What is Collagen Coffee?
Collagen is one of the most crucial and plentiful proteins in the human body. It helps not only keep skin, nails, and hair looking and feeling their best, but it’s also essential for developing bone, ligament, and muscle tissue.
While collagen is a common ingredient in cosmetic products, the molecules themselves are too large to be absorbed through the skin. The most effective way to gain all the benefits of collagen is by ingesting it. Collagen is most commonly found in animal products with abundant protein, such as chicken, fish, beef, and eggs.
There are plenty of ways to add more collagen to your daily routine, but one of the simplest is to use a collagen supplement. Collagen powder is a popular format for adding collagen to coffee, soup, or shakes. You can find an assortment of flavor options, but for a collagen coffee, you might prefer the unflavored variety to preserve the taste of your favorite latte.
Just like other protein powders, high-quality hydrolyzed varieties of collagen are going to be the easiest to digest. To further improve absorption of collagen supplements and synthesis of natural collagen in your body, it’s important to get an adequate amount of vitamin C, as well. Hyaluronic acid, copper, and zinc can also be beneficial for collagen development.
What Does Collagen Do?
Found in the connective tissue of nearly every animal, collagen serves to make up the parts of us that bend and stretch, such as skin, muscles, ligaments, and cartilage.
There are 28 different types of collagen that work to build and support specific groups of tissue in the body. We will focus on the five most important types of collagen that are most commonly found in supplements.
Type I Collagen
Type I collagen is the most common type, making up 90% of your body’s total collagen. It is fibrous and plays a role in the development and health of nearly all connective tissue, which can be found in bones, ligaments, blood vessels, organs, hair follicles, cornea, and all layers of skin.
If a collagen protein supplement claims to have anti-aging properties, it most likely includes type I collagen. This type is used to enhance skin health by improving hydration, increasing collagen density, and preventing fragmentation of collagen networks in the skin. All of these factors mean you may see a reduced appearance of both wrinkles and cellulite by boosting type I collagen production.
These results are due to the major role that type I collagen plays in the extracellular matrix - basically everything within the structures of tissue that is not the individual cells themselves. Components in the extracellular matrix act as a structural framework holding cells in place. Type I collagen’s role in this matrix is what makes it such an essential part of connective tissue health and what allows it to affect such a wide range of systems in the body.
Type I collagen is the most prevalent type used in supplements and cosmetics, as it offers both beautifying properties and internal health benefits, such as aiding in the clotting of wounds and scar tissue generation.
Type II Collagen
The second collagen category is much more specific in its localization and is most closely associated with joint health. It is found in cartilage as well as the sclera, retina, and lens of the eye.
Type II collagen has been shown to reduce the impact of rheumatoid arthritis as it makes up half of the protein in cartilage and over 85% of the collagen found in articular cartilage, which covers the ends of bones like the femur where they meet at a joint. It is also a major component of intervertebral discs in the spine.
This type of collagen also affects gut health as the amino acids found in type II collagen are instrumental in forming and maintaining tissue within the intestinal tract. promote immune function
This type of collagen is a must-have supplement if you do a lot of high-impact exercises, heavy weight lifting, or have a family history of arthritis. It’s never too early to start protecting your joints.
Type III Collagen
Type III collagen is another important category for the fitness-focused, as it helps build stronger muscles, especially in the heart where it accounts for 10% of the organ’s total collagen. It is the second most prevalent type of collagen in the body after type I and is often found in many of the same systems, such as skin and bone, but its main localization is in the skin and aorta.
Since type III collagen shares so many of the same locations and responsibilities as type I collagen, it seems logical that much of their functioning is interdependent. This type of collagen is also a part of the extracellular matrix, helping to hold cells in place. This role is what allows type III collagen to generate granulation tissue - essential for healing wounds - and the formation of the connective tissues in muscles such as the endomysium, perimysium, and epimysium.
But type III collagen also works in tandem with type II collagen in the development and maintenance of cartilage throughout the body as well as in blood vessels and hollow organs.
Type III collagen is often added to protein powder alongside other essential amino acids that help build muscle, such as type I, II, and V.
Type IV Collagen
Collagen that is type IV is much less common than the first three categories. It forms in sheets instead of strands, as its main function is to make up the basal lamina, the top half of the basement membrane that separates your insides from your outward-facing skin.
This unique role makes type IV collagen essential in wound healing, especially for surgical wounds that penetrate through the entirety of the basement membrane. But your skin isn’t the only organ that has a basement membrane zone full of type IV collagen.
Basement membrane zones are essential for tissue and organ morphogenesis, or the appropriate formation of organ shapes through the control of spatial cell distribution. This makes type IV collagen one of the most important proteins in embryonic development.
The role of collagen IV in basement membrane zones also helps to maintain the function of your inner ear, eyes, and, most importantly, kidneys. Its wound healing abilities within the basement membrane zones also helps type IV collagen to regenerate tissue in the gut and stomach.
As well as being less common within the body, type IV collagen is also more difficult to find in supplement form than the first three types. However, you can still get type IV collagen by eating egg whites and other high-protein foods.
Type V Collagen
The final type of collagen, type V, is more structurally similar to the first three types of collagen and can be found in the long thin strands of collagen fibrils that make up much of the extracellular matrix.
Type V collagen binds with macromolecules within the matrix to modulate cellular behavior and function. It regulates fibrillogenesis, the process of developing the strands of collagen fibers in the cornea and skin.
This role as fibrillogenesis regulator also places type V collagen in an essential role for the development and function of placenta. As a result, type V collagen is considered to be an essential protein for neonatal development.
Unlike type IV collagen, type V is often included in multi-collagen protein powder supplements alongside other fibrous collagen types.
Adding Collagen to Your Coffee
Supplements that can be mixed in coffee are a great way to boost the nutritional value of your morning boost.
While there is some debate over whether or not collagen remains effective when added to hot beverages, like coffee, studies have shown that collagen doesn’t begin to degrade until it reaches 300ºF (150ºC). Considering that most coffee is brewed at around 200ºF (93ºC), you should be able to add collagen powder to your favorite cup of joe without worrying about the heat.
Add Protein to Your Coffee with Allo
Even if you decide that adding collagen to your daily cup of coffee isn’t the right thing for you, adding protein to your hot coffee is now easier than ever with Allo protein powders and creamers.
You can add 10 grams of protein to your java with the natural powder, which won’t change the flavor of the coffee, or with the vanilla, hazelnut, or caramel varieties of powders and creamers.
Each flavor blends seamlessly into your morning brew as it enhances the richness of your favorite blend. Choose your favorite or try the variety pack and experience each flavor of powder and creamer for yourself.