Does collagen make you gain weight? That’s a common question in the skincare and wellness industry. Collagen is essential for forming connective tissue, such as bone, skin cells, and cartilage. So, how could collagen be related to weight gain?
Well, collagen is the most readily available protein in your body. It can boost the body’s metabolism, helping you to lose weight. There are also claims that it causes weight gain by promoting water retention. But some also believe it helps you lose weight. Ultimately, whether collagen makes you gain weight depends on your diet, lifestyle, age, and gender.
You might be shocked to know that you can gain weight when using collagen. That’s because it is well-known for skin, nails, and hair maintenance. Therefore, few people who take collagen associate it with weight issues.
By looking at your individual lifestyle habits, you can tell if collagen is responsible for your weight gain or loss. It will help you differentiate collagen’s effects on your weight from other lifestyle habits such as unhealthy eating.
Why Are You Gaining Weight?
The main reason anyone would gain weight is if they take in more calories than they burn. If you eat high-calorie foods and remain inactive, they will transform into fat and increase your weight.
However, you may maintain an active lifestyle and gain weight due to lean muscle mass. Lean muscle weighs more than fat because it’s firmer and denser. If you exercise and have a lean body, but weigh more than you expect, consider lean muscle weight as a factor.
Underlying health issues such as thyroid problems, hormonal imbalance, and autoimmune disorders can also cause weight gain. And some types of medication will trigger weight gain too. If you are suffering from a health issue and take lots of medicine, they could be responsible for your weight increase.
These few factors prove that weight gain may occur for reasons other than taking collagen. But how possible is it to gain weight simply from taking collagen? Let’s explore.
Collagen and Weight Gain
Collagen only contains 36 calories per 10g. That number of calories cannot cause weight gain, mainly because you don’t take collagen in large amounts. Therefore, cases of collagen causing weight gain are primarily due to misinformation.
Collagen is also known to promote a healthy metabolism, which helps our bodies burn fat. If you take it responsibly, it cannot cause you to gain weight.
What can cause weight gain is the depletion of natural collagen in your body as you age. Since it helps your body maintain a healthy metabolism, you will gradually gain weight as collagen production decreases. Suppose you are already dealing with collagen depletion due to aging. In that case, you may take it as a supplement to restore balance.
Collagen and Weight Loss
When answering the question, does collagen make you gain weight? You must consider the claims that collagen supplements can help you lose weight. Here’s how they can do that?
Because collagen is a protein, taking it triggers the release of satiating hormones in the body, which reduces hunger pangs. It also stimulates the development of lean muscle, thereby improving your body’s ability to burn calories. That’s why fitness enthusiasts use collagen as a supplement before and after their workout to replenish and strengthen lean muscles.
Collagen also promotes creatine formation, which energizes your muscles during physical activity. Taking it and maintaining an active lifestyle will help you cut down fat and increase muscle mass.
And if you exercise a lot, collagen can speed up your post-workout recovery, hastening the formation of lean muscle. Therefore, you cannot gain weight when using collagen correctly.
Other Benefits of Collagen
Collagen can do more for you than prevent weight loss. It also smoothens and firms up skin by promoting the rejuvenation and repair of damaged skin cells. Taking collagen can also improve the quality of your nails and support healthy hair growth.
If you suffer an injury such as a sprain or hamstring strain, you should take collagen to quicken healing. You can also prevent muscle strain and injuries by taking collagen to strengthen your ligaments and joints.
And lastly, collagen supports heart health by strengthening the arteries and walls. It also promotes healthy brain functions by combatting anxiety and elevating your mood.genetic
What Happens When You Suffer Collagen Depletion?
Collagen is an integral part of your skin, hair, cartilage, bones, and hair. When your body cannot produce enough collagen, you may suffer joint pain and start to notice skin wrinkles. Inevitably, cases of collagen causing weight gain may also occur as you age. Your best cause of action when that happens is to take collagen supplements.
The reports of collagen causing weight gain should not stop you from trying it. But because there are many types of collagens in the market, you must be careful which one you choose.
Animal collagen supplements are made from animal products such as fish, pigs, or beef. You can also use vegan collagen made from genetically modified organisms such as bacteria or yeast. We also have marine collagen derived from deep-sea fish.
The most effective collagen supplements are pure, bioavailable hydrolyzed collagen supplements. These are collagen supplements made up of almost 100 percent collagen that your body can absorb easily. When purchasing collagen supplements go for hydrolyzed marine collagen because the body absorbs it better than animal collagen.
Conclusion
So, what is the conclusion? Does collagen make you gain weight? The answer is it doesn’t unless you eat high-calorie foods and avoid exercise. Collagen will help your body create lean muscle, but it will not result in unwanted weight gain.
If you are getting older, collagen depletion is part of aging. It will cause skin wrinkles, joint pain, and increased weight gain. The best way to fight the effects of aging is to start taking collagen supplements made of pure, bioavailable hydrolyzed collagen. Combining these supplements with an active lifestyle will enhance your quality of life.
Collagen supplements are also beneficial for the heart and can support your mental health. They are excellent for the growth of healthy hair, nails, and skin. Regarding weight gain, the conclusion is that you can only gain weight when using collagen by leading a sedentary life.
