Mapping Ignorance: The mystery of collagen and thyroid hormone: a detective story
Check our first article in Mapping Ignorance: The mystery of collagen and thyroid hormone: a detective story.
Collagen is the newest trendy nutrient. If we search for “collagen” in the web browser, we will find a wide variety of food supplements, cosmetic products and web pages where collagen beneficial effects are highlighted. Although collagen is a mere protein, its name is currently associated to the wellness circuit and, for this reason, it has become more visible than other equally important proteins like thyroid hormone receptor or transforming growth factor beta.
Collagen is the most abundant protein within the extracellular matrix: cells such as fibroblasts produce it and it is subsequently exocytosed to the surrounding medium. Despite the explicit or implicit advertising messages, collagen is not an essential nutrient, this is, there is no need to obtain it through the diet for it is normally produced by our body.
