Collagen: The âGlueâ Holding You Together (And Why Youâre Probably Not Thinking Big Enough About It) When most people hear collagen, they think âwrinklesâ and maybe âcreaky knees.â But collagen is far more than a beauty supplement or a joint helper. Itâs literally the scaffolding that holds your entire body together â from your gut lining to your blood vessels to your bones and fascia. Letâs zoom out and look at collagen the way your biology âseesâ it. What exactly is collagen? - Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body, making up about 30% of your total protein. - Itâs the main structural protein in skin, bones, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, fascia, blood vessels, and the intestinal lining. - Think of it as a tough, rope-like triple helix that gives tissues strength and shape, while elastin gives them stretch. There are at least 28â29 types of collagen, but most of your body is built from a core few: - Type I â skin, bones, tendons, ligaments, teeth - Type II â cartilage and joints - Type III â blood vessels, hollow organs, skin (with type I) - Type V & X â support bone, joint surfaces, and specialized tissues When collagen is abundant and well-organized, tissues are strong, springy, and resilient. When itâs damaged or depleted, you feel it â not just on your face, but everywhere. Why collagen declines (and why midlife women feel it hardest) Starting in our mid-20s, collagen production naturally drifts downward. Sun damage, smoking, high sugar intake, chronic inflammation, and poor sleep all accelerate the breakdown of collagen fibers. For women, the big cliff is menopause. Estrogen normally stimulates fibroblasts (your collagen-making cells). As estrogen drops: - Up to ~30% of skin collagen can be lost in the first five years after menopause, followed by ~2% per year after that. - Skin gets thinner, drier, and less elastic. Joints, fascia, and pelvic tissues also feel the loss. On top of that, fibroblasts can shift from making more elastic type III collagen toward stiffer type I collagen, the kind found in ligaments and scar tissue. Thatâs one reason midlife can feel like a season of âtight, brittle, and creakyâ instead of âbouncy and flexible.â