Collagen is the vital building block of our bodies found in skin, hair, nails, bones, joints, muscles, tendons, blood vessels and even the digestive system. Our bodies cannot synthesize enough collagen on their own and our diets today contain minimal amounts of collagen. Unfortunately, as we age, our collagen production slows down dramatically. This results in wrinkles, aches and pains throughout our bodies, a lack of hair density, skin problems and even leaky gut.

Let’s break it down into 3 areas:

FITNESS AND RECOVERY: Most of us are only thinking of our muscles when we think of recovering from hard workouts. This is where whey protein comes in and it does a great job of repairing muscles after workouts. Keep drinking your Ascent Whey protein! But our joints, tendons and ligaments connect to our muscles and they largely consist of collagen. So, in order to keep them healthy and strong, we need to add a little collagen supplementation to our recovery process.

AGING: As we age, our skin becomes loose and starts to discolor, we develop wrinkles, our hair may start falling out and our nails become soft and fragile. This is in part due to collagen production declining as we get older. Increasing collagen consumption has been shown to help the cells in our skin, hair and nails to repair, thus contributing to smoother and firmer skin, healthier nails, and fuller hair.

GUT HEALTH AND DIGESTION: Because our digestive tracts are composed of the same amino acids that are abundant in collagen, adding it to one’s diet may help support digestive health. And even more specifically, collagen could help improve a leaky guy. Leaky gut is a condition where holes in the small intestinal lining allow toxins to pass directly into the bloodstream which can result in inflammation in the form of knee pain, migraines, skin disorders, gluten sensitivity, colon cancer, and more. Collagen protein can help fight leaky guy by forming connective tissue in the lining of the digestive system that effectively closes the holes in a leaky gut. Collagen has also been shown to heal damaged cells in the intestinal track by infusing essential amino acids to the stomach lining.

So, as you can see, there’s a pretty solid list of health benefits we can enjoy from using collagen. But not all collagen formulas are the same. There are actually numerous classifications of collagen and many of the name brand products out there only consist of one or two. You’ve probably heard of beef (bovine) and chicken, but marine (fish) and egg shell collagen are also important as they each help repair certain systems differently. CB Supplements combines FIVE types into their formula, so you are getting the most out of your collagen supplement. Plus, CB Supplements is locally owned right here in Orlando and we always like to support local!

CB Supplements Collagen is available in the CrossFit Winter Park office for $39.99 for a 58 serving tub. There are many ways to consume this unflavored collagen powder. You can add a scoop or two to your coffee, protein shake, and smoothies. Or, you can blend with some almond milk and cocoa powder. There are also ways to incorporate it into your baking.

As always, please reach out with any questions. We are here to educate and to help you live a healthy and active life!