How Estrogen Influences Collagen Levels Around Exercise
Emerging research has shown surprising links between estrogen levels and collagen synthesis.
Estrogen levels in women fluctuate throughout the menstrual cycle, going from their lowest just before the start of menstruation, and peaking around the time of ovulation. Our bodies naturally produce collagen as a critical component of connective tissue, providing structural support and strength to our skin, tendons, bones, and ligaments.
Estrogens are actually a class of hormones, consisting of estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), and estriol (E3). Estradiol (E2) is the most potent form of estrogen and the primary form in the body during reproductive years. Collagen is a type of protein compound, made primarily from amino acids glycine, proline, or hydroxyproline. There are 28 different types of collagen, with type I collagen making up over 90% of the collagen in the human body.
Let’s dive into the science and unpack how estrogen influences collagen levels specifically around the time of resistance exercise!
Estrogen Levels in Women
Hormones, such as estrogen, function in the body as chemical messengers. This means that they act as communication signals to send messages within the hormone systems and with other body systems. To get the signal from point A to point B, the hormone, estrogen in this case, must travel to an estrogen receptor.
Estrogen balance is critically important for mood, cycle health, and fertility. When considering hormone balance, it’s important to consider the ratio between progesterone and estrogen, in addition to estrogen levels as a whole.
You may have elevated estrogen levels if you experience heavy bleeding during menstruation, breast tenderness, weight gain, significant PMS symptoms, uterine fibroids, fatigue, depression and anxiety.
Estrogen levels also increase significantly during pregnancy in order to support fetal development. Collagen needs also increase during pregnancy, as it supports skin, gut, and joint health, as well as increased protein needs. High estrogen levels hindering collagen production further increases collagen needs during pregnancy, making it that much more important!
Estrogen and Collagen Breakdown and Synthesis
It’s no surprise that estrogen receptors are present in the reproductive and breast tissues. However, they are also located in the brain, bone, liver, colon, skin, and salivary glands! Estrogen receptors are even present in our tendons and ligaments, and estrogen has been shown to influence collagen production in connective tissues.
While we can eat certain foods that help provide the building blocks for collagen production, resistance exercise is a natural way to stimulate collagen synthesis in the muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
Interestingly, it’s been shown that estrogen levels in the body actually determine the rate of increase of collagen synthesis after resistance exercise. Resistance exercise-induced collagen synthesis was significantly lower when estrogen levels were high compared to when estrogen levels were low.
While the research is still limited in this area, animal models have also shown increased estrogen levels inhibit collagen production in heart muscle tissues as well. This phenomenon may go beyond protecting our muscles and joints, and could also be significant for protecting our heart health too!
Estrogen’s Link to Injury Risk
The purpose and benefit of resistance exercise not only is to build muscle, but also to build strong collagen-rich connective tissue. By building more collagen-rich tissue, we can make our bodies more resilient to injury.
Because high estrogen levels decrease resistance exercise-induced collagen production, individuals with high estrogen levels may be at increased injury risk. For workouts created with women’s hormonal health in mind, check out our Strength in Hormones program.
This research is pivotal for female athletes of all ages, and makes it that much more important to dive deeper into hormonal imbalances. With advanced lab testing, such as what we do in our 1:1 coaching and in our DUTCH Testing Package, we are able to identify not only high or low estrogen levels, but also progesterone and androgen hormone levels (i.e. testosterone and DHEA).
Natural Collagen Production vs. Collagen Supplementation
For individuals with elevated levels of estrogen, there are nutrition, lifestyle, and supplementation strategies that we can implement to support bringing these levels back into balance. In doing so, we can make positive impacts to mental health, energy levels, and bone and muscle health, to protect you from injury and live your most vibrant life!
While research is still expanding on this topic, collagen supplementation could be an effective strategy to help reduce injury risk and increase whole-body collagen synthesis. It’s been shown that consuming 30 grams of hydrolyzed collagen peptides prior to resistance exercise actually counteracts the negative effect of high estrogen on collagen production.
We can also get collagen in the diet by including foods such as bone broth, gelatin, bone-in proteins, and Bone broth protein powder, such as Functional FuelPRO. While it is harder to get 30 grams of collagen from these foods in particular, they still are important to include in the diet for their benefits to skin, gut, and joint health!
Don’t miss the opportunity to shop our sale on Functional FuelPRO protein powder, as well as our other formulas, Hormone Potion and Mineral Magic, beginning this Friday, July 12 through July 19!
Written by Romana Brennan, MS, RD
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