Collagen for Your Skin: Healthy or Hype?

What is collagen?

To begin with, collagen is one of the most prevalent proteins in the body. About one-third of our body is collagen, and if you remove the moisture from the body, it makes up about 75% (too much right). Well, now do you see why it is important to retain it? Some people call it the “fountain of youth” while some just merely refer to them as proteins! To put it simply, it is a “glue” that keeps the skin in the right structure and elasticity to make sure your skin has a profound and good shape. Mainly, there are four categories of collagen, out of which Type 1 is the most common one. If you get into the details or talk to a medical consultant about collagen, he or she shall tell you that there are at least 16 different types of collagen making up your entire body. Collagen not only makes up your skin but also, hair, nails, joints, muscle, bones, gut health, and weight management. But, mostly, the market is focused on the benefits of it for the skin.

How does Collagen help skin?

Generally, your body produces collagen enough to keep the skin tight and young, but it starts degrading as you step into the late 20s. And, this is when the skin starts to experience more troubles starting from fine lines, and further wrinkles and sagging as you step into 40 or 50s. If you don’t pay enough attention to your skin early, you are going to experience depleting collagen, and hence aging signs. Collagen helps in keeping your skin firm, tight, hydrated, young, and soft. With the right level of collagen, you can manage dryness, reduce wrinkles, fine lines, pigmentations, and prevent sagging of skin. Whether you’re looking to maintain your young skin or have lustrous hair, collagen is the key to it. Keep on reading to learn more about how you can retain and boost them.

How To Enhance Collagen for Your Skin?

Okay, so by now, you know what is collagen and why is it important for you! You must be thinking if this collagen level can be increased. Collagen has a precursor protein before it called ‘procollagen” which is basically a combination of proline and glycine ( two amino acids) and Vitamin C. Of course there are some foods that you can take up to boost the collagen in your body. You can introduce collagen to your body externally via various methods: Diet, Supplements, or Beauty Care.

Diet

Add foods to your diet that are rich in amino acids- glycine and proline, as well as vitamin C. Foods like mushrooms, wheat germs, asparagus, chicken skin, bell peppers, berries, etc. can be some of the choices for you. Giving such a combination to your body will help in synthesizing the protein accordingly, and thus help in building a healthy collagen level.

Supplements

Collagen supplements are specifically formulated supplements in the form of pills or powders to offer your body the right protein for collagen development. You can replace certain meals of your day with a collagen supplement or just add them to your diet. Note- It is advised to consult a medical professional before introducing collagen to your diet. For those who are a little reluctant to add anything to their diet, you have the entire beauty market open for you! Start exploring the collagen product that suits your skin. As the beauty market has evolved, some of the supplements or the topicals available in the market are as potent and quick to boost the collagen level in your body!

Beautycare

The beauty industry takes care of the collagen for the skin in the form of topical application. If you noticed, then most products intended for nighttime like a night cream, or retinol serum, are crammed with antioxidants and collagen-boosting ingredients. Ever wondered, why? The only reason is that the ingredients in that beauty care helps in retaining and boosting collagen levels. And, in turn, collagen on the skin helps in improving skin health, structure, and texture. Also, the skin gets enough time to work upon the structure of the skin’s overall health.

Protect your natural collagen for your skin

PictureCredit: Palak Gupta, @Vistaphotosoc The two most important reasons that affect your skin collagen are- Smoking and too much exposure to Sun. Firstly, you have to control your lifestyle and the time you spend under the sun. After that, you can opt for external remedies to boost your skin collagen. As we discussed, you can either indulge in dietary collagen or topical collagen! As you age, your skin loses collagen, and you end up looking for ways to boost them up for radiant skin. But, won’t it be better if you had it handled from the very beginning itself? You will not only protect your natural collagen but these skincare products will also add on to maintain a sound level of collagen in the skin. Thus, you shall not lose the radiance from your face.