Dr. Berg’s Healthy Keto and Intermittent Fasting Podcast

The #1 Collagen Tip for Amazing Hair, Nails, & Skin

Mar 24, 2024

07:11

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Learn about the key role of glycine in collagen production and how it affects detoxification, inflammation, and various body functions. Discover how glycine supports antioxidant production, blood sugar regulation, and weight management. Explore the importance of consuming collagen-rich foods and glycine supplementation for overall health.

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Quick takeaways

Glycine is crucial for collagen production and antioxidant activity, essential for detoxification and reducing inflammation.

Supplementing with glycine can address deficiencies and benefit conditions like hair thinning, insomnia, and kidney stones.

Deep dives

Importance of Glycine in the Body

Glycine plays a crucial role in various bodily functions and processes. One-third of all collagen in the body is made from glycine, which is essential for connective tissues, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. Glycine is not considered an essential amino acid, as the body can produce it, but many people may have deficiencies due to inadequate dietary intake. Lack of glycine can lead to issues with antioxidant production, detoxification, inflammation, gut health, enzyme function, blood cell formation, and DNA synthesis.

The Vital Role of Glycine in Body Functions

4min

Maintaining Health with Glucagon and Glycine

3min

In this podcast, we’ll discuss a very important amino acid: glycine. Collagen is a main component of connective tissues, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. About ⅓ of collagen is made by glycine.

Your body can make glycine, but unfortunately, it doesn’t make very much. If you're not getting it from the diet, you could be deficient. Unless you’re eating the skin and cartilage from meat, you’re probably not getting enough glycine.

Glycine is needed to make the most important antioxidant for all of your cells, glutathione. Without enough glycine to make glutathione, you can’t detoxify your body. This can cause a buildup of toxicity, leading to inflammation.

Glycine is a potent anti-inflammatory agent and is an essential building block for many enzymes and proteins.

Here are some of the many important functions of glycine:

• Makes heme in your blood

• Important for gum health

• Essential for DNA

• Building block for catalase

• Supports sleep

• Supports the liver

• Can help fix a leaky gut

• Detoxifies uric acid

• Supports blood sugar

• Helps with weight loss

• Reduces visceral fat

Glycine can also turn into glucose to be used as fuel. Certain parts of the body, especially the brain, need a certain amount of glucose. If you’re not consuming glucose, your body can make it. Glycine is a precursor for glucose, but don’t worry about it bumping you out of ketosis. Glycine stimulates the hormone glucagon, which opposes insulin.

If you’re not eating animals nose-to-tail, if you’re under stress, taking medication, drinking alcohol, or exposed to toxins, you can become deficient in glycine.

You can increase your glycine intake by consuming gelatin! Try making your own gelatin using Knox Blox and using a natural sweetener like stevia. You can also take a glycine supplement. The average person needs about 4 to 10 grams of glycine per day.

Bone broth and pork rinds can increase your glycine intake, but you need to consume a lot to get enough glycine.

As we age, we need more glycine. Increasing glycine intake can potentially help people with osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, hair thinning, insomnia, gout, and kidney stones.

DATA:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20093...

https://openheart.bmj.com/content/1/1...