collagen?

[BellCat]

Anyone take this? What does it do? Could it help my fine thin hair =O !!! :) :) would it be bad to take too many supplements?
I'm already taking
Biotin
MSM
Hair skin and nails supp
Multivitamin

[LoveMyLongHair]

Where are you finding collagen at? I would be tempted to try that one. I am taking the same things you are, but also:

Glucosamine/Chondroitin
Evening Primrose Oil
Flax Oil
Anti-oxidant

[HairFaerie]

I found the information below on a website that sells collagen supplements:

"Collagen and Hair Care

Collagen is a protein and most people associate collagen with skin. While it is true that collagen is the support structure for skin, giving skin its resilience. Collagen is a very important protein for our whole body including our hair.

Collagen is one of the proteins found in most connective tissues, including cartilage, bone, and skin. Collagen is a protein that makes up about 30 percent of our body. Collagen is unique among body proteins because it is the single-most important protein of connective tissue. Collagen is very important to the body repair process. As a matter of fact, collagen is the material that holds your body together. Next to water, collagen is the most important structural substance in our bodies, accounting for 25-30% of its total protein. Your ligaments, tendons, bones and skeletal muscles are all held together by collagen, as well as the smooth muscle tissue like your blood vessels, digestive tract and organs. It is even the main component of your hair, skin, and nails.

As we age, our body loses its ability to make collagen, thus, it starts to break down. It is thought that from the age of 25, your body loses collagen at a rate of 1.5% per year, so by the age of 35, your body will have lost 15% and by 45, 30%. This is why our skin sags and wrinkles; hair becomes thinner, dull, or lifeless; our joints are stiffer and less flexible; and we have softer, less tone bodies.

Supplementing with collagen protein is believed to provide the body with the amino acids necessary to manufacture and support collagen."

I haven't tried it but I am taking the same things you are taking right now. In my opinion there is no such thing as taking "too many" supplements but there is potential harm in taking "too much" of a particular supplement. I would look in the ingredients of your current supplements and if there isn't any (or very little) amounts of collagen in them, then why not try it? But then again, I am not a Dr. so what the heck do I know? I am just a big fan of experimenting until you find stuff that works for you! :)

[pixistixx]

you could eat gelatin, which is made up of collagen. I recommend the unflavored though... too much dye and sugar in the premade stuff. Just get the knox unflavored packets, and use whatever juice you like and make knox blox :)

[Tiina]

Yes, there can be too much supplements. Some vitamins can build up in your system and cause medical issues, others (the water-solubles) absorb only in an amount your body wants and the rest gets flushed out of the system, which is a waste. Some hair growth aids are hormonal and can mess up a lot. Including, but not limited to, abnormal periods, hair growth in unwanted areas and hairloss.

I recommend you do some reading on every single hair supplement (and their ingredients) you want to take before starting with them and do not add any more supplements before you see what the supplements you are currently taking are doing for you. This helps determine what is working for you and what isn't. Better safe than sorry.

[BellCat]

Sounds pretty cool.. I must say I am tempted :) if people are injecting it into them I wonder what effect it has on hair as a supplement ..hmm

[Hummy]

I have been taking hydrolyzed collagen pills every night for almost 4 months. I was supposed to take 6 of them every day on empty stomach (3 in the morning and 3 at night, before going to sleep). I chose to just take 2 (2gr) at night. I don't know if such a small dosage made any difference, I take other supplements, so I cannot tell for sure if it works. I thought it couldn't hurt, so I will keep taking them. It's just protein.

[Lemur_Catta]

Taking collagen orally is useless, because collagen is a protein and thus it is broken down into amino acids, then it is absorbed by the intestine. It is basically the same than eating proteins like eggs or meat, actually it is quite a repetitive protein with a lot of glycine and and proline.
So I don't think you should take collagen too, besides you are already taking a lot of supplements, maybe it is already too much. What are the ingredients of the nails and hair vitamins?

[BellCat]

Zinc
Copper
Horsetail
Silica
Biotin
and sulphur

I think that's everything :P

[Anje]

As others have said, collagen's pretty much going to be in any meat that you eat, and gelatin is a form of collagen (albeit a cooked one). If anything, I'd think you're better off making sure you get adequate amounts of vitamin C, so you can synthesize the collagen your body needs using the proteins in your diet. The body isn't going to use the proteins that you consume to make itself directly anyway -- it's going to break them down into their constituent amino acids and assemble them into the proteins it needs to make according to its own human recipes.

ETA: I doubt you're going to find a vegetarian source for the stuff, if you're veg*ian, either.

[BellCat]

I dont eat alot of meat, is there anything i could eat/take to make up for it?