Collagen is the most plentiful protein in your body.

It has various important roles, including providing structure to your skin and helping your blood clot.

In recent years, it has gained popularity as a nutritional supplement and ingredient in shampoos and body lotions.

Still, you may wonder what collagen is, as well as what it’s good for. This article gives you a thorough overview of this important protein.

What is collagen?

Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body, accounting for about one-third of its protein composition.

It’s one of the major building blocks of bones, skin, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Collagen is also found in many other body parts, including blood vessels, corneas, and teeth.

You can think of it as the “glue” that holds all these things together. In fact, the word comes from the Greek word “kólla,” which means glue.

SUMMARY

Collagen is a protein that provides structure to much of your body, including your bones, skin, tendons, and ligaments.

What does it do in your body?

There are at least 16 types of collagen. The four main types are type I, II, III, and IV (1Trusted Source).

Here’s a closer look at the four main types of collagen and their roles in your body:

• Type I. This type accounts for 90% of your body’s collagen and is made of densely packed fibers. It provides structure to skin, bones, tendons, fibrous cartilage, connective tissue, and teeth.
• Type II. This type is made of more loosely packed fibers and found in elastic cartilage, which cushions your joints.
• Type III. This type supports the structure of muscles, organs, and arteries.
• Type IV. This type helps with filtration and is found in the layers of your skin.

As you age, your body produces less and lower quality collagen.

One of the visible signs of this is in your skin, which becomes less firm and supple. Cartilage also weakens with age.

SUMMARY

There are at least 16 types of collagen. It’s found throughout your body, providing structure and support.

Nutrients that increase collagen production

All collagen starts off as procollagen.

Your body makes procollagen by combining two amino acids — glycine and proline. This process uses vitamin C.

You may be able to help your body produce this important protein by making sure you get plenty of the following nutrients:

• Vitamin C. Large amounts are found in citrus fruits, bell peppers, and strawberries (2).
• Proline. Large amounts are found in egg whites, wheat germ, dairy products, cabbage, asparagus, and mushrooms (3).
• Glycine. Large amounts are found in pork skin, chicken skin, and gelatin, but glycine is also found in various protein-containing foods (4).
• Copper. Large amounts are found in organ meats, sesame seeds, cocoa powder, cashews, and lentils (5, 6Trusted Source).

In addition, your body needs high quality protein that contains the amino acids needed to make new proteins. Meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, legumes, and tofu are all excellent sources of amino acids.

SUMMARY

Four of the nutrients that help produce collagen are vitamin C, proline, glycine, and copper. Also, eating high quality protein gives your body the amino acids it needs.

Things that damage collagen

Perhaps it’s even more important to avoid the following collagen-destroying behaviors:

• Eating too much sugar and refined carbs. Sugar interferes with collagen’s ability to repair itself. Minimize your consumption of added sugar and refined carbs (7Trusted Source).
• Getting too much sunshine. Ultraviolet radiation can reduce collagen production. Avoid excessive sun exposure (8Trusted Source).
• Smoking. Smoking reduces collagen production. This can impair wound healing and lead to wrinkles (9Trusted Source).

Some autoimmune disorders, such as lupus, can also damage collagen.

SUMMARY

You can help your body preserve and protect collagen by avoiding behaviors that damage it. These include eating excessive amounts of sugar, smoking, and getting sunburned.

Natural food sources

Collagen is found in the connective tissues of animal foods. For example, it’s found in large amounts in chicken and pork skin.

One particularly rich source is bone broth, which is made by boiling the bones of chicken and other animals.

Gelatin is basically cooked collagen, so it’s very high in the amino acids needed to produce it.

However, there’s debate over whether consuming collagen-rich foods actually increases the levels of this protein in your body.

When you eat protein, it’s broken down into amino acids and then reassembled, so the collagen you eat wouldn’t translate directly into higher levels in your body.

SUMMARY

Animal products such as bone broth, gelatin, chicken skin, and pork skin are very high in collagen.