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Weight loss isn’t hard because you’re lazy. It’s hard because the advice you’ve been given doesn’t match your real life. It's hard because you've been told to live your life a certain way and you just aren't getting the support that you deserve. This podcast is where I cut through the nonsense and give you realistic, culturally aware coaching that works in the real world
If you're currently struggling, just know that I hear you, I believe in you, and I'm here to help you
Right. Welcome back to the podcast. So today, have a treat. I have a treat that's gonna trigger some of you. It's gonna open some eyes, but I suspect it will trigger you for the most part.
Speaker 1:Okay? And that's collagen. I'm gonna be breaking down collagen and tell you what you guys need to hear because some of y'all are getting scammed, you are thinking collagen is gonna cure world hunger. I don't know. That's a very sick thing to say, but let me let me explain.
Speaker 1:Alright? Now the I'm not here to bash any companies, but the one that comes up a lot is supplements. I've made it clear. I'm not a huge fan of their marketing, but when I'm talking about collagen, I'm not specifically referring to what they're saying. A few other companies are doing the same as well.
Speaker 1:Okay? So let's talk collagen because clearly half the community has decided collagen is now the new zum zum water. Right? Everywhere I look, honestly, TikTok, Instagram, WhatsApp, health groups, someone's promoting collagen like it's a sacred cure for everything. Right?
Speaker 1:So, like, skin, hair, joints, wrinkles, mood, marriage, PTSD from your mother-in-law, all of it. Right? And some of these companies are really pushing it hard, and they are paying if you notice some of the the people who are promoting it, they've got a big following. So they're obviously getting paid to freaking do it, but some of y'all are still wanting to turn a blind eye to any of that. Okay?
Speaker 1:Now they're selling hope in a tub. That's essentially what this is doing. So I wanna break down what collagen actually is and what the evidence says. Now I'm gonna be putting the evidence, the kind of citation in the show notes. If there's anything missing, please reach out to me.
Speaker 1:I will never shun anyone. If you hear something I say and you say, you're full of it, you're talking rubbish, show me what the research says, please reach out to me. Okay? Because I will never ever ever make a claim. That's not backed up.
Speaker 1:Now what is collagen? It's essentially a protein. Right? It's not a magical protein. It's not, you know, protein blessed by a higher being.
Speaker 1:It's just a structural protein that makes up your skin, hair, joints, bones, and connective tissue. So Weihe, that's the first thing these companies have said correctly. So it's basically like scaffolding for your body. If your body was a house, collagen is like the beams holding up the roof, so it isn't gonna collapse if you if you get what I mean. Now here's the important truth.
Speaker 1:Right? Your body already makes collagen from normal protein in your diet. Shocker. Right? So chicken, fish, eggs, dal, Greek yogurts, dairies, whey protein.
Speaker 1:So your body takes these proteins and breaks them into amino acids and builds collagen itself. It does not just sit there waiting for you to buy collagen powder from a company and it's like, okay. Now we can finally fix this person's skin. No. There is no college or emergency for goodness sake.
Speaker 1:Right? Your body isn't short staffed. Okay? It just needs enough protein generally. That's all it does.
Speaker 1:And here's the thing. Right? Why do people actually take it? Well, let's be honest. Marketing.
Speaker 1:Right? Unbelievable marketing. Better skin, better hair, better nails, joint relief. And these companies know that people like myself as well, we're lazy. We don't wanna do these things.
Speaker 1:We don't wanna eat healthy. We wanna move more so they think, you know, let's create something just like all these other companies have. So it's basically like Halal Botox if if you think about it. Right? And because the branding is clean, natural, the tubs look aesthetic, and, you know, people buy it, especially in our community, you know, saying the word again, I'm only using them as a reference because, you know, they're the one that crop up quite a lot, but, you know, it says the word so suddenly people think it's medicine.
Speaker 1:And I know, obviously, there's a, you know, there's a bit of significance to that, but the truth is people want shortcuts. They want something easy. They wanna feel like they're doing something healthy without fixing their diet. So collagen kind of has become almost like the new multivitamin. It's not a daily ritual, you know, people feel proud about, but they don't quite understand it.
Speaker 1:So how does collagen actually work in the body? This is the important part. So whatever collagen you drink, gets broken down in your stomach. Right? So your body does not take collagen powder and directly sends it to the skin.
Speaker 1:No. It breaks it down into amino acids the same way it breaks in chicken or eggs, but it's not got all the essential amino acids. And this is why people who are taking it to help recover between workouts I saw an influencer the other day, actually. It was laughable. I just don't understand why they don't fact check anything.
Speaker 1:And she says it's become up, you know, a a big part of her routine, helps me repair between my workouts. I'm like, not it's called the essential amino acids, so it's not helping you repair. Anyhow, your stomach doesn't, like, just say when it takes it. Right? It doesn't say, oh, you know, look.
Speaker 1:Collagen. Let's send this straight to his forehead wrinkles. No. The body uses those amino acids whenever they're needed. So muscle repair, enzymes, organs, you know, immune function, basic survival.
Speaker 1:So only if your body requires collagen specifically and, keyword and, if your overall diet is lacking, then a tiny bit will be used towards that. So it's not different from eating any other protein source. That's the thing most people are not understanding. So what does the science actually say then? So there are studies in collagen, but I want to break this down.
Speaker 1:I've added a touch of humor to it because I've got this in front of me because I wanted to make these examples a bit easy for you to understand. Okay? So most studies, no surprise here, are funded by collagen companies. Okay? So when the people selling the product, fund the research, the research always magically magically supports the product.
Speaker 1:That's a big surprise there. Okay? Number two, studies use small sample sizes. This is a problem. You know?
Speaker 1:It's like, here's eight or nine women here. There's 12 or 13 men over there. It's just not enough. Right? And, you know, your local masjid community meeting has more participants than some of these studies.
Speaker 1:Right? Number three, studies compare collagen to people not eating enough protein, and this is the problem. Right? Collagen looks good if the alternative is like someone not really eating much. You see?
Speaker 1:So if you gave these same people normal protein and just got them to eat a bit healthier, you'd see similar results. I wonder why you don't see that? And then lastly very few studies compare collagen versus whey versus chicken versus real food right because if they did collagen would lose every time. Okay? Now what the studies actually show is that there is a little improvement in skin elasticity.
Speaker 1:So if you were low in protein to begin with. Okay? So to translate, if you eat like a bird, collagen can help slightly. If you eat normal meals and eat, you know, two to three lean protein sources in a day, and then, genuinely, you know, it's the same effect as increasing a daily protein by 20 10 to 20 grams. So if you're eating normally, then you don't need to introduce collagen today.
Speaker 1:That's the most important thing. Okay? What was the other one as well? Joint pain improvements in some cases, but this was more so an elder individual. So I really don't understand why, you know, a 25 year old female influencer is saying it's helped my joints.
Speaker 1:Well, lot of tosh. Okay? It's usually with older adults, typically with bad diets and they've got issues, like severe problems with their joints, there can be some small incremental benefits to that as well. Now here's the one that's gonna throw a lot of people off, and I'm ready for people to get angry. The hair and nails thing, there's not much strong evidence there.
Speaker 1:I know even some of our own clients who use collagen and they they feel it helps them, but what I found is there's a placebo effect to it because when they're taking collagen, they're also improving their lifestyle. They're also sleeping better. They're also eating good balanced meals throughout the day and that's that's well, it's a placebo effect, but typically, that's what most of these supplements end up doing. There is not any direct evidence, and if there is, please, I want you if you're listening to this and you're thinking, this guy's a lot talking a lot of bollocks. Well, show me what the research says.
Speaker 1:Okay? If there's actually hard evidence to show, it can help. Alright? So collagen deficiency, it's a bit of a tricky one because it's not really like a medical condition. It's a marketing strategy.
Speaker 1:But if an individual is eating fairly healthy, then you don't need collagen. Like, put it that way, honestly. Okay? And if your hair is falling out, there's probably a deficiency of some sort in collagen. Okay?
Speaker 1:Speak to your doctor for goodness sake. I'm not affiliated with any companies, so please don't think I'm bashing it. I'm just trying to save you all some money, says a coach who tries to push people into his coaching program. No. I don't.
Speaker 1:Okay? You don't need to work with us. Alright? I'm just here to dispel the nonsense out there. Alright?
Speaker 1:Now the myths is something I wanted to kind of, touch on, which is, like, essentially what I've just mentioned there. But the one that I really wanted to kind of pay a bit more attention to is the collagen is a high quality protein source, and that's the biggest joke of the century. Collagen is missing key amino acids. It doesn't build muscle. It doesn't support recovery, and it doesn't count as a proper protein source.
Speaker 1:It's one of the worst sources of protein as far as recovery goes. Okay? So, like, if whey protein is like a proper balanced meal, then collagen's like eating the corner of your napkin, basically. Right? Technically, it's edible, but it's not helpful.
Speaker 1:Right? The other myth was collagen giving you glowing skin, but but you know what can do that? Right? Here. Are you ready?
Speaker 1:Sleeping. Hydrating, a diet that isn't 95% carbs, eating, you know, two extra eggs for breakfast, not undereating, right, not living on caffeine, not being chronically stressed. You see? So it's not a skincare in powder form. It's just not a glow filter.
Speaker 1:You know, it's not gonna tighten your face up magically. Guys, right? Come on. Fixing your joints, again, I've spoken about that one already, but I think this one's a bit of a tricky one because we have seen some of the studies in other individuals where collagen can can provide some benefit. But for most individuals who are taking it, if you look at some of the marketing around it, it's aimed predominantly at people between the ages of, like, 18 to, like, 50.
Speaker 1:Most of those peoples are not most of those people, unless they've got some sort of an issue that's been diagnosed, they don't need any of this. Okay? So your joints will naturally improve. Okay? When you strengthen muscles, exercise.
Speaker 1:When you're moving a bit more, exercise. You get enough protein, diet. You know, inflammatory markers come down a little bit, which can come which to come through your diet and your sleep. Right? And if you just lose a little bit of excess weight, like, it's as simple as that.
Speaker 1:Okay? So the thing is most of you will probably listen to this and you're thinking, well, my sister takes it. So why do some people feel a benefit sometimes? Placebo. Right?
Speaker 1:Improved hydration. They finally start eating something with amino acids and that they stopped under eating. They thought, oh, I'm taking this, so let me let me let me eat a bit better now. You see? So collagen, could there be some benefit?
Speaker 1:Possibly. Is research convincing? Absolutely. The hell not. Is the marketing spot on?
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Yes. They are phenomenal marketers. All these companies are doing it. Right?
Speaker 1:Because they're paying a lot of these influencers to push it. And what are we like? We're all sheep. You know? We love following someone because they've got 10 k followers, they must know what they are doing.
Speaker 1:Alright? Now the real truth people don't like is that your body does not actually prefer collagen. It doesn't care. It just wants enough total protein daily. And here's where it gets funny.
Speaker 1:Right? Most of the Asians under eat protein. Right? That's what collagen, like, feels magical because they go from, like, 30 grams of protein a day to, like, 50, and suddenly they feel better. No surprise there.
Speaker 1:You see, if you just ate normal protein foods, you know, you'd feel the same, usually better, and for far less cheaper, honestly, because I think you're spending anywhere between 20 to 30 pounds, which is only gonna give you, like, maybe is it, like, fifteen to twenty five days supply, which is a bloody joke. Right? So what should you do? Right. Give me the checklist.
Speaker 1:Eat enough protein, surprise, surprise, drink some more water, Sleep like someone who cares about their health. Maybe lift some weights if you can, although that's probably the best one. Get a little bit of sunlight. Reduce all to ultra processed. Do you see where I'm going with this?
Speaker 1:The stuff that you've been told for years. Okay? Now if you enjoy wasting your money, that's your business. And if you feel like, you know what? This is working for me, so I'm gonna take it.
Speaker 1:Screw you. Awesome. You do you. Right? But the takeaway here is collagen is not harmful, but it's nowhere near the medical like some of these companies are are kinda pushing.
Speaker 1:Right? It's the low quality protein source, overhype claims, weak evidence, and, you know, despite what the hundreds of reviews might say, a lot of it is gonna come from placebo. A lot of it's gonna be fake reviews. A lot of them are paid. Let me just say it like it is.
Speaker 1:Okay? And if you're offended by this, then it kinda says a lot more about you because you're not open minded. Alright? So if something seems too good to be true, you've gotta question it. So I hope this mini deep dive shed a little bit more light on it and saves you a little bit of money.
Speaker 1:Honestly, just save that $25.30 pounds. Buy, you know, some more eggs. Maybe buy a protein supplement because the quality is gonna be a little higher. Buy some, you know, some low fat dairy. Maybe invest in a sleeping mask so you can sleep with a bear at nighttime.
Speaker 1:It's only £5 or something. Right? Maybe get a a water bottle. You see, far cheaper, and these things will last you longer. But, hey, it's up to you.
Speaker 1:Right? Now Completely off topic. If you want us to get you in shape and you don't wanna use collagen, then do me a favor. In the show notes, you'll see a link. Click on that, and I guarantee it'll be the best decision you ever make because there's a guarantee.
Speaker 1:And that if you do not achieve any results with us, we will keep coaching you for free until you do. But it's never gonna get to that stage. Alright? So if you wanna learn how we can get you in shape and you wanna learn more about what we do, then click the link in the show notes below. And I will also attach some other goodies in there as well, so do check that before you go.
Speaker 1:And if you find any value in this, please do consider leaving a review because then in the day, this is all about education and kinda raising awareness around important topics. Right, guys? So I will catch you in the next episode, and thank you very much for listening.