Collagen drinks & supplements have become popular, promising anti-ageing benefits and better skin health but is it beneficial to supplement collagen for your skin? Collagen improves hydration, firmness and is anti-ageing to the skin
Most of our body is made up of protein, our skin, hair, nails, bones, joints, muscles and organs are all made up of protein. Our bodies cannot make protein on their own, we have to eat it daily for our bodies to repair & grow.
Collagen is essentially a protein and is a supporting structure in our skin. Collagen keeps our skin firm and supple and it declines with age. We lose 1% collagen every year from age 30 so it goes without saying that for firm, supple skin with no wrinkles, we need collagen
Most collagen supplements are hydrolyzed, meaning that they’ve been broken down into amino acids to make sure that your body absorbs them. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein so once you ingest them, different combinations of amino acids will make different proteins.
This means that once you have taken your collagen supplement, you have no control over where the collagen is going to go.
Your bones might take some, your muscles might take some and your organs might take some. You have no guarantee that the collagen will end up in your skin. This is because our bodies go through wear & tear every day and need to repair themselves. Skin is not a vital organ and will get collagen last as your body’s priority is keeping us alive. So if your organs have used up all the collagen, there won’t be any left for your skin.
The best way to make sure that your body doesn’t steal your collagen supplement is by getting 60-80 grams (depending on how active you are) of protein in your diet daily. In turn, this will guarantee that your collagen supplement is headed directly to your skin to help with firmness and hydration.
The best way to make sure that the collagen gets to your skin would be to use a serum or cream that stimulates collagen production. Creams & serums that contain peptides are great as peptides are the building blocks of collagen.
Retinol & Vitamin C are also great ingredients that stimulate collagen production & you will be guaranteed that there is collagen renewal in your skin.
So Collagen supplements do have benefits for your skin provided that you get enough protein from your diet, if not, your organs will use your collagen supplement instead. Leading a healthy lifestyle will go a long way to improving your skin health, it’s not just about creams & serums.
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