8 Essential Foods to Replenish Collagen in Your Skin
You need to replenish collagen if you’re over 35 and your skin is losing elasticity, firmness, and your first wrinkles are appearing.
Collagen is a protein made of connective tissue cells known as fibroblasts. It makes up around 30 percent of your body’s total protein mass, and 80 percent of the connective tissue.
In simpler terms, this protein is the glue that keeps your body together. Without it, your body wouldn’t be able to unite all of its components.
Collagen and your skin
The health of your skin is directly linked to collagen, which is responsible for protecting its structure and forming a barrier to toxins and other harmful external agents.
It’s the main component of your hair and nails, as well as the ligaments and connective tissue. More specifically, it’s responsible for your skin’s firmness and makes up the bulk of the dermis.
For this reason, when you lose collagen you also lose firmness and elasticity.
See also 8 ways to minimize wrinkles
When do you start losing collagen and why?
Humans start losing collagen when they turn around 25 years old, and it becomes more obvious after the age of 35.
As collagen decreases, the epithelial structures weaken, the skin becomes thinner, your hair is no longer as strong, and wrinkles and sagging skin begin to appear.
Also, your tendons and ligaments become less elastic and your joints lose flexibility. Thus, supplementation of collagen is best after the age of 25.
Factors that accelerate the loss of collagen
- Exposure to the sun, smoking, pollutants, toxins, stress, and excessive physical exercise increase the production of free radicals that can destroy your existing collagen reservoirs. At least according to this study by Universidad de Granada, in Spain.
- Low hormone production during menopause and aging also decrease collagen production.
- Health problems with treatments that prevent the body’s absorption of vitamins and minerals.
What to eat to replenish collagen in your skin?
Ok, so your collagen production has started to fall, no worries. Some foods are rich in this protein and others help produce it, in short, they help replenish collagen in your skin.
Eating them can help you recover the firmness, freshness, and elasticity of your skin. Among them:
1. Meat
This is an important nutritional element thanks to its high content of collagen, the best meats are:
- Beef
- Chicken
- Goat
- Ox
- Deer
- Pork (especially the legs)
Skin, bones, and offal are also rich sources of protein and collagen, such as pork skin, bone broth, etc.
2. Replenish collagen by eating fish
Fish has a lower concentration of this nutrient than other protein sources. However, the scales are a high source of collagen.
Also, the omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon and tuna can help protect the membranes around your skin cells. At least according to this study conducted by the Instituto Nacional de Medicina Genómica, in Mexico.
As you can see, this kind of fish reduces inflammation and provides elasticity and firmness.
3. Gelatin
- Gelatin is made up of 90 percent collagen protein derivatives
- It’s also low in calories
4. Red fruits and vegetables can replenish collagen in your body
Fruits like apples, strawberries, cherries, red peppers, beets, and more, contain lycopene.
- This substance is an excellent antioxidant but also increases the production of collagen. This is according to a study conducted by the Instituto Tecnológico de Veracruz in Mexico.
5. Fruits that are rich in vitamin C
Vitamin C is essential for the production of collagen, as suggested by this study from Hospital Da Costa in Galicia, Spain. You’ll find it in oranges, lemons, kiwis, grapefruit, mango, pineapple, and other fruits.
- They also contain antioxidants that decrease the formation of wrinkles.
6. Vegetables
Vegetables like cabbage, eggplant, kale, endive, and spinach promote the production of collagen.
7. Foods rich in sulfur compounds
Foods such as celery, green and black olives, garlic, cucumber, bananas, onions, and tofu have a high sulfur content.
- It stimulates the production of collagen as suggested by this study conducted by Hospital Universitario de Canarias.
See also Why Gelatin Helps Hair Health
8. Other foods to replenish collagen
Other foods you should include in your diet are soy milk, cheese, tea, nuts, and foods rich in lysine like potatoes, seaweed, and brewer’s yeast.
All these products are easy to obtain. Mix and match them with other ingredients in your diet to your taste and make sure it’s wholesome and well- balanced. You’ll notice the effects on your skin as soon as the collagen in your body increases.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
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