Many people are taking collagen to support their health, wellness, and beauty goals. You may be wondering if there is an optimal time of day to consume collagen to reap the most benefit.
While collagen supplements are beneficial to take any time of day, you can optimize your collagen intake by taking it at a strategic time, depending on your goals.
Continue reading to learn about the best time to take your daily dose of collagen, whether for skin, joint, or gut health.
Best time to take collagen for skin
Collagen plays a role in strengthening the skin. It is not only a major component of our skin, but it also boosts firmness, elasticity, and reduces the appearance of wrinkles.
There’s evidence to suggest that we may begin losing collagen as early as in our 20s. Therefore, supplementation with collagen can improve the health and appearance of our skin, making us appear and feel more youthful.
Recent research suggests that collagen is the most active in our skin after about three hours after consuming collagen peptides (1).
You might want to keep that in mind the next time you have an important event coming up and you want to put your best face forward.
Maybe it is something like an interview, birthday party, or a date with a special someone. Take your collagen supplement a few hours beforehand so your skin can look plump and hydrated with a natural glow.
Otherwise, you could simply make collagen a part of your skincare routine. Apply your cleanser, toner, moisturizer, and follow up with a collagen shake.
Best time to take collagen for joint health
Collagen supplementation can stimulate your body’s natural production of collagen, thereby improving joint pain, stiffness, or other symptoms of osteoarthritis.
Studies show that individuals who take 2 grams of collagen peptides experience less joint pain than those who don’t supplement with collagen (2).
Scientists believe that supplemental collagen accumulates in our cartilage and therefore strengthens our joints, and may also encourage our body’s own tissues to make collagen.
While it may not make too much of a difference when you take your collagen supplement to support your joints, consider incorporating your daily collagen after a workout.
After a long workout, providing your body with a dose of collagen can provide your muscles and joints with the boost they need. After physical exertion, the amino acids from the collagen can help repair muscles and soothe joints.
Best time to take collagen for gut health
Many people also consume collagen for its gut health benefits.
Collagen is especially good for gut health because it contains the amino acids glycine, glutamine, and proline, which are beneficial to the integrity of the gut lining.
When it comes to gut health, the timing of your collagen supplementation doesn’t make any difference, as long as you take it regularly.
Collagen is absorbed like other proteins – with the help of stomach acid and the enzyme, pepsin, proteins begin to get denatured in the stomach. Then, in the intestines, the proteins are broken down into amino acids and absorbed through our intestinal lining (3).
This process of protein absorption will happen at any time, with or without food, so it doesn’t actually matter when you take your collagen supplement.
The important thing is that you’re incorporating your collagen supplement into a routine that works for you – whether that’s in the morning, evening, or anytime in between.
Final Thoughts
All said and done, it doesn’t make too much of a difference when you take collagen.
If its easier for you to drink a collagen shake in the morning, then that’s what you should. If you’d rather mix some collagen in with your bedtime tea, that’s perfectly fine too.
Regardless of when you take your collagen supplement, it can boost your health just as effectively.
The only things that are important are that you take your supplements consistently and that you use pure, high-quality collagen sourced from pasture-raised cows like Naked Collagen.
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