Collagen has numerous health benefits. I remember first using shark cartilage (not a fan) and collagen powders in the late 1990’s. During the last two decades, marine collagen has attracted great scientific and industrial interest as a ‘blue resource’, with potential for use in various health-related sectors, such as food, medicine, pharmaceutics and cosmetics. In particular, the large availability of polluting by-products from the fish processing industry has been the key factor driving the research towards the conversion of these low cost by-products (e.g. fish skin and scales) into collagen-based products with high added value and low environmental impact.
As a good “sleep tonic”, I commonly prescribe a formulation of Collagen, Passionflower, Lemon Balm, Ziziphus, and Magnesium, among other nutrients and herbs, that support skin health and improve sleep quality. Passionflower (one of my all time favourite herbs) has been found to improve total sleep time. Passionflower just has so many uses. It is amazing. Magnesium has too many benefits to mention… A study on magnesium supplementation found increased sleep time, sleep efficiency, and serum melatonin concentration, and decreased Insomnia Severity Index score and sleep onset latency (time taken to get to sleep).
References:
Guerrero FA, Medina GM. Effect of a medicinal plant (Passiflora incarnata L) on sleep. Sleep Sci. Jul-Sep 2017;10(3):96-100.
Ikonte CJ et al. Micronutrient Inadequacy in Short Sleep: Analysis of the NHANES 2005-2016. Nutrients. 2019 Oct 1;11(10):2335.
Salvatore L et al. Marine collagen and its derivatives: Versatile and sustainable bio-resources for healthcare. Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl. 2020 Aug; 113: 110963.