A Dietitian's Take on Collagen and Other Nutrition Trends
If I am being fully honest staying up with the latest food and nutrition trends is not my, shall we say.. priority?
This is very different than me staying up to date in my field with studies and emerging nutritional science because those are important for me as a practitioner to stay up to date in my field. The reason why I don’t follow food trends as closely is just that, they are trends. They changes with the seasons, tides and which company is the latest push on Instagram. However, I get a lot of questions about trends so I feel that it is good for me to dive into the deep depths of these “made for you supplements” and Goop-blessed morning routines every once in awhile.
First up, collagen. What is it, who needs it, what does it do.
Collagen is a protein that is found in your body. The marketing is true that it has a role in building skin, bones and nails. However, as with everything in your body it is not a simple equation of digest collagen then collagen goes right to your skin cells building elasticity and clearing wrinkles. (Remember when collagen in skin creams was all the rage and dermatologists were looking at us like wtf? On top of skin does not = absorbed into skin to be used.) It just doesn’t work like that. The research on the positive outcomes of collagen supplementation are limited and a little sketchy as supplements do now have to be FDA approved and therefore do not have to prove much in terms of “effectiveness”.
Collagen is a protein that is found in animal proteins but that doesn’t mean that vegetarians and vegans don’t have collagen in their bodies because once again, our bodies don’t follow a simple equation like that. Instead of collagen in = collagen taken to skin, bones, etc, it actually is eat foods, foods get broken down into simpler building blocks, those building blocks are transported to the places they are needed, you body constructs it. This is why I am skeptical of any supplements that over simplify this equation. Do I think taking collagen is harmful? Largely, no. Do I think it is probably a waste of money since it is a current trend? Yes. To me when people see positive benefits to something then it may not be so much because of this one magic supplement but rather because maybe they were not getting enough protein and now they are, (AKA no longer under-nourishing themselves) caring for their bodies is becoming more of a priority, etc. It is also very interesting to me that we keep circling around to proteins are our saviors and “clean” macros when fats can also help your skin, nails and bones too.
To address other trends along the same lines as collagen…
Gelatin. Same as collagen, just boiled down. Apparently this has made a comeback because when I was in high school gelatin was villainized as “that gross thing in gummies made of horse hooves.” Again, this is why trends are both boring and fascinating to me.
Bone Broth. I thought this one had died down about 8 years ago but I guess not. From a nutritional stand point, bone broth is just a soup-like substance that is made from boiling down bones to release the collagen. From a cultural standpoint I want to make clear that bone broth is not new. In many places it has been around for thousands of years as a dish to promote health, community and comfort. Often times I see bone broth has been commandeered by Western society with the idea that it was something that was invented by Los Angeles juice shops when it definitely was not. So what is my opinion of it? Bone broth is great, personally when I have a cold a nice warm hearty bone broth based soup dish is just the ticket. Do I think the bone broth protein power on your Instagram ads is your answer to enteral life? No.
Weight loss/metabolism/clean eating. Because I think that collagen and all of the subsets above also tend to dance in the same circles as weight loss and clean eating I want to also address this aspect of it. I will say of the studies that I found in regards to weight loss and collagen, there are few and even fewer human studies. This is important to note because few studies do not make a solid recommendation. What I will say is that collagen is a protein, just like other proteins. Your body will do with it what it needs to do. So when we fragment certain ingredients to be “fat burners” or “metabolism boosters” I am instantly skeptical and you should be too. Because back to our equation from above, whenever that equation is simplified, question the marketing! Fat burning is purely a marketing term, it does not actually happen in your body like that. Metabolism boosting, again, purely marketing. Our metabolisms vary throughout the day, seasons and our lifetime. So much of this is just genetics with a little bit of wiggle room. It’s like an architect with building plans, sure you can probably have a different stain on the wooden doors but you can’t change the foundational beams around, it just doesn’t work like that. Be the architect when these hot shot advertisers come to you trying to sell you new plans to change the beams around. Laugh and then go about building your building. (Annndd my building analogy ends here.) Collagen for weight loss, metabolism boosting blah blah is just the latest in what they will try to sell you products for. The weight loss industry has billions in revenue every year, of course all food and supplement roads lead back to there, it’s where the money is at baby!
Bottom line…
If you love your daily collagen power added to your smoothie and you have found it has helped you in some way, great. Again, I don’t think there is any harm besides the healthism and orthorexia that can come with any food and diet trend. You are not being “unhealthy” if you don’t consume these collagen supplements because your body is building collagen for you when you eat other proteins. So if you find yourself breaking the bank and chasing the white rabbit down the influencer marketing holes then I would stop and have a convo with yourself. Are you trying to “fix” yourself because there is a deep unhappiness in some other area? Are you seeking perfection like it is obtainable? Do you stress constantly about what you are putting in your body and are consuming these things because they have been deemed “clean”? If so, then I think there are larger things at play.
If you feel like you are struggling to figure out what to eat but also don’t know what is just marketing and what is actually based in nutritional science that is definitely something I can help with! My 1:1 sessions are to answer your specific questions because we all have different circumstances so these sessions are catered to what is needed for you and your body, sans food trends of 2021.
Katy Gaston Nutrition
Katy is a registered dietitian nutritionist and owner of Katy Gaston Nutrition based in San Francisco, CA. Katy is passionate about her work in eating disorders and disordered eating (AKA dieting) and wants to help people heal their relationship with food and body. If you would like to work with Katy in counseling sessions, she is available virtually via her services page below. If you are unable to be a client at this time but would like learn more, click here for a free introduction into intuitive eating workbook!