Does collagen hold the key to the Fountain of Youth?

In old movies you often see an older person who is desperately and obsessively seeking the Fountain of Youth, which they hope to find through injections of sheep placenta at a clinic in Switzerland or something. I always thought that was ridiculous and distasteful until I started to notice crepe-y skin on my hands and arms.

And so it was that I found myself opening a plastic tub full of collagen peptides three days ago with the fervor of a movie madman. Would a couple scoops of this magical white powder reduce the depressing signs of age on my skin — and improve my joint health, the lustre of my hair, the strength and color of my nails and perhaps (oh brave new world!) even get rid of the cellulite that is plumping out my legs even though I work so diligently at the gym?

We won’t know the answer to these questions until roughly the middle of May (apparently it takes three weeks for the first signs of improvement to appear). 

But I feel committed to this collagen thing because I think it’s a no-brainer; your body needs some supplemental collagen as you age and even if you don’t see the improvements on your skin, it seems inarguable that your body will benefit from it.

Bone broth

What led me to collagen first was my tennis friend Patricia, who has the most luminous lovely skin I’ve seen on anyone over the age of about 10. She commented casually one day, just before a vigorous round of doubles, that she was drinking a collagen shake and that often she sips bone broth at home (bone broth is a variant on stock; you can buy it pre-made at the McEnroe Organic farm stand in Millerton, or you can make it yourself. If you want the recipe that we published in 2015, email me at cynthiah@lakevillejournal.com and I’ll send it to you).

Not injections

I’m not a huge fan of drinking broth. And actually, I’m not a huge fan of supplements, either; I generally feel that it’s better to get your nutrients from fresh food. But things do begin to wear out in your body over time and your stores of collagen do need some supplementation. You can make and drink bone broth; you can use a moisturizer that has hyaluronic acid such as Cetaphil; and/or you can take some collagen supplement.

I apologize for going through this all so quickly but it’s complex and there are lots of websites that will give you a more complete explanation of the science. My goal in this article is to alert you that collagen is potentially useful; and then to tell you how to get some and use it.

If you’ve heard of collagen before, it’s probably in connection with injections that are used to plump up cheeks and lips. There are also moisturizers that claim to have collagen in them. Injections are slightly different from what we’re talking about here. And the general consensus seems to be that if you apply collagen to your skin it won’t have the intended effect.

Gelatin is collagen

If you’re a cook, you might know that collagen in another form is gelatin, kind of like ice is a variation on water (if you want the actual science on this there are about a dozen websites that will explain it in detail). The short version is that gelatin is also good for you; and it behaves differently when it’s cooked. Collagen dissolves when you mix it with a warm or hot liquid and it remains dissolved; gelatin powder turns into a gel when you  mix it with cool water and then it melts as you add it to a warm liquid and then it gels again when you let it cool.

In theory, and I can’t quite find anyone to say this in so many words on the internet, gelatin is good for you in the same way that collagen is good for you, and certainly it can’t hurt to have some Jell-o or some of the Italian pudding known as panna cotta, which is basically cream mixed with gelatin.

But personally, I don’t think I can eat pudding every day. That’s one reason I decided to try a supplement. Another is that apparently collagen in its natural form is hard for your body to digest; it’s too big and it needs to be broken down, and also you need to have all these other nutrients present to help you absorb it. A good supplement, supposedly, will break down the collagen and also provide some of the other nutrients you need in order to process it. I say “supposedly” because I only know this because it’s what the supplements claim to do. 

Which ones to get

Apparently you can get collagen that comes from cows, chickens, fish and/or other marine life. I am under the impression that beef collagen is the best, and that you want to be sure to find a product that is careful about the beef it uses because diseases such as Mad Cow Disease can live in bone marrow. 

You want to order a product that is a collagen peptide; the peptides are the broken down form of the collagen protein that your body can absorb most easily. After reading online reviews, I ended up ordering from Amazon the Sports Research Collagen Peptides Hydrolized Type I and III Collagen. It was about $27 for a big tub that is supposed to last about five weeks. I’ve been putting it in my hot milky coffee. As long as I remember to stir it, I don’t taste it at all (and I’m very very finicky and fussy, so if it doesn’t bother me, it probably won’t bother you). You’re supposed to take between 10 and 30 mg every day (one to three scoops).

Patricia said that she uses a brand called Bullet Proof and she orders the vanilla flavor. She either mixes it into a shake or mixes it with water (note that with most powdered collagen, the liquid needs to be warm or the powder won’t dissolve). 

People apparently also add collagen into all kinds of food. I added some into a  bowl of chicken soup last night and it disappeared nicely into the broth.

Drink it as a latte

I’m not sure why I decided this would be a good idea, but it occurred to me to try and make a matcha green tea powder latte and add collagen. 

As it turns out, lots of other people had the same idea and there are many matcha collagen latte recipes online. Most of them are sugar-free and use some form of milk that isn’t bovine. I used a version with sugar and cow’s milk because I think the matcha is already an unfamiliar taste and I wanted to balance it out with two things I’m used to (sugar, milk). 

I already know that I like matcha lattes; you might have tasted one recently at a Starbucks. If you’ve never tasted matcha, it’s kind of grassy in a really subtle nice way. 

You can have your matcha latte warm or iced (but you have to warm it up first to dissolve the matcha powder and the collagen powder). 

This recipe is adapted from one at www.japancentre.com; the collagen is not in their recipe. It makes enough for two cups; when I made it today I drank one cup hot and refrigerated the rest. Later in the day I drank it with ice.

Matcha is considered a super food. It is invigorating and therefore a good coffee substitute. It is also full of cancer-fighting antioxidants; a cup of matcha is supposed to have more than 100 times as much antioxidants as does a cup of regular green tea. 

You can buy a very good matcha powder at the Harney & Sons shop in Millerton; get the matcha jobetsugi small tin, $14.

Matcha collagen latte

Adapted from Japan Centre

One to two servings

In a small saucepan, combine a cup of milk (or whatever milk substitute you like) with 3 tablespoons of water. In a bowl, whisk together one teaspoon of matcha powder, 2 teaspoons of sugar (you can omit the sugar or use a sugar substitute) and one scoop of collagen powder. Heat the milk and water until they begin to steam (don’t let them boil). Pour the hot liquid over the powders in the bowl and whisk them together thoroughly. If you have a milk froth machine, pour some of the latte in and make it froth up and pour it over the rest of the latte and you’ll get a lovely foamy latte top.

If you find it too rich, drink it cold (after you’ve dissolved the collagen in the warm milk) with ice cubes.