Source: Nutritional Outlook by Kimberly J Decker, April 24, 2014
Collagen, not unlike Cheap Trick, is big in Japan. Sure, it has a loyal following here in the United States, where it appears in joint-health supplements and cosmeceuticals—topical products—that promote skin, nail, and hair health.
But in terms of sheer gusto for this structural protein—which accounts for at least a quarter of the body’s total protein content—American consumers can’t hold a candle to their Japanese counterparts, who until recently comprised 90% of the world collagen market, according to Lauren S. Clardy, principal, NutriMarketing (Santa Rosa, CA).
So what do Japanese consumers “get” about collagen that we don’t? In a phrase, its nutricosmetic value. For while American shoppers have been slow to embrace nutricosmetics—skincare supplements that deliver their nutrients internally, rather than topically, to generate “beauty from within”—their peers in Japan have driven the category’s growth from the start, gobbling up roughly $777 million of the beauty-boosting tablets, capsules, foods, and beverages in 2010 alone, according to research firm Euromonitor International (London).
Read the full article here: Are Collagen Nutricosmetics More Effective than Topical Collagen?