Collagen after sleeve gastrectomy: Yay or Nay?

Collagen seems to be everywhere at the moment, and I’ve been getting endless questions about whether or not taking collagen a sleeve gastrectomy to help increase protein intake is okay. The short answer? Yes, but with some caveats… Let’s take a look.

What is collagen?

First things first… Collagen is a protein found abundantly in the body. It’s the main component of connective tissue in the body—in other words, collagen is the substance that holds the body together. It’s found in tissues throughout the body such as tendons, cartilage, skin, bone, blood vessels and internal organs depending on the type of collagen. The commonality of collagen in the body is the main reason collagen has been touted with so many benefits including improving joint pain, reducing wrinkles, promoting muscle growth, wound healing and aiding weight regulation.

Amino acids are the smallest form of protein and when you eat protein, it is digested, broken down into amino acids and then absorbed. There are 20 different amino acids – 11 of which our body can make (non-essential) and nine that we need to eat (essential). A protein that contains all of the essential amino acids is called a complete protein (think, meat, dairy, fish and eggs). Collagen is made up of 19 amino acids which is great, but it doesn’t contain tryptophan, one of the essential amino acids. Because of this missing tryptophan, collagen is what we call an incomplete protein, meaning you can’t rely on it as your only source of protein.

Food sources of collagen

Collagen is concentrated in connective tissues such as muscle so, any meat that contains muscle or other connective tissue is a rich source of collagen. Fish, egg whites, and spirulina are other good animal and algal sources of collagen, too. When eating foods high in protein such as meat, chicken, fish and eggs, you will receive all of the amino acids as well as collagen. The problem of the missing tryptophan occurs with collagen supplements – as they are purely collagen, they are not complete proteins. On the shelves, the most common forms of collagen at the moment are powders or capsules. These powders contain hydrolysed collagen – the protein has been broken down into shorter chains of amino acids to make it easier to absorb.

The benefits of collagen?

When looking at the research behind collagen, there is some promise, but not enough evidence to go hurtling towards supplementing everyone with collagen after sleeve gastrectomy. The benefits that might be most useful for use after sleeve gastrectomy are appetite suppression, muscle growth and wound healing. There is some promising research suggesting collagen might be a good addition to the diet, but the studies we have at the moment have very small sample sizes and more research needs to be done. What is known, however, is if you want the benefits of collagen particularly for wound healing and muscle growth you need to also have a good intake of other high-quality protein foods, vitamin C and water to gain the benefits. Today’s Dietitian has an excellent article summarising the research to date here.

The bottom line?

• There are promising results from research into collagen and its impact on joint health, skin elasticity, wound healing and muscle growth, but more research is still to be done.
• Collagen supplements cannot be your only source of protein as collagen is missing the essential amino acid, tryptophan.
• Food is always better than supplements so make eating well your focus and include a wide range of good quality protein at each meal and snack throughout the day.
• Using collagen after sleeve gastrectomy in addition to eating good quality protein sources is fine, but make sure you are also having enough water and vitamin C