Collagen is the not-so-secret ingredient that gives Japanese women their tremendous skin and appearance! Japanese consume collagen to make sure their skin is “puru puru”, young.
Collagen is sold everywhere in Japan, in every form and type, and it’s no secret that the Japanese eat a lot of foods containing collagen, making this one of the primary ingredients in their diet.
For example, collagen-rich pig trotters and chicken skin are common ingredients for Japanese, and every restaurant serves them. Still, of course, these are not the only collagen-rich dishes Japanese women eat.
And to add more collagen to their diet, they also use collagen supplements that come in the forms of tablets, powder, and liquid.
In this buying guide, we will explore what collagen is, why it’s necessary for our body, and the top Japanese collagen supplements you can buy online. I will also give you information on what foods to eat to stimulate collagen production.
What is Collagen?
Collagen is one of the essential elements of our body; it’s a fibrous protein, and it makes up around 30% of all the body’s proteins. As the word suggests, collagen is like glue (the word comes from the ancient Greek word Kolla, glue) that holds our body giving it strength and firmness.
Being a protein, collagen tends to vanish when we get old or if we’ve health problems, and that’s why it is essential to keep high levels of collagen in our body.
How Many Types of Collagen Are There?
There are different types of collagen, each useful for something. These are 3 of the most important:
- Collagen Type 1: consists of the majority of your skin, hair, nails, organs, bones, and ligaments;
- Collagen Type 2: is related to cartilage and tendons;
- Collagen Type 3: helps keep bone, cartilage, tendon, and connective tissues healthy.
In its primary state, collagen is made of blocks known as amino acids: when amino acids start to disappear, collagen in our body starts to fade as well. That’s why it’s imperative to eat foods and take supplements to help the collagen form again.
What Are the Best Japanese Collagen Supplements?
We recommend these products if you’re looking for good Japanese Collagen Supplements: we cannot guarantee they’re vegetarian or vegans since most collagen supplements derive from animals.
1. Shiseido The Collagen
Shiseido is well known for its beauty products, and collagen supplements are part of the same range. That’s why the quality is high, and the promised results are accurate. The collection of The Collagen by Shiseido comes in the form of powder, tablets, and liquid, and aside from the plain one, the brand has also released a smoothie with mango and banana.
Click on the products below to have a look at the specs and buy the one(s) you like:
- SHISEIDO The Collagen EX Drink V – View on Amazon /
- SHISEIDO The Collagen Powder – View on Amazon / View on Dokodemo
- SHISEIDO The Collagen Tablet – View on Amazon / View on Dokodemo
- SHISEIDO The Collagen Enriched Tablet V – View on Amazon
- SHISEIDO The Collagen Enriched Drink V – View on Amazon
- SHISEIDO The Collagen EX Tablet – View on Amazon
- SHISEIDO The Collagen EXR Tablet – View on Dokodemo
- SHISEIDO The Collagen Drink W – View on Dokodemo
2. Meiji Amino Collagen
Meiji Amino Collagen is one of the top-selling Japanese collagens, and it is made from fish scales and skin from which the calcium is carefully removed. According to Meiji, fish-derived collagen is absorbed into the body 50% more effectively than collagen derived from pigskin.
3. DHC Collagen Supplements
Another famous Japanese brand, DHC Collagen, comes in the form of tablets to be taken preferably in the evening and after a meal since they’re also helping improve digestion. They’re not vegan nor vegetarian since they are made of fish-based collagen peptides and vitamins B1 and B2.
4. ASAHI Perfect Asta Collagen
One of the best collagen supplements available these days, ASAHI Perfect Asta Collagen, contains collagen and other supplements such as hyaluronic acid, elastin, body lactic acid bacteria, glucosamine, CoQ10 and Vitamin C.
5. FANCL HTC Collagen DX Tense
FANCL Collagen is exceptionally famous in Japan: it’s derived from pork, it has quite a strong taste but it’s effective and if you use it for a couple of weeks you immediately can see the difference in your skin.
Collagen Supplements vs Collagen Creams: What’s best?
If you’re torn between choosing a supplement or a collagen-based cream, you should not. These are two different products, used differently and with different effects, and there’s no competition among them, and they should be used together.
Hada Labo Tokyo Skin Plumping Gel Cream and Dr.Ci:Labo Medicated Aqua-Collagen-Gel Super Moisture EX are two of the most famous Japanese collagen-rich face creams to be used together with your collagen supplement.
How to Boost Collagen With Food
These are some of the foods we should eat to boost collagen naturally and help our body to synthesize it:
- Vitamin C: orange, strawberries, bell peppers, broccoli, kiwi
- Proline: eggs, meat, soy, bone broth, fish
- Lysine: beef, fish, cheese, nuts, legumes
- Zinc: oysters, meat, beans and peas, nuts, seeds
- Copper: whole grains, beans, nuts, shellfish, leafy greens
Aside from foods, the Japanese industry has come up with an enormous range of collagen supplements to help boost it and improve the overall aspect of the skin and the bones.
Check Dokodemo for more collagen supplements.
Collagen Supplements from Japan: Bottom Line
There are evidence suggesting that assuming collagen supplements help the skin and the bones. But there is also evidence saying that collagen drinks are often full of sugars and glucose, which is not suitable for our bodies. We recommend using tablets or powder and avoiding collagen drinks if possible.
And mostly, I recommend eating collagen-rich foods to help your skin and your bones together with supplements: if you look closely at the Japanese diet, you will notice that raw fish and lightly cooked vegetables are at the heart of Japanese cooking… so why not do the same?
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