Beauty Byline with Sanah: Collagen Helps You Keep It Together

Has your skin been feeling a bit blah lately? Have you noticed new sun spots, age spots, or fine

lines and wrinkles? Are your joints hurting? Is your hair thinning out? If you said yes to any of

those questions, you need collagen!

Collagen is a protein that is the major component of connective tissues which make up most of

your body. Your skin, bones, ligaments, tendons, muscles, teeth and even corneas have

collagen. The body naturally produces it but as you age it slows down in production so the body

starts to break down. By age forty, your body can lose up to one percent of your collagen. If

your diet is high in sugar, if you smoke, drink or spend a lot of time in the sun, you could lose

collagen. The skin loses its suppleness, sun damage becomes noticeable, joints start hurting,

and you no longer look or feel like you.

There are more than two dozen types of collagen but the main ones are Type I, which is found

in ninety percent of the body. It is in skin, bones, tendons, cartilage, connective tissue and teeth.

Type II is found in the joints. Type III is found in muscles, organs and arteries. Type IV helps

with filtration and is found in skin. Collagen is an integral part of our body but if natural

production slows down with time, how can you replenish it? Experts suggest increasing collagen

in your diet to help your body continue to hold everything together.

Collagen is found in the flesh and connective tissues of animals. It’s found in bovine (cow),

poultry, pork and fish. This doesn’t sound too good for vegetarians. There are plant-based

collagen supplements on the market but they don’t actually contain collagen. The ingredients

are usually for promoting the production of collagen instead of actual collagen. Unless it’s made

in the lab, collagen comes from animals.

Not all animals produce the same types of collagen. According to experts, bovine collagen has

been found to increase types I and III whereas marine collagen boosts types I and II. Bovine

collagen may help with wrinkles, skin elasticity and moisture while marine collagen may help

with cartilage and skin health. Marine collagen is absorbed up to one and a half times more

efficiently into the body over bovine collagen. Because of this, the collagen enters the

bloodstream more quickly. Marine collagen is considered to be the best source for your skin.

Bottom line, you need collagen. You can either eat collagen rich foods like bone broth, beef,

fish, chicken, eggs and dairy products, or you can add foods with copper, zinc and vitamin C

which boost collagen production. You can also get collagen supplements which come in pill,

powder and liquid form. Experts say about 2.5 - 15 grams of hydrolyzed collagen peptides each

day may be safe and effective. There are many types of supplements on the market, find the

one that works for you.

I’m currently sipping on a delicious liquid form of marine collagen. Write to me to find out!