Furthermore, there are some great natural and non-invasive ways to boost collagen. However, there are also numerous myths surrounding it.
Nevertheless, people might want to find out how they can boost their collagen before adding any kind of collagen treatment to their personal routines.
In this article, we’ll talk about what Collagen does for the skin, how to increase collagen in your skin and ways to boost collagen.
Table of Contents
What is Collagen?
As people age, their bodies produce less collagen causing wrinkles and stiff joints. Collagen is the most common and largest form of protein in the human body. Thus, it is found in many tissues of the muscles, bones, tendons, blood vessels, and the digestive system.
However, any time people talk about the importance of collagen, they generally refer to its benefits for the skin. Again, we experience collagen loss with age.
Furthermore, it’s one of the major building blocks of bones, skin, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Also, Collagen is also found in many other body parts, including blood vessels, corneas, and teeth.
Additionally, you can think of it as the “glue” that holds all these together. With this in mind, the word “Collagen” comes from the Greek word “kólla,” which means glue.
What Does Collagen Do For The Skin?
As a person ages, their bodies produce less collagen. In other words, the person is said to be experiencing collagen loss with age. This lack of collagen leads to common signs of aging. Stiff joints, wrinkles, and sagging skin that has lost its elasticity are all signs that the body is producing less collagen.
Furthermore, High collagen levels make the skin soft, smooth, and firm. Collagen helps the skin cells to renew and repair themselves. Also, it helps keep the skin moist. Because of this, it has been seen as a very important ingredient for skincare over the years.
How To Increase Collagen In Your Skin
Collagen loss with age brings about the responsibility of increasing collagen regularly in your skin to keep your soft, smooth, and firm. In this part of the article, you’ll get to know how to increase collagen in your skin.
Apart from getting older, certain lifestyle choices like taking too much sugar and alcohol, excess sun exposure, and smoking can reduce your collagen production. However, consuming healthy, balanced diets is an easy way to boost your skin’s collagen supply. `For you to see real and lasting improvement, consume enough veggies and fruit, healthy fats, and reduce your intake of foods that fuel inflammation like sweets and processed products, says Sass. And as always, it’s very important to drink a lot of water.
Furthermore, you can use topical creams like Vitamin A-based retinoids and peptides. They can help increase the production of your skin’s natural collagen, Dr. Nazarian tells Health. Two of our favorites: Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream, which highly contains a powerful mix of plant-derived growth factors; and Neutrogena Ageless Intensives Deep Wrinkle Moisture which is one of the most affordable and effective over-the-counter retinol you can get.
Even though drinking powdery collagen bevies may not give you the skin you had in your 20s, Collagen Peptides could improve skin’s barrier function to help the production of collagen, Dr. Jaliman says. She prefers collagen supplements to powdery collagen. Her pick is the NeoCell Super Collagen + C which helps to correct damaged nail beds, thicken fine hair, promote a clearer complexion, and increase skin firmness and hydration.
Ways To Boost Collagen
Even for a person experiencing Collagen loss with age, there are a lot of ways to boost collagen levels. You can simply add a different food to your diet, take a supplement, or add a new practice to your daily routine.
Here are a few ways you can boost your collagen levels:
#1. Hyaluronic Acid
Hyaluronic acid is a very important compound for collagen in the skin. You can find them in foods rich in amino acid, like beans, soy, and root vegetables.
Adding hyaluronic acid to your diet through food easily helps to boost your collagen levels. It is also available as a supplement.
#2. Vitamin C
One of the best-known vitamins is Vitamin C. The human body cannot make vitamin C, so it is vital that your diets contain it.
Furthermore, Vitamin C is an important part of a healthy diet and can be found in foods like leafy green vegetables, papaya, strawberries, broccoli, and citrus fruits.
According to Research from the Indian Dermatology Online Journal, vitamin C also plays an important role in creating more collagen in the body and protecting the skin.
A lot of skincare companies add vitamin C to their protective creams for good reason.
Also, Vitamin C can be taken as a supplement or added to the skin and is contained in many foods.
#3. Aloe Vera Gel
Most of the time, people use aloe vera gel to treat the skin after sunburn or to ease a rash. However, new research posted to Clinical, Cosmetic, and Investigational Dermatology suggests that aloe vera might have other benefits. Instead of waiting for skin damage to appear and treating it with topical aloe vera, researchers gave people an Aloe extract they call Aloe sterols to take orally.
According to the results, the production of hyaluronic acid and collagen almost doubled in the participants. Also, there was a significant reduction in facial wrinkles. It seems that aloe actually stimulates the correct cells to grow. Thus, it could help you tackle collagen loss with age.
Furthermore, people may find it very beneficial to use skincare products containing aloe. Additionally, it can be used as a topical cream or taken as an oral supplement.
#4. Ginseng
Ginseng has been in use for centuries in traditional medicine. According to a study posted to the Journal of Ginseng Research in 2012, Ginseng increases the amount of collagen in the bloodstream. Thus, it can help you tackle collagen loss with age.
Furthermore, Ginseng has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties. Also, Researchers noted that it might have the ability to stop skin cells from aging.
Most of the time, Ginseng is often found in the form of tea, tinctures, and supplements.
#5. Antioxidants
Antioxidants are substances that help in protecting the body from free radicals. Molecules that can damage the body are called free radicals. However, not all antioxidants will boost collagen production, but they will help the collagen that is present to become as effective as possible.
Furthermore, there are various types of antioxidants that can protect and rejuvenate the skin in many ways. Antioxidants can be found in large amounts in nature and in food.
Again, according to research posted to Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, foods and drinks that contain antioxidants include:
- blueberries
- green tea (or EGCG, its active component)
- yerba mate
- licorice extract
- mulberry extract
- pomegranate extract
- coffee extract
- astragalus
- cinnamon
- basil, oregano, and thyme essential oils
#6. Retinol
Another type of antioxidant that is commonly used to boost collagen levels in the skin is Retinol.
It helps to extend the lifespan of collagen, as well as block certain enzymes that destroy collagen. This makes it a perfect addition to many skincare kits.
#7. Red Light Therapy
Red light therapy is a non-invasive method of increasing collagen that does not have any side effects. Also called low-level laser light therapy (LLLT), it has been shown to boost collagen growth and improve wrinkles and skin elasticity. Thus, it can help you tackle collagen loss with age.
Skin treatments like microdermabrasion, chemical peels, and laser resurfacing can cause complications. This is because, after these treatments, the skin needs a lot of time to recover.
Furthermore, according to a study in Seminars in Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery, red light therapy is a quick and safe way to increase collagen production in the skin.
Red light therapy kits are obtainable over the counter, and people can treat themselves at home.
#8. Protect Your Skin From The Environment
Wearing sunscreen helps to protect the skin from damaging UV rays and sun exposure and can help you deal with collagen loss with age.
Again, skin cells are always in a cycle of being created and destroyed. However, there are some factors, like the environment, that can make matters worse. Pollution, harsh weather, sun exposure, and even dust particles can cause damage to the skin.
Furthermore, the damaged cells have to be replaced and this reduces collagen levels even more. An easy way to deal with this is to simply keep the skin clean. Washing and exfoliating daily can protect the collagen already in the skin.
In addition, people should always wear a good sunscreen on sunny days. Also, they should protect their face with a hat whenever possible. Lastly, sunglasses can help protect the delicate collagen around the eyes as well on very bright days.
Summary
If you are experiencing Collagen loss with age, there are a lot of ways to boost collagen levels. You can simply add a different food to your diet, take a supplement, or add a new practice to your daily routine.
Also, you can visit a doctor to prescribe what you should do to increase your collagen levels.
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