Trunk Posted Friday at 02:54 PM I somehow missed the theoretical importance of collagen, recently 'discovered' it. Basically, collagen is the main protein for the entire continuum of connective tissue: fascia ~ tendon ~ ligament ~ bones, which is a main component of what gets developed in qigong, internal martial arts, Daoist internal arts. A friend of mine mentioned that she'd been taking collagen for a while and her hair was noticeably softer. The reviews on amazon: people notice better hair, faster growing nails and joint pain disappearing. These are signs that a lot is going on on the inside that is *very* relevant to connective tissue growth. from Wikipedia Quote https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collagen ~~ quote ~~ Collagen (/ˈkɒlədʒən/) is the main structural protein in the extracellular matrix found in the body's various connective tissues. As the main component of connective tissue, it is the most abundant protein in mammals,[1] making up from 25% to 35% of the whole-body protein content. Collagen consists of amino acids bound together to form a triple helix of elongated fibril[2] known as a collagen helix. It is mostly found in connective tissue such as cartilage, bones, tendons, ligaments, and skin. Depending upon the degree of mineralization, collagen tissues may be rigid (bone) or compliant (tendon) or have a gradient from rigid to compliant (cartilage). Collagen is also abundant in corneas, blood vessels, the gut, intervertebral discs, and the dentin in teeth.[3] In muscle tissue, it serves as a major component of the endomysium. Collagen constitutes one to two percent of muscle tissue and accounts for 6% of the weight of the skeletal muscle tissue.[4] The fibroblast is the most common cell that creates collagen. Gelatin, which is used in food and industry, is collagen that has been irreversibly hydrolyzed using heat, basic solutions or weak acids.[ ~~ /unquote ~~ p.s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascia Fasciae are similar to ligaments and tendons as they have collagen as their major component. They differ in their location and function: ligaments join one bone to another bone, tendons join muscle to bone, and fasciae surround muscles and other structures. I'm pretty sensitive to this stuff, and I start anything new with microdoses. Disclaimer (and I'm not kidding): Health is an *extraordinarily* complex and personal thing. Impossible for me to tell whether this'd be helpful or harmful to any of you. Be discerning. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
liminal_luke Posted Friday at 03:17 PM Alternatively, a person could make and drink bone broth. Yesterday I made a chicken soup that got it's chicken-y flavor from a whole barnyard of chicken feet. I'm guessing the powder is a more concentrated source of collagen but I like the image of myself as a modern herbalist/witch/caveman carefully tending to a bucket of simmering bones. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trunk Posted Friday at 07:21 PM 4 hours ago, liminal_luke said: Alternatively, a person could make and drink bone broth. Yesterday I made a chicken soup that got it's chicken-y flavor from a whole barnyard of chicken feet. … myself as a modern herbalist/witch/caveman carefully tending to a bucket of simmering bones. Yeah, I’ve slow-cooked more batches of ox tail soup than I can count. I pour most of a bottle of red wine in, for starters, and usually a little shu di huang, maybe he shou wu ground up. So frickin’ yummy. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
liminal_luke Posted Friday at 07:23 PM 1 minute ago, Trunk said: Yeah, I’ve slow-cooked more batches of ox tail soup than I can count. I pour most of a bottle of red wine in, for starters, and usually a little shu di huang, maybe he shou wu ground up. So frickin’ yummy. Sounds delicious! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Earl Grey Posted Saturday at 07:15 AM I make mostly chicken bone broth for both me and my dogs. Good for gut health and metabolism too. The best thing besides helping my joints is that my dogs farting don’t stink up the room anymore. 2 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trunk Posted Saturday at 04:15 PM The powdered collagen I find very convenient. (I bought mine at Trader Joe's; I've not tried the super-duper one at Amazon). I started out with 1/2 the rec. dosage and have moved to much less than that, lol. ... but I get to micro-dose regularly. The one thing I was concerned with is that it feels that it draws in deeply into some dense tissue ... some things need to percolate *out* (especially if health situation is complicated). The collagen didn’t seem to do that stubbornly, just kinda and it would slowly sort out. So, not bad - but still … I found that a couple of amino acid products produce really good circulation and (by my feel) complement the powdered collagen nicely. (After some experimentation separately, I now take them all together). Branch Chain amino acids L Arginine w/ Pine Bark - Trunk p.s. I’ve been out of the supplements game for a while. Seems that there’s tweeks (pine bark?) and variations I’d not seen before. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Earl Grey Posted Saturday at 04:33 PM 15 minutes ago, Trunk said: The powdered collagen I find very convenient. (I bought mine at Trader Joe's; I've not tried the super-duper one at Amazon). I started out with 1/2 the rec. dosage and have moved to much less than that, lol. ... but I get to micro-dose regularly, super convenient. The one thing I was concerned with is that it feels that it draws in deeply into some dense tissue ... some things need to percolate *out* (especially if health situation is complicated). I found that a couple of amino acid products produce really good circulation and (by my feel) complement the powdered collagen nicely. (After some experimentation separately, I now take them all together). Branch Chain amino acids L Arginine w/ Pine Bark - Trunk Ah, I can't buy powdered collagen easily here, and so I just throw an entire chicken, bones and all, plus any other chicken bones, into an instant pot to pressure cook for three hours with a pinch of salt and tbsp of apple cider vinegar. The gelatin and collagen that comes out is still pretty good. Drink it in the morning when you wake up and after dinner--you'll quickly find your health improve. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quack Posted 21 hours ago Have been including some Glycine as a cheaper alternative to collagen. Might be worth looking in to. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trunk Posted 8 hours ago 15 hours ago, quack said: Have been including some Glycine as a cheaper alternative to collagen. Might be worth looking in to. wtf is Glycine??? Reading references: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycine reviews on popular amazon products I find informative: one https://www.amazon.com/BulkSupplements-Glycine-Powder-500-Grams/dp/B00EOXU0N6/ and another https://www.amazon.com/NOW-Supplements-Glycine-1000mg-Capsules/dp/B002J0RHTQ/ hmmmm... thanks for the tip! p.s. “Friendly oils” complement the amino acids that build the dense connective tissues. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
