Behind every public figure's appearance lies a personal health and beauty regimen. This series examines the diets, exercise habits, procedures, and fashion choices of notable figures as practical lifestyle information.

[Yonhap]
[Yonhap]

Singer Sung Si-kyung, 47, recently praised jokbal — braised pig's trotters — for its collagen content. While the dish does contain significant amounts of collagen, eating it does not send that collagen directly to the skin to smooth wrinkles or boost elasticity.

Sung visited a jokbal restaurant in Busan's Haeundae district on his YouTube channel, where he tasted the dish and remarked, "It's almost entirely skin and collagen. People who love collagen are really going to enjoy this."

Collagen is a well-known structural protein associated with skin elasticity. However, collagen consumed through food and collagen found in the skin are not connected in a simple one-to-one relationship.

Does jokbal collagen go straight to your skin? It gets digested like everything else

Collagen is a structural protein that makes up connective tissue throughout the body — including skin, bone, cartilage and tendons. In the skin, it is a key component of the dermis, maintaining the skin's shape and elasticity.

Animal skin and connective tissue are also rich in collagen, which is why pig skin is commonly used as a raw material for commercial collagen and gelatin products. Jokbal, which combines pig skin with tendons and connective tissue, is similarly a source of dietary collagen.

That said, the collagen in jokbal does not bypass digestion and arrive intact at the skin.

Like all proteins, collagen is broken down by digestive enzymes in the stomach and small intestine into amino acids and small peptides. These are then absorbed through the intestinal wall, enter the bloodstream, and serve as raw materials for building various proteins throughout the body — not just in the skin, but also in muscles, organs and enzymes.

It is therefore difficult to say that eating jokbal sends its collagen directly to the facial skin. The body reassembles absorbed protein building blocks wherever they are needed.

Some of the collagen in jokbal converts to gelatin during cooking due to heat. This is still different, however, from the hydrolyzed collagen supplements sold commercially.

Collagen peptide products are made by breaking collagen down into smaller molecular fragments using enzymes or other methods. Comparing the form and quantity of collagen in a plate of jokbal with that in a supplement designed to deliver a precise daily dose is not straightforward.

Do collagen supplements actually work?

A body of research exists on hydrolyzed collagen peptides and their effects on skin health.

A systematic review published in the international journal Nutrients analyzed data from 1,721 participants across 26 controlled trials. Groups that consumed hydrolyzed collagen tended to show greater improvements in skin moisture and elasticity compared with those who took a placebo.

These findings cannot be taken to mean that eating large amounts of jokbal or pig skin would produce the same effect. The studies involved participants consuming collagen peptides in fixed forms and quantities over set periods.

Skin condition is not determined by collagen intake alone. A range of factors — including age, genetics, UV exposure, smoking, nutritional status and sleep — all influence skin elasticity and the rate of aging.

To protect skin collagen, what matters more than 'collagen foods'

Maintaining healthy skin depends less on loading up on collagen-rich foods and more on supporting the body's own collagen synthesis while limiting the breakdown of existing collagen.

Adequate protein intake is a good starting point. A varied diet that includes meat, fish, eggs, dairy and legumes can supply the amino acids the body needs to produce collagen.

Vitamin C is also essential. It plays a necessary role in the body's collagen synthesis process. Eating plenty of vegetables and fruit provides the nutrients needed to maintain skin tissue alongside adequate protein.

Among lifestyle factors, UV protection is particularly important. Repeated sun exposure accelerates the breakdown of collagen in the skin, hastening the loss of elasticity and the formation of wrinkles. Consistently applying sunscreen when going outdoors helps slow skin aging.

Smoking is another enemy of skin health. The harmful compounds in cigarette smoke raise oxidative stress and can accelerate damage to both collagen and elastin in the skin.


rainbow@heraldcorp.com