There are many expensive anti-aging skin care products containing collagen as ingredients that claim to help reduce wrinkles and find lines. Also, there are many oral supplements of collagen either in pills or liquid form touting anti-aging effect.

You know what? They don’t work.

What is collagen?

Collagen is a type of protein that connects and supports other bodily tissues such as skin, bone, tendon, muscle and cartilage. It also supports internal organs.

There are 25 types of collagen naturally occurring in our body and constitute 25% of the total protein in our body.

Collagen works with elastin to support body tissues to give firmness and strength in lungs, bones, tendon and blood vessel. It works with keratin to give skin strength, flexibility and resiliency.

As we age, the body produce less collagen, hence, the skin loses elasticity and resiliency and resulting in wrinkles and fine lines. So, to retain our youthful look, we have to do something.

Why don’t collagen in skin care and oral supplement work?

Collagen is a big molecule. When applied on the skin, it cannot penetrate into the inner layers of the skin to give any effect.

Some skin creams contain peptide that is a smaller fragment collagen, small enough to penetrate into the skin. But the fragment is too small to properly integrate into the skin within the collagen framework.

As an oral supplement, it is merely digested in the body like a protein. The amino acids as an end product are absorbed into the body and not necessarily make it to the skin to form the collagen where it is needed.

Therefore, it is better to induce your body to product collagen naturally.

Here are 2 ways you can do:

1) Prevent damage to collagen

We are constantly exposed to free radicals and it can cause damages to collagen. Free radicals are found in pollution, stress, and processed food.

So, it is important to protect the collagen from such attacks. Co-enzyme Q, Vitamin E and Vitamin C are effective anti-oxidants that can do this.

Food rich in Co-enzyme Q are mackerel fish, chicken, egg, nuts, bean and vegetables. Food rich in Vitamin E are wheat gem oil, almonds, and sunflower seeds. Citrus fruits are rich in Vitamin C.

Refer to my earlier post for more information on free radicals and anti-oxidants.

2) Amino acids are building blocks for collagen

The amino acids that are important for the production of collagen are L-glutamine, L-proline, cystine and glutamic acid. You can find these amino acids in eggs, dried beans, kale, and soybean.

Therefore, if you have a balance diet that is low in processed food to minimize free radicals and rich in colorful fruits and vegetables to counter free radicals plus sufficient protein to supply the amino acids for the production of collagen, you should be able to have healthy and youthful skin.

Do you have any suggestions for ways to produce collagen naturally in our body?

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