Collagen and Skincare
The benefits of collagen
I’ve never been someone who paid extra attention to my skin or fully understood the benefits of collagen. Always been quick at applying moisturizers to the body after a bath and not really cared much about how I applied the body lotion. Recently spent the weekend with a long-time friend who was always particular about their skin. After a night out, came back to my place and straight away took my shoes off. Before I could take my socks off, this friend of mine had already taken theirs off and I was completely blown away with how her skin looked. She looked like someone who had just come from the shower as the skin glowed and looked moisturized even after spending the whole day out.
Imagine not having to worry about the look and feel of your skin. Imagine waking up every morning with perfect glowing skin. What if all this was possible? Maybe, maybe not. The world of skincare is an entire maze with people spending lots of time and resources figuring out the best formula to make their skin look perfect.
Why take collagen supplements
In the pursuit to achieve great skin, chances are that you’ve come across the word Collagen. So what at all is collagen or benefits of collagen? In simple terms, it’s the glue that holds the body together. It’s made up of proteins that work as a connective tissue that supports the body structure. Picture it as your skin’s mattress and a good looking bouncy “mattress” will reflect on the body just as a “worn out skinny” mattress will also reflect on the skin. Like most things, aging, nutrition, and lifestyle can affect our collagen production. Collagen production slows down with age and decreases even more in women after menopause. This decrease of collagen contributes to the wrinkling and sagging of skin and unfortunately, the natural decline in collagen production cannot be stopped or prevented and this affects the benefits of collagen you may get.
What is collagen
The body has many forms of collagen but only four types account for over 90%. The three main types of collagen are;
Type 1 – Mainly consists of skin, hair, nails, capillaries and bones. Type 1 is best for skin health
Type 2 – This is the primary component for cartilage and tendons
Type 3 – This type helps keep bone, cartilage, tendon and connective tissues healthy
Collagen for skin
The debate on the benefits of collagen in skincare is ongoing but one thing seems certain, Collagen skincare products DO NOT add collagen to the skin. Taking in collagen (either from supplements or meat) breaks it down into its individual amino acids which contributes to the entire body’s formation of collagen.
Excess sugar, too much exposure to the sun and smoking can negatively impact the body’s ability to produce collagen. On the other hand, foods that are high in Vitamin C, Amino Acids, Zinc and Copper can be described as foods high in collagen which will give you the benefits of collagen and help increase collagen production in the body. Examples of such foods high in collagen include broccoli, orange, meat, beef, fish, beans, peas and leafy greens. If you’re not having enough of these foods, then collagen supplementation can be a good alternative. The challenge with collagen molecules from supplements is that they are typically huge, so unless they’ve been hydrolysed, they are simply too big to be absorbed into the bloodstream when ingested, and thus never reach the right place. This is critical to factor as you shop for the best collagen supplement. Pure Food Supplement’s hydrolysed collagen is able to make its way to the areas required the most which then provides you with the full benefits of collagen.
Read more about hydrolysed collagen. What is Hydrolysed Collagen or Collagen Peptide?
There are other cosmetic techniques such as micro needling and collagen injections that are aimed at increasing the body’s collagen or help repair some damage but all these are not able to restore collagen to its virgin state. It’s important we pay attention to our skin and take good care of it especially if we are interested in how it looks so that if you one day have to take your socks or sleeves off, you do it with great confidence.
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References
Begoun, P. (2009). The original beauty bible. Renton, Wash.: Beginning Press.
Brandt, F. and Reynoso, P. (2002). Age-less. New York: Morrow.
Dayan, N. (2008). Skin aging handbook. Norwich, NY: William Andrew.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/
