The Role of Essential Vitamins in
Collagen & Connective Tissue Health
Many people take vitamins for glowing skin, heart health, or immune support. Still, few realize that certain essential vitamins are critical in maintaining collagen health and keeping connective tissue strong and flexible—including fascia, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage.These tissues are the foundation of joint stability, musculoskeletal system health, and overall movement efficiency.
As we age, the preservation of our bodies' structure and function depends heavily on collagen health and the connective tissue fascia, which is ~70% made of collagen. When collagen breakdown accelerates, it leads to cartilage loss, joint stiffness, reduced myofascial (muscle & fascia) elasticity, and a higher risk of injury.
However, combining key essential vitamins (supportive nutrients) with collagen peptides is critical to enhance collagen production in our body as we age, protect connective tissues from injuries, and support long-term joint mobility and resilience.
The functions of key essential vitamins will be discussed in this article, as well as the advantages of consuming them together with collagen peptides to support collagen production in the body.
Let's start with the well-known Vitamin C.
Production of Collagen and Vitamin C
Before we go to why the combination of collagen and Vit C is critical, allow me to emphasize that collagen protein is a key building block.
Collagen is a major component of these tissues ~70%-90% and it gives skin and all the layers underneath -fascia, tendon, ligament, cartilage, and bone their structure, strength, and elasticity to keep our body resilient and healthy.
Vitamin C is considered a supportive nutrient that needs to be plugged into connective tissue protein and enzymes to support building collagen within. In other words, Vitamin C, is essential for the production of collagen.
Vitamin C is essential for synthesis of procollagen (cofactor in prolyl hydroxylase), and maturation of Collagen III to Collagen I fibers (DePhillipo et al 2018).
Vitamin C may also improve tendon recovery time after exercise, as well as improve collagen deposition and recovery after injury and surgery in tendons and ligaments, but potentially not bone (DePhillipo et al 2018).
You can learn additional steps on how to create collagen within soft tissues (fascia, tendons and ligaments) to keep them elastic and resilient to injuries in our online class.
Vitamin D3 and Connective Tissue Health
Vitamin D3 is considered a regulator that is essential to connective tissue health.
Regulators, frequently, are very potent antioxidants. They often get plugged into the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory system, determining how these different supportive nutrients are used.If you are low on any of the regulators (some of them are described below, but there are more & we discuss them all in the online class), all these other nutrients operate in an environment that isn't conducive for healing & healthy living.
Vitamin D3 is probably one of the most important vitamins our body needs for major physiological processes, like the role in regulating calcium homeostasis - plays a role in bone and muscle regeneration and remodeling.
🔊 Did you know that bone is a specialized type of connective tissue that not only provides structural support but also plays a dynamic role in mineral storage and blood production?
Yes, it works alongside other connective tissues like the ones we discuss in this blog, ligaments, tendons, fascia, and cartilage to maintain mobility, strength, and overall musculoskeletal health.Deficient and insufficient vitamin D levels are associated with increased risk for bone stress factors, whereas higher vitamin D levels are associated with lower risk for stress fractures (Knechtle et al 2021)
Vitamin D3 aids in controlling the body's levels of calcium and phosphorus, which are essential for bone mineralization. By encouraging the absorption of calcium, adequate vitamin D levels strengthen our bones and lower the risk of fractures while also supporting the integrity of connective tissues. It is a essential vitamin that we need daily.
Other Essential Vitamins To Support Collagen & Connective Tissue Health
These vitamins are also considered regulators, just like the Vitamin D3
- Vitamin A: In a systematic review of epidemiological studies, higher β-carotene intake is associated with lower bone fracture risk (Charkos et al. 2020).
- B Vitamins: One randomized controlled trial using a combination of B-vitamins including B1 (33.6mg), B2, B6 (50mg), and B12 (750 mcg) with other ingredients showed enhanced time to exhaustion and reduced levels of biomarkers associated with fatigue (Lee et al., 2023). Another study using B6, B9, and B12 for 4 weeks showed no effect on indices of fatigue or muscle recovery (You-young, Chang-mo 2019).
- Vitamin E: As an antioxidant, vitamin E shields connective tissues from oxidative damage. Additionally, In smooth muscle cells, vitamin E plays a role in growing connective tissue (Villacorta 2003).
- Vitamin K2 (MK-7): It plays an essential role as a co-enzyme for osteocalcin (a non-collagenous protein primarily found in bone tissue), making it essential for bone mineralization and proper bone formation. In patients with knee osteoarthritis, vitamin K status is correlated with rate of progression in a dose response manner, which may suggest an effective role in pre-disease knee dysfunction. Among healthy post-menopausal women, low-dose MK-7 (180 mcg/d) over 3 years may decrease rate of bone demineralization. (Knapen et al. 2013). In another study, supplementing with MK-7 increased the marker of bone formation carboxylated osteocalcin, and it was concluded that it may improve lumbar spine bone mineral density (Xie et al. 2024)
Double Advantage - Resilient Aging & Connective Tissue Health
As a performance coach with a niche in fascia self-care, I like to share with my clients impactful tools and skills they can discover and apply to their daily routines to support their collagen and fascia health.
If you want to learn more check my FREE PDF on how to slow down the process of drying out - aging 3-steps-to-stop-your-body-from-drying-out-after-40
If you are ready to take the next step to support collagen health and keep our connective tissues elastic and hydrated to prevent stiffness, I invite you to check my recently created online class Resilient Aging - Fascia Hydration Essentials.
How To Effectively Supplement With Collagen Protein To Keep Connective Tissues Healthy
I hope the above information, helps you understand that we need essential vitamins to make collagen protein and to keep connective tissues healthy.
That’s why when you look for a product to support collagen health, you need to look for all the essential building blogs, supportive ingredients, and regulators (not all discussed here in this blog) otherwise you are wasting your valuable money & time.
I will be genuinely honest with you.I created Beyond Muscle Recovery & Repair to offer all of those ingredients in one scoop so you can deliver:
- Collagen & Lactose-free whey protein (full amino acid spectrum to support muscles and connective tissues)
- Essential vitamins
- Essentail minerals
- Essentail electrolytes
- Nitric oxide supporting ingredients (red spinach & aronia)
- Anti-inflammatory ingredients like OptiMSM
All valuable to keep every structure and every tissue in your body strong and healthy
Beyond Muscle Recovery & Repair
Dark chocolate complete protein blend is designed to strengthen and repair every layer of the body.
- Skin
- Muscle & Fascia
- Tendons & Ligaments
- Cartilage & Bones
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When I started to work with professional athletes in 2010, especially with NFL and PGA Tour players, I recognized that majority of the injuries were connective tissue, not muscle or bone injuries, and there was no collagen supplement that would satisfy my standards.
That’s how Resync was born in 2017.Please check these additional blogs below, on subjects related to collagen and connective tissue health to make sure that you make the best decision for yourself and those you care about.
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Resync is backed by research. We break down complex science into practical takeaways you can use today. When you have the right information, you are empowered to make the decision that’s right for you. If there’s something you want to know more about, let us know by leaving a comment, contacting us or getting in touch on social media!
Helping you lead a healthier life,The Resync Team
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Published on: March 19, 2025
Tags
Connective Tissue Health
Fascia
Vitamins & Connective Tissue
