Everybody had already heard about collagen. This protein is a long-chain amino acid found exclusively in animal tissues, specifically in bones and connective tissue. Collagen is considered as one of the most valuable proteins in the human body since it is the most abundant, representing 30% of all proteins. Around the age of thirty, our body starts to decrease the collagen production, which causes noticeable changes. Beyond all the well-known collagen benefits to the skin, it can also play a very important role in what concerns to hair. Since collagen contributes to hair strength and elasticity, its decrease may provoke hair weakness, loss, and discoloration, compromising also the hair shining. According to a Nutrition Report International, as collagen plays a big role in renewing cells since its dynamic action can increase body temperature and improve blood circulation, collagen increase may be able to revert this tendency and even increase the hair growth and its regeneration. Moreover, due to collagen antioxidant properties, the hair follicles will be protected, preventing thus the hair loss. Amino acids glycine, proline, alanine, and arginine are mostly responsible for what makes collagen so unique.
Scientists of the Tokyo Medical and Dental University recently found that hair loss is related to the damage of stem cells in the follicles, which occurs due to aging processes. They also said that this damage may turn hair cells into skin, making hair follicles eventually disappear (Matsumura et al. 2016). However, there is good news. Some studies point that marine collagen (Nicklas et al 2009) may work as a rejuvenating source, that replenishes our body’s natural collagen supply, regenerating the dormant hair follicles, leading to hair re-growth and preventing the hair loss.
Another interesting feature of collagen is that it may reduce the appearance of gray hair since it supports the structure of the follicle, where the pigment (that promotes the color) is produced. When applied directly to the scalp (through the use of collagen-enriched products), this protein may make the gray hair appear as darker and less dry. Collagen supplements and topical formulations showed to be effective also in the repair and reverse of split ends while supporting the moisture hair levels. A boost of collagen in hair cuticles will add body, resiliency, shine and manageability to the hair, reducing significantly the stating charging, mainly with the use of leave-in products (Schueller and Romanowski 1999).
An interesting finding is that the use of gold in skin care can slow down the depletion of collagen levels in cells, which will increase the possibility of exerting the same effect in hair follicles. It was also found that the use of Hyaluronic Acid and Vitamin C, jointly with collagen, maximize its benefits, improving the hair regeneration. Body levels of collagen may also be increased through the ingestion of some foods, as cabbage, red fruits and carrots.
Overall, collagen treatments are recognized as able to deeply repair dry, damaged, frizzy and over processed hair (Schueller and Romanowski 1999), since it works not only on the outside hair layers but also near the scalp, smoothing the hair cuticles.
References:
- Matsumura, H., Mohri, Y., Binh, N.T., Morinaga, H., Fukuda, M., Ito, M., Kurata, S., Hoeijmakers, J., Nishimura, E.K., 2016. Hair follicle aging is driven by transepidermal elimination of stem cells via COL17A1 proteolysis. Science 351.
- Nicklas, M., Schatton, W., Heinemann, S., Hanke, T., Kreuter, J., 2009. Enteric coating derived from marine sponge collagen. Drug Dev. Ind. Pharm. 35, 1384–1388.
- Schueller, R., Romanowski, P., 1999. Conditioning agents for hair and skin, Cosmetic S. ed. AG, Marcel Dekker, Basel, Switzerland.
By Sofia Guilherme
