capsules. Insentials' Inner Beauty capsules can be used perfectly as a supplement, for example on the days you don't take a mono-dose shot.

Can I also put collagen on my skin against skin ageing? 

Logical question, but smearing collagen won't yield much result. After all, collagen is a large protein, which even in its hydrolysed form remains too large to be absorbed by your skin. You might be able to find such creams on the market, but optimal collagen absorption can only be achieved through intake of collagen-rich foods (meat, fish, broth, egg whites, avocado, etc.) or supplements like Insentials' Smart Collagen. Beautiful, glowing skin starts from within: healthy diet, adequate exercise and proper supplementation to meet deficiencies.