Gelita’s bioactive collagen peptides boosts hair thickness, new study finds

20 Apr 2020 --- Gelita’s Verisol bioactive collagen peptides have been found to improve hair structure by significantly increasing thickness and the proliferation of human hair follicle cells. This is according to a new randomized, placebo-controlled study by the Kiel Collagen Research Institute in Germany, which included 44 healthy women aged between 39 and 75, receiving a daily dose of 2.5 g of Verisol for 16 weeks. The discovery may point to the peptides’ potential for hair health and related NPD, beyond their already established benefits for skin and anti-aging. 

For beauty-from-within products, Verisol collagen peptides can help to substantially increase skin elasticity and hydration by stimulating skin metabolism, Oliver Wolf, Head of B2B Marketing, Global Marketing & Communication at Gelita, tells NutritionInsight. The newly found hair-related benefits further establish Verisol in the ingestible beauty space.

“The positive effects of Verisol on skin elasticity and wrinkle reduction have been demonstrated by several clinical trials performed over the last ten years and testing nearly 500 study participants,” notes Hausmanns, Gelita’s Vice President, Health & Nutrition. “With this new study, we add improved hair structure to the many positive benefits of Verisol. It can be assumed that the increased hair thickness observed also leads to improved textural and physical properties of hair, making it stronger and more resistant to breakage.”

Gelita’s Verisol bioactive collagen peptides have been found to improve hair structure by significantly increasing thickness.“In Europe, the effects of Verisol are actually not in the area of the health claims regulation, as wrinkles, cellulite and strong nails are not considered to be health-related. Therefore, the so-called beauty claims here are less strict health claims. However, we can take an example from another market, in Canada, where Verisolis is a licensed natural health product by Health Canada. There, its recommended use includes claims such as helps to increase skin elasticity, to promote collagen production, and to reduce wrinkles and fine lines,” Wolf notes.

Thickness a key aspect of healthy hair
This research is touted as being the peer-reviewed study to clearly demonstrate a positive effect of specific bioactive collagen peptides intake on hair metabolism and structure. It states that at the end of the supplementation period, the use of Verisol led to a significant increase in hair thickness, whereas a slight decrease was observed in the placebo group. The comparison of the two groups revealed a statistically significant increase in hair thickness in the Verisol group compared to placebo, confirming the benefits of it to hair thickness, a key aspect of healthy hair appearance.

In addition, the study investigated if the previously demonstrated efficacy of Verisol in stimulating cells of the skin extracellular matrix could have a positive impact on hair follicle cells and promote their proliferation.

The in vitro test showed a statistically significant increase of 31 percent in the proliferation rates of human hair follicle cells after exposure to Verisol for four hours, compared with the untreated control cells. This suggests a positive effect of Verisol on hair metabolism, building on previous data showing bioactive collagen peptides to increase mitochondrial activity of hair follicle cells. 

Recognizing that collagen peptides can exhibit different biological activities, Oesser (2020) stated that the effects measured in the study apply only to the specific bioactive collagen peptides tested and cannot necessarily be applied to other collagen products.

Formulating with Verisol
Gelita’s collagen peptides offer technological properties and are easy to process and formulate, according to Wolf. They are available in dry, free-flowing powder form and are highly water-soluble. Dust-free handling is ensured and they have good wettability and lump-free solubility in liquids, so they deliver clear solutions. Moreover, they facilitate the production of low viscosity, clear and precipitation-free beverages.

Collagen peptides can easily be incorporated into a wide variety of products, from pharmaceutical-like applications such as capsules, film-coated tablets and standard tablets to products such as bars, chocolate, instant coffee, sports or beauty drinks, shots or even fortified gummies, Wolf adds.

“With safety and security of source being primary concerns, we mainly use bovine and porcine-derived materials (and some fish-derived for specific applications) as these are the most similar to human collagen. We use a gentle enzymatic process that’s been optimized to obtain the specific bioactive collagen peptides we need, which have been shown to deliver beneficial effects in different parts of the body,” Wolf further highlights.

By Kristiana Lalou, with additional reporting from Missy Green