We鈥檙e not talking about . We鈥檙e talking about the structural protein that provides support to tendons, ligaments, and fascia鈥攁nd , such as ACL tears or Achilles ruptures.
Here鈥檚 the claim: As聽an athlete, you ask a lot of your soft tissue, like your joints and IT band. You . Think of collagen molecules in these places like a rope that鈥檚 constantly stretched to its max and then snapped back into place. Over time, that rope might fray鈥攚hich you鈥檒l feel as something like an overuse strain or tendinitis鈥攐r break down completely, which you experience as a more traumatic injury like a tear. To heal quicker, all you have to do is increase your intake of collagen to restore and replace the broken strands. Easy, right?
Lots of smart businesspeople thought so, and they鈥檝e created an entire industry of products promising to restore soft-tissue health and prevent injuries. You鈥檒l find , , , , and that claim to help rebuild and restore your soft tissue.
But while collagen does indeed play a pivotal role in keeping you healthy, it loses nearly all its efficacy when you get it from a package. That鈥檚 because it has a serious transportation problem. 鈥淭he central issue of collagen and other supplementation is that your body has no way to 鈥榮end鈥 digested collagen (broken down into amino acids) to specific locations in the body that would allow them to then help rebuild what鈥檚 degenerated,鈥 says Michael Joseph, assistant professor in the at the University of Connecticut.
In March, Jeffrey Weiss, professor and director of the , along with grad student Jared Zitnay, looked at the . It鈥檚 not as easy as capping off your collagen fuel tank. The structure of collagen specifically found in tendons and ligaments鈥攅ssentially three threads of molecules woven into strands that link together as sturdy chains鈥攊s complicated, as is the way your body digests it. Injuries aren鈥檛 just straight tears through these chains; rather, they鈥檙e caused by a gradual breakdown of the individual molecules that make the chain weaker or less capable of surviving repeated pressure. You can鈥檛 fully heal without collagen molecules in that same complex form.
When you chew, drink, or swallow collagen, it immediately hits your digestive tract. You digest it the same way you do any other natural protein: into individual amino acids. Your聽body can't bring those aminos聽directly to the site of the injury in order to create or rebuild tendons and ligaments. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no evidence that I鈥檝e seen that what you鈥檙e ingesting can actually be used by your body鈥t goes through your body and comes out as waste,鈥 Zitnay says.
The bottom line: There will probably never be an oral way to bolster your collagen levels. Instead, Zitnay and Weiss鈥 latest research hopes to target and activate the cells that produce collagen鈥攁 more natural, proven way to increase the number of healthy molecules in the body. That鈥檚 a long way from being consumer-ready. In the meantime, the remedy for collagen-related injuries is simple and familiar: Live a healthy lifestyle with exercise, strength training, and a balanced, nutrient-rich diet. And if you do get a tendon and ligament injury, .