6 Skin collagen facts you need to know
You noticed that your skin care product talks about collagen building, but do you really understand collagen, and why there are so many ways to build it. This is also why there is a need to remodel it, and in some cases undo it.
1. There are 16 types of collagen.
2. About 80-90% is Types I,II, or III. People with lots of wrinkles have reduced type VII.
3. Collagen is a type of protein, it is made of long fibers, generally the fibers are coiled together to be stronger. Most of the fibers are made up of glycine, some proline, and any other amino acid attached.
4. Type I collagen, gram for gram is stronger than steel! Which is why collagen in scars is so thick!
5. Types I, III are in skin, tendons, ligaments, and bones. Type II is in the joints.
6. Aging reduces all collagen through various matrix metalloproteinases, serine, and other proteases and thus degrades them all. And we lose 1% of our collagen per year!