Collagen supplements are top sellers, either alone or in combination with other vitamins and magnesium, especially in the sports supplement area. In theory, they are especially useful for maintaining and recovering tendons and joint muscles.

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If so, who doesn’t want to take advantage of that property? The problem, as often happens, is that all that glitters is not gold. Collagen supplements have not shown the expected benefits and in fact their mechanism of action has not been scientifically proven.

First of all: What is collagen?

Collagen is called a family of interrelated proteins, although they have different genetic origins. They are composed of different amino acids, especially proline, lysine and glycine.

In any case, when all these proteins are put together, collagen is the most abundant family of proteins in the body (25% of what we have), and these are the connective tissues of our body. It can be said that they make up the main factor of the skin, hair, bones or tendons.

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Its function is to create the basic structure that supports these tissues and, therefore, our entire body. Its function is to create the basic structure that supports these tissues and, therefore, our entire body.

The collagen in your body you have produced yourself

However, it is important to clarify that the collagen in the body is 100% self-produced. In other words, it is not produced from collagen ingested in food and supplements, but rather from cells using amino acids, which are the amino acids that make up proteins, according to RNA instructions.

This is because the collagen is too large for the protein to be completely absorbed by the walls of the digestive system. Therefore, in order to enter the bloodstream and from there to the joints, it must first be broken down into essential amino acids.

By consuming collagen, the body receives the essential amino acids that are used to make proteins. However, those amino acids are not necessarily used to produce collagen. In fact, some of these amino acids can be found in other foods, and many of them are produced by our own bodies, so you don’t need to consume collagen at all to produce it.

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what the studies say

Although some studies have conferred beneficial properties on collagen supplements in the treatment of joint pain, the majority are studies carried out by the supplement manufacturer itself (this time there is a conflict of interest), and in other cases the research sample it’s too small.

On the other hand, the European Food Safety Agency has no evidence that collagen supplementation affects the joints of active people, the health and smoothness of the skin.

Thus, if you are thinking of considering this type of supplement, either in the form of tablets or creams, think carefully. Our advice is to spend money on something else, for example gelatin. Normally, gelatin is basically made of collagen and although it is not a solution to joint problems, it is richer and, above all, it is much cheaper than other products that you can find.

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And if we add to this the great myths that continue to spread today, the consequences can be catastrophic.

“You have to eat 5 or 6 times every 3 hours.”

One of the great myths is that if you want to gain muscle mass or hypertrophy you must eat at least every 2-3 hours, so you should eat 5-7 times a day.

If our goal is to increase muscle mass, then it is clear that we need to eat more calories than we consume. The question is that most of the time you should be supervised by a specialist. If it is not possible for you to eat every three hours, you will generate a stress condition in your body with uncertain results.

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What you have to do is organize yourself on a schedule and distribute the total calories you consume between the number of meals that you can “assume” daily. The most important account you have to keep is the total calories ingested in a day. Keep in mind that if you stay hungry between meals, you may end up eating things you don’t want between meals.

“You need to take 20 grams of protein per serving.”

Another myth is that each intake requires 20 grams of protein. This means that both a person who weighs 60kg and another who weighs 90kg should take 20 grams of protein for each meal they eat at the end of the day. As you can understand this does not make sense since the maximum, the minimum and the personalization of the dose will depend on each individual.

A “normal” value for protein intake is approximately 1.8-2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, so for an average adult weighing around 80 kilograms, protein intake per day is 144-200 grams. Assuming a maximum protein intake of 200 grams per day, if for every meal you eat 20 grams of protein, you must eat 10 meals with that amount of protein to reach your goal.

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“You have to burn 20% more calories.”

Another oft-repeated statement is that caloric intake should be 20% higher than maintenance calories. Once again, they have ignored the phrase “each person is the world”, inviting the cliché of not individualizing the intake of each one.

Remember that the total number of additional calories consumed is 20% of those burned. In this way, the excess calories we consume to gain muscle mass is 10-20%.

Also, remember that by consuming more calories than you consume, the proportion of these excess calories eaten is partially stored as fat (it’s impossible for all calories to be stored as muscle). The higher the percentage of calories we eat, the higher the percentage that is stored as fat.

“The supplement is mandatory”

And here is one of the star myths. “Supplements are essential to gain muscle mass.” Supplements are just that: supplements and their purpose are macronutrients, vitamins, or amino acids that may be needed to complete the diet or daily physical activity.

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If you’re following the advice of a registered dietitian and don’t have a food intolerance, it’s unlikely you’ll need any kind of supplement.

Note, this does not mean that the supplement is useless. There are certain supplements such as whey protein, creatine and omega-3 that help in certain situations.

We already know that there are celebrities who are prone to the use and abuse of miracle diets and epidemic pseudotherapy, but far from the scientific evidence. In that sense, no one can beat Gwyneth Paltrow and her company Goop.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile and video-based social network for users who train strength and/or body weight exercises. At Fitenium users can find free personalized routines, follow their performance, compete and get discounts at nutrition stores and sports equipment. Download it here.

Except now, famous actresses are competing in this area. In fact, the CEO of Twitter is part of the new Silicon Valley trend, stoicism. Basically, it means not only feeling satisfied with what each person has, but above all, distanced from their feelings.

Dorsey participated in the popular podcast “Ben Greenfield Fitness: Diet, Fat Loss, Performance” a few days ago and talked about the habits that he followed both in his daily life and in his diet. Some of these habits, like meditation, commuting, and seven minutes of daily exercise, seem like healthy habits with health benefits.

5 meals a week

However, there are other habits that are not only scientifically unfounded, but can even be dangerous for the body. In particular, the CEO has shown that he only eats once a day on weekdays and completely fasts on weekends.

This means that Dorsey only eats five times a week. Typically, fish, chicken, or chops are served with salad, spinach, or Brussels sprouts. For dessert, use dark chocolate or berries. As a general rule, intermittent fasting brings many benefits to our body by reducing cardiovascular risk factors and helping to lower metabolic age.

Fasting followed by a dose of cat is called a 20/4 fast and is also known as “warrior food.” This type of disconnection we recommend that you have a less powerful design than usual.

The idea of ​​intermittent fasting is to continue consuming the daily calories we need based on our activity, but keep in mind that it is a shorter period. However, the CEO’s dinner, he says, seems to be very light and very restricted in terms of food and nutrients.

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On top of this, he then fasts for almost 48 hours over the weekend. Fasting every other day for 24 hours is common and has advantages, but fasting for more than 24 hours at a time can be dangerous and there is no evidence that it has many advantages over other fasts. Also, if you still want to try it, I recommend going to a doctor and doing it under his supervision.

Take advantage of supplements

Jack Dorsey also commented on the use of supplements. He only recommended taking a multivitamin.

In reality, a truly healthy diet should provide us with all the vitamins and nutrients our bodies need without having to rely on supplements. In fact, some studies have shown that the use of some of these supplements can have adverse effects. Most of the time they are safe, but the ideal is to get the vitamins through the diet.

ice bath

Another habit of the famous CEO is to start the day in an ice bath as soon as he gets out of bed. Some studies have shown that it is a technique that has anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects in athletes.

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However, the scientific evidence does not show that this activity offers a different advantage than that offered by other active recovery techniques, such as the topical application of ice. It is also not recommended for people with respiratory, cardiovascular hypothyroidism.

If we decide to try an icy bath, or a very cold shower, the main thing is not to act like Jack, but to go from the warmth of the bed to the cold of the ice. Exposure to this cold should be short-lived so as not to put you at risk, and it is recommended to manage it medically if possible.

In addition to these habits, Dorsey has been shown to follow other routines, such as tracking her sleep and taking notes about her day on her phone. Low risk activities.