Many of us know about collagen in the context of cosmetic treatments that make wrinkles disappear, but not any more than that. Although collagen does wonders when used in these treatments, it plays a much more significant role in the body than you ever imagined. It contributes to good overall health and the functioning of a variety of essential bodily procedures. In order for you to enjoy these benefits, we added a special recipe that will allow you to provide your body with essential collagen that will give you a youthful spirit, strengthen your bones, and give your skin a fresh look.
In order to understand the importance of collagen, you must first know exactly what it is and how it works in our body. Chemically, collagen is the most common protein produced in the human body, accounting for 6% of our weight and between 25% and 35% of all proteins in the body. More specifically, our bodies are made up of 30% proteins, with 90% of them being collagen. In its definition, collagen is a structural protein found in various areas of the body and is designed to maintain their strength and flexibility. Collagen is a hard and strong protein, but the elastin protein attached to it allows it its flexibility.
Therefore, it can be found in various tissues, such as the lungs, arteries, and other blood vessels that need to be flexible to allow blood to flow through them. In addition, collagen is found in connective tissue such as bones, tendons, etc., and is actually the "glue" that holds the cells of these organs together. As the year's pass, our body produces less and less, and after the ages of 25-30, our body produces less than 1% of it each year. There are other factors, such as, excess sugar consumption, stress, and smoking that cause a decline in collagen production, so it is important to consume collagen from external sources to keep our body in as good condition as possible.
Collagen has a variety of important roles in the body, the least of which is maintaining youthful skin:
During training or after an injury, the muscle cells break down a little and it is important to restore them to their previous state to prevent significant injury to them. Proper amounts of collagen in the body give the muscles and tendons the flexibility they need and as a result their ability to rehabilitate after exercise. Moreover, collagen allows muscles to recover after certain types of injuries, so it is important to maintain a normal level of collagen in the body.
The fat that accumulates in the arteries due to poor nutrition or other factors leads to constipation and disruption of normal blood flow. This combination is dangerous and causes various heart diseases and serious conditions such as aneurysms and stroke, so it is important that the arteries undergo a "cleaning" from time to time. Collagen has a huge role in this, and it allows to remove, at least in part, the fat that is deposited in the artery walls.
When we feel general physical fatigue, it often means that the cells in our bodies are also tired and do not generate the necessary amounts of energy. Collagen helps give body cells the energy they need to overcome their fatigue and create the energy we need.
Part of the aging process involves slowing down the process of replicating the DNA strands in our bodies that are responsible for producing different proteins, collagen helps improve the build-up of DNA strands so that they can do their job best, and prevent symptoms of aging that include a variety of symptoms that are not always pleasant.
Today there are a variety of creams and treatments that include collagen that penetrates the skin and rehabilitates it, but this is only one way of using it. The second option is eating bone marrow that can be easily prepared in your home on a daily basis or several times a week. Bones derived from poultry, beef, and other animals contain large amounts of collagen that can be released by heating up the bones as is done when preparing a stock. The recipe below will teach you how to make a healthy, rich and nutritious bone stock that will fill your body with vitamins, minerals and most importantly, collagen, which is responsible for many important bodily processes.
Ingredients:
• 2 lbs. (900 g) of chicken bones (you can use bones left after eating roasted chicken, or from the butcher)
• 1 cup of apple vinegar.
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 parsley root, cut into quarters
• Herbs to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Enough filtered water to cover all the ingredients in the pot