Does Collagen Make You Poop? | Gut Health 101 for Vegans

If you’ve found yourself caught up with all other consumers of the beauty industry with an increased interest in collagen, then you’re not alone. With a wide range of benefits that vary from the improved health of your skin and hair to ensuring bone health to repairing tissues in case of any damage, it is apparent that collagen can do it all. However, it is a little-known fact that collagen may also result in improved digestion and enhanced bowel movements.

Users of collagen supplements have realized that they’ve begun to poop much more frequently ever since starting the supplements.

This, however, is not a side-effect of the same – collagen can actually work wonders in terms of aiding digestive issues such as diarrhea, constipation, leaky gut, and more. Let’s attempt to answer the question of does collagen make you poop, and what added benefits there are to collagen.

What is Collagen?

Before understanding what collagen does and how important it is to the health of your gut, especially if you’re vegan, it is important to understand what collagen is. Collagen is essentially a protein and is responsible for repairing and protecting most substances in your body.

Collagen can either be produced by your body and termed endogenous collagen, or you can consume collagen through external sources such as supplements, termed as exogenous collagen. Both types play similar roles, and their fibrils are extremely important in terms of the health of your skin.

Can Collagen Be Vegan?

While animal collagen is the most widely known form and source of collagen, it is definitely not the only one. Collagen can indeed be created through completely vegan means. This process involves putting together some human genes for collagen into the microbe and then letting the bacteria take their course in terms of the creation of collagen.

Additionally, pepsin is added at the end in order to make this substance transform fully into collagen. Pepsin is an enzyme that aids in digestive purposes and can help to change the structure of the microbe and genes into human collagen – thus making collagen that is completely vegan.

How Much Collagen Do You Need In A Day?

Age	Normal Conditions	Specific Conditions (Gut Issues, Aches, Skin)
Under 30 Years	1 Tbsp	2 Tbsp
30-40 Years	2 Tbsp	4 Tbsp
Over 40 Years	2-4 Tbsp	4-6 Tbsp

The frequency of collagen consumption largely depends on what purposes you’re planning to take collagen for. For those who suffer from arthritis, it is recommended that your collagen intake should be 10 grams every day for five months.

However, if you want to get yourself some of the many beauty benefits that you can get out of collagen, which will be talked about later, you can take around 2.5 grams to 15 grams of collagen every day.

The quantity of collagen you need every day also depends on what form of collagen you’re consuming. For instance, in the form of capsules and powders, hydrolyzed collagen is usually consumed in a higher quantity than undenatured collagen.

Does Collagen Make You Poop?

A benefit that most people don’t know about collagen is the fact that collagen helps immensely in strengthening the digestive system of an individual. If you’re wondering, “can collagen peptides cause constipation,” the answer is a resounding yes.

It is apparent that collagen makes you poop and can thus be immensely beneficial not only for those who have constipation but also for those who suffer from frequent bouts of diarrhea due to a variety of reasons.

Additionally, if you’re someone who suffers from a leaky gut, I recommend you opt for one out of my list of the best plant based collagen supplements. A collagen builder supplement immensely helps with gut problems. Collagen does this with the same process in which it benefits skin and hair health in the individual.

Collagen is rich in amino acids that line your digestive system and thus aid in digestion. When we talk about collagen helping a leaky gut, we’re mainly referring to the fact that collagen can close up any gaps in your small intestine that are caused due to external toxins, waste, and harmful bacteria.

The lining in your stomach is repaired effectively with the help of collagen, and a leaky gut is averted – along with the other symptoms of the same such as constipation and bloating.

But can collagen cause diarrhea? While some individuals worry about collagen causing excessive diarrhea, the opposite is true – however, diarrhea may be a side-effect with some additives in certain collagen supplements.

Also Read: Vegan Stomach Problems and How to Fix Them

Best Vegan Collagen Boosting Foods for Improved Gut Health

The production of collagen in the body can easily be facilitated with the help of nutrients and enzymes that are crucial for collagen production – and it follows that you can derive these supplements from various foods rich in collagen.

1. Lysine

Luckily, almost all popular vegan foods are rich in lysine. One of the essential amino acids that are integral to your body and its subsequent bone strength, lysine, can be found in foods such as quinoa, beans, soy milk , pumpkin seeds, lentils, and the like.

Similar to collagen, lysine also affects bone strength, the elasticity of the skin, and the formation of new blood vessels tremendously. This is why lysine is a key component in the formation of collagen, and it is thus important to consume foods rich in lysine to increase your collagen intake.

2. Vitamin C

Vitamin C remains one of the most popular substances that can help in the increase of collagen production in your body and one of the most easily accessible as well. There are many vegan sources rich in Vitamin C that can help your body enhance the formation of collagen.

For fruits, you can attempt to increase the consumption of kiwis, strawberries, and oranges in order to get your fill of Vitamin C. For vegetables, you can try Brussels sprouts, kale, and all leafy vegetables in order to get all the vitamin C that you can. Vitamin C is responsible for the production of hyaluronic acid, which in turn produces collagen.

3. Zinc

An underrated source of increasing collagen content and production in your body is zinc. Foods rich in zinc such as spinach, cashews, kidney beans, sesame seeds, oats, and cacao can significantly impact the production of collagen in the body.

Zinc is a micronutrient that helps in preventing damage to the collagen content in your body and can do so while repairing damaged cells. It has also been observed in numerous studies that zinc deficiency is tied to low amounts of collagen in the body as well.

4. Manganese

It is important to note here that the production of collagen is greatly aided by the presence of three amino acids – namely, glycine, proline, and glutamine.

Out of these, proline is an amino acid that is produced with the presence of manganese in the body – and it is thus imperative that you must supplement food sources rich in manganese in your diet. Like collagen, it also helps in forming connective tissues and blood clotting – and can be obtained by sources such as legumes, coffee, rice, and black pepper.

5. Copper

It is a little-known fact that the consumption of copper is closely linked to the production of collagen – specifically, to the maturation of collagen. It then goes on to form fibers that are crucial to the strengthening and repair of bodily tissues.

While copper’s most discernible benefit is that it produces red blood cells, it is also proficient in providing bone strength. It is easy to obtain copper through food sources such as almonds, spinach, kale, sunflower seeds, and mushrooms.

Other Benefits of Collagen

1. Improves Cardiac Health

Collagen is a substance that can majorly strengthen your arteries and give them structure, which can prevent many heart-related conditions. Your heart health can be secured with enhanced collagen consumption – and prevents conditions such as atherosclerosis.

This condition is usually caused when the arteries are too frail and narrow for the circulation of blood – and can thus even lead to greater problems such as strokes and heart attacks. Many studies show that arteries can be regulated and function optimally with the help of collagen intake.

2. Helps Prevent Joint Pain

Collagen can also be extremely beneficial for older individuals who feel a rapid decline in the condition of their joints and bones as they age. Collagen can help strengthen cartilage, which is essentially the substance that helps in the protection of joints.

This can help in preventing conditions related to joint pain in the future, such as osteoarthritis, by encouraging your tissues to keep making collagen. Collagen, when consumed by the body in the form of supplements, can be used to make cartilage for the further protection of your joints. It is most effective when consumed in quantities of 8 grams to 12 grams every day.

3. Beauty Benefits for Skin

This is perhaps the most popular benefit of collagen – your skin is strengthened tremendously with an increased collagen intake. Numerous studies have been performed because collagen produces important substances such as fibrillin and elastin – which are essentially responsible for increasing elasticity in your skin and making it stronger, thus hydrating it without the usage of external chemically processed products.

It has also been said that collagen can help delay the effects of aging on your skin by preventing wrinkles and supplementing hydration at once. This is why many products employ the usage of collagen peptides in order to make your skin smoother.

4. Builds Muscle Mass

Collagen is also infamous for building and boosting muscle mass in a short span of time. As mentioned before, collagen is primarily responsible for the structure of your muscles as well as their protection – including collagen in you vegan-friendly bodybuilding diet will encourage your muscles to produce creatine for the building of muscle mass thereby help individuals gain muscle mass as a vegan ectomorph. Since collagen is present in your body’s tissues, it encourages quick bulking.

Vegan Probiotic Supplementation for Improved Gut Health

Probiotics are widely prescribed for improved gut flora and are a known supplement to improve overall digestion and bowel movements. However, since the majority of probiotics are derived from dairy, vegans might find it a tad bit difficult to access vegan-friendly probiotics. If combined with a balanced collagen-building nutrient rich diet, a plant based probiotic supplement just might be the final piece to the your upset gut puzzle.

Verdict | How Does Collagen Impact Gut Health?

That’s it. I think so you would have got your answer “Does Collagen Make You Poop?” from the above article.

As seen, collagen is almost indispensable in terms of enhancing the health of your gut. It cleans out your digestive system with the help of various processes. It is thus recommended to individuals who are constipated frequently or have regular dietary issues such as diarrhea, bloating, and other related issues.

Collagen, much akin to the way that it works on the elasticity of the skin and the strengthening and repair of bones, also helps your gut health and ensures facilitated bowel movements. It is thus recommended that you consume foods that can greatly assist the formation of collagen or even take collagen supplements after consulting with a dietician.