Collagen supplements have recently become extremely popular, and research has backed up many of the claims for collagen. You may choose to start taking a collagen supplement for many reasons: your skin, hair, nails, joints, bones, muscles, or gut.

With the recent popularity of collagen supplements, you may wonder what collagen is and how it can benefit you. Understanding what collagen is and how it can affect aging can help you decide if getting extra collagen from a supplement is the right decision for you.

The development of your bones and muscles began before you were even born. Their development continues through every stage of your life. Whether you are young or old, the strength of your bones and muscles is vitally important and has huge implications for your quality of life as you age. You may not have given a lot of thought to collagen, but this fibrous, supportive protein is a major building block of your bones and muscles.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that one person dies every 36 seconds in the U.S. from cardiovascular disease. In addition, 60–70 million people in the U.S. have digestive diseases. There are many things you can do to help your heart, including eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight, and not smoking.

Do you wish you had the thick, shiny hair of the models in shampoo commercials? Or strong, healthy fingernails like those seen in the pages of a magazine? Well, there may not be a magic remedy to make this possible, but there is promising research concerning collagen’s potential to make your hair and nails healthier and faster growing.

Osteoarthritis (the most common type of arthritis) is one of the most prevalent diseases in the world. It is a joint disease that affects 240 million people in the world. About 18% of women and 10% of men over the age of 60 suffer from symptoms of osteoarthritis.

Did you know that your skin is an organ? Actually, it’s the largest organ in your body. It keeps vital nutrients and fluid in the body and is your body’s first defense against disease, infection, and injuries. Your skin does a lot of hard work, so it’s no surprise that it’s one of the first places you start to see signs of aging.

We cannot control all the factors that lead to the decline of our ability to produce collagen. For example, we cannot control the fact that as time passes, we will age. Fortunately, certain lifestyle factors are in our power to influence our collagen levels. So, let’s talk about those.

As we reviewed in the last article, we produce less collagen as we age. Collagen stems from the Greek word "kólla," which means "glue." It's strong fibers act like glue for many parts of our body. Collagen protects the strength and function of our organs. And as the body's glue, this vital protein connects cells and tissues all over our body.

I had heard about collagen on so many different skincare and supplement advertisements. But I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t understand the importance of it. I didn’t know that it was one of our most abundant proteins. In fact, 25% to 35% of our body’s protein is collagen. I didn’t know that as we age, our ability to produce collagen declines. Fortunately, we can consume diets and supplements that are rich in proteins and amino acids. These amino acids form building blocks for our body.