The Headline - Loss of collagen causes ageing!
The Answer? Take more collagen! This is false.

Its true that we produce less collagen as we age and that contributes to aging skin, wrinkles, brittle tissues and increased risk of ligament, muscle and tendon injuries.

But the problem lies not in a lack of supply, but in a lack of production!

In this episode we will look at ways to increase natural production and ensure the best quality supply of raw materials!

Nutrition: following on from the A, B, C that our father Don Gowing used, which was discussed in earlier episodes, we are going to look at the role of Vitamin C and Collagen.

Recently a number of clients asked if they should be taking additional Collagen supplements so I decided to look into it to see what is important to know about Collagen in terms of where it is found in the body and what helps maintain its quality and production.
I was very surprised to find out that the Collagen industry is worth over 1 billion dollars in 2026 not including collagen supplements which are valued at over 6 billion dollars and set to rise due to demands from the beauty industry, athletes and older consumers looking for skin and joint support.

What is Collagen?
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body. It accounts for about 30% of your body’s total protein. Collagen is the primary building block of your body’s skin, muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments, and other connective tissues such as fascia. It is also found in organs, blood vessels and intestinal lining.
Proteins are made from amino acids. The main amino acids that make collagen are glycine, proline and hydroxyproline. These amino acids group together to form protein fibrils in a triple helix structure. Your body also needs vitamin C and trace minerals such as zinc, copper and manganese to make the triple helix.
What does collagen do?
Collagen’s main role is to provide structure, strength and support throughout your body. So it is required to maintain the integrity of the skin, bones, tendons, ligaments, fascia and gut lining.
Types of collagen:
Some 28 types of collagen have been identified. They differ by how the molecules are assembled and where the collagen is used in the body. The five main types of collagen are:
Type I. This type makes up 90% of your body’s collagen. Type I is densely packed and used to provide structure to your skin, bones, tendons and ligaments.
Type II. This type is found in elastic cartilage, which provides joint support.
Type III. This type is found in muscles, arteries and organs.
Type IV. This type is found in the layers of your skin.
Type V. This type is found in the cornea of your eyes, some layers of skin and hair.

What percentage of the body’s tissues are made of Collagen?
Collagen Content by Tissue Type
Collagen is highly concentrated in structural and connective tissues:
Skin: Collagen makes up about 70–80% of the dry weight of skin.
Tendons: Approximately 75-85% of dry tendon weight.
Bones: Roughly 90% of the organic matrix of bone is collagen.
Fascia: Collagen makes up about 70% of the dry weight of fascia. Predominantly composed of type I and type III collagen
Cartilage: Collagen makes up approximately 60–70% of the dry weight of articular cartilage (joint cartilage). Primarily composed of type II collagen.
Muscles: Collagen makes up about 1-2% of muscle tissue.

Key Facts About Collagen
Types: There are over 28 known types of collagen, but Type I makes up over 90% of the collagen in the human body.
Function: Acts as the primary structural protein in the body. It provides strength, elasticity and support to tissues.
Aging: Starting in our 20s, collagen levels decrease by about 1% each year.
Activation in the body
Collagen production responds to stimulus. If you don’t use it you lose it!!
Activities such as walking, skipping and trampoline will provide the stimulus to the body to maintain Collagen production.
Skin brushing particularly on the face will promote lymph drainage and stimulate collagen.

Dietary sources
Bone broth
Chicken skin (organic and free range)
Pork skin
Sardines
Eggs (Proline found in egg whites and choline found in egg yolk)

Avoid refined sugar, it causes glycation. Collagen fibres become stiff, weak and brittle which leads to premature wrinkles, sagging skin and loss of elasticity.
A high sugar intake damages collagen. Refined sugar causes cross linking of collagen fibres which accelerates the aging process.
Reduce stress and excessive cortisol production, which breaks down collagen.
High sugar consumption hinders Vitamin C from entering the cells. Vitamin C is required for Collagen production.

It is not a supply issue it is a production issue.
Avoid Collagen from chicken and eggshell membrane unless certified organic.
Aubrey discussion; Collagen and Fascia
In a recent social media post, someone was talking about a class they attended where the presenter described fascia as Stochastic.
Definition
Stochastic describes a process, model, or system that is random, probabilistic, or subject to chance, rather than deterministic. Originating from the Greek stochos ("aim" or "guess"), it refers to systems where future states are uncertain

Look at any muscle chart and you will see lines indicating fibre direction. Myofascia envelops these fibres in this regular arrangement. Examine any tendon or ligament, you’ll see regular fibre arrangement. Subcutaneous fascia is loose and irregular, but even this layer moves, reorientates its fibre direction and arranges its self along lines of force or stress. Because this is part of what connective tissues do, they respond to load, they provide tensile strength to prevent tissue rupture.

This is not Stochastic. It’s not random. It is determined through use, load and stress.
You could argue that the gene expression within the fascial cells (fasciacytes) may be somewhat random, but one aspect of the cells does not describe the entire system.
Fascia: Deterministic vs Stochastic Organization.

Fascia is sometimes described as stochastic, meaning randomly organised.
That claim does not align with current evidence.
The dominant mechanism is deterministic.
Collagen fibers align along lines of mechanical stress.
Fibroblasts respond to load through mechanotransduction.
This drives collagen deposition and remodeling.
With repeated loading, adaptation becomes predictable.
The result is anisotropic tissue.
Fascia is structurally aligned for force transmission.

There are limited stochastic elements.
At the micro-scale, collagen fibrils show some variability.
Cellular synthesis and turnover are not perfectly uniform.
These create local variation, but within mechanical and biochemical constraints.

The conclusion.
Fascia is not randomly organized.
It is primarily load-driven.
Deterministic in structure.
With minor stochastic variation at the microscopic level.