Boise Hair Salon Tips: Does Collagen Help Your Hair?

Naturally produced in the body, collagen is a protein that’s found in many popular supplements and beauty products that claim to improve the health of your hair and skin. While it’s true that collagen is responsible for reducing signs of aging, you may be wondering if there are any benefits to taking collagen supplements. That’s why unDONE would like to go over the following evidence-based ways collagen may improve your hair.

Collagen Contains Amino Acids That Build Hair

Primarily, hair is made up of keratin. The human body uses several amino acids that make up keratin – some of which are found in collagen; proline, glycine, and hydroxyproline, with proline being the main component of keratin. When you take collagen supplements and other proteins, your body breaks them down to build new proteins and compounds. In turn, consuming collagen products may help provide your body with the building blocks to grow hair. However, scientific studies are still needed to show the effectiveness of taking collagen to increase hair growth.

Helps Fight Hair Follicle Damage

Collagen acts as an antioxidant and helps to prevent damage caused by free radicals. Free radicals are compounds the body develops due to things like air pollutants, stress, smoke, alcohol, and other environmental factors. Too many free radicals can then increase damage to your body’s cells, proteins, and DNA, which can harm the follicles of your hair, especially in older adults.

To help your body fight free radicals and prevent follicle damage, you need antioxidants. One scientific study found that marine collagen was beneficial in fighting four different free radicals. However, it’s important to keep in mind that further research is still needed; thus, the antioxidant potential of collagen is still unclear.

May Prevent Hair Thinning

Collagen makes up nearly 70% of the middle layer of your skin that contains the root of individual hairs. That said, collagen greatly contributes to the elasticity and strength of your skin. As we get older, our bodies become less efficient at producing collagen and replenishing dermis cells. This is one factor why hair starts to thin over time. One scientific study found that women who took daily collagen supplements significantly improved the elasticity of their skin compared to a placebo. Another study found that taking a collagen supplement daily improved the amount of collagen in the skin, thus reducing the signs of aging. However, further research is still needed on the impact of collagen on hair thinning.

May Slow the Graying Process

Due to its antioxidant properties and ability to fight cellular damage, collagen may help slow the graying process. While gray hair largely depends on your genetics, free radical damage to your cells also plays a role. As you age, the cells in your body that produce melanin pigment begin to die. Over time, this changes your natural hair color to gray. Since collagen has been shown to fight free radicals, it may help to prevent damage to cells that produce the color of your hair. As a result, it may help prevent or slow down the natural graying process. Nevertheless, research is still needed on the antioxidant effects of collagen.

The Bottom Line

When it comes down to it, collagen supplements may help promote healthier hair in a wide variety of ways. For one, your body may use the amino acids found in collagen to build hair, fight follicle damage, prevent thinning, and slow the graying process. However, research on the effects of collagen and human hair is still needed.

At unDONE Salon, we are here to help keep your hair strong, healthy, and beautiful. Our Boise hair salon stylists can provide you with the best advice on how to achieve healthy, beautiful hair with the right hairstyle, styling techniques, and products. Contact us at (208) 287-2010, visit us at 738 N. Benjamin Lane in Boise, or schedule an appointment online today!