In short, yes.
Lets take a quick step back. Your nails are made of a hardened protein called keratin, its the same protein that your body uses to make hair and skin.
Now, yes collagen makes up to 30% of the protein in your whole body, but keratin is different to collagen. They are 2 proteins that are known as structural proteins.
This means that your body uses these 2 proteins to maintain itself e.g. your hair, bones, skin, nails and joints.
Remember, no matter what, your body has to create collagen and keratin through its own processes.
How does collagen help with keratin?
When you eat food which is rich in collagen your body has to break it down first into amino acids before it uses those building blocks to create collagen and keratin. This is because the original collagen molecules are too big for it to absorb.
Essentially, your body takes the external collagen you consume and re-purposes the nutrients in it.
Collagen peptides take it a step further by directly supplying your body the amino acids it needs to create BOTH collagen and keratin.
Not only are collagen supplements in smaller amino acid chains, meaning that they are more easily absorbed into the body, but we skip the first step of breaking down the collagen and can go directly into absorbing the amino acids and starting the creation process for DIFFERENT proteins.
Proline is the main amino acid of keratin, therefore if you want to boost keratin creation then it is worth eating collagen that is high in the amino acid proline.
You can do this by simply consuming meat, fish or dairy regularly or taking collagen supplements that are extracted from these sources and are high in Type 1 collagen.
Please remember to read the labels.
How to tell if I need collagen for nails?
Whilst strong and fast growing nails are indicative of healthy collagen levels, the things you need to watch out for if you are worried about collagen deficiency are:
- Thin, brittle (dry) or peeling nails which are either soft or prone to splitting.
- Slow growing nails.
- Regular nails breaking due to brittleness and / or weakness.
For any concerns please consult a medical professional about your health so that you are able to rule out other possible illnesses.
