Collagen is the building block of, essentially, your whole body. In fact, it’s what holds your body together. Making up about one-third of the protein in your body, collagen is a hard, insoluble, and fibrous protein. The collagen in your body is strong and flexible lending strength and elasticity to your skin and other body parts.
As we age natural collagen production slows down thereby increasing wrinkles. Additionally, you may notice a lessening of cartilage in your joints and be susceptible to creaky knees and overall aches and pains.
The benefits of supplementing your diet with collagen certainly don’t stop there. You may be surprised by all the ways that collagen will help your body.
The amino acid glycine is a key player here. The glycine in collagen slows the effects of aging by improving antioxidant uptake. Indeed, this conversion of essential nutrients assists with building lean muscle mass. Also note, that adding Vitamin C ensures your body can convert the collagen into usable protein.
As with boosting metabolism and increasing muscle mass the glycine in collagen helps keep your liver clean and healthy. As you may know already, the liver is the gatekeeper of detoxification in the body. It’s responsible for filtering everything we put in our bodies so keeping it happy keeps us happier. In fact, glycine has been found to reduce alcohol-induced liver damage and other acute liver damage.
Collagen expression in liver disease study
Adding more collagen-rich foods to your diet is an easy and great way to keep your fingernails strong and possibly reverse the signs of hair loss.
Study on collagen and nail strength
The proline in collagen releases fat buildup in the bloodstream. This, in turn, reduces plaque buildup and reduces hardening of the arteries. Additionally, arginine in collagen helps with nitris oxide production allowing for better vasodilation. This means the arteries widen and the blood vessels relax for better circulation.
National Institute of Health Article
By helping the skin cells to renew and repair normally you’ll find that your skin will look firmer and smoother. You’ll also notice with prolonged use of collagen in your diet elasticity will improve, your skin will be moister and there will be a reduction of dryness and roughness.
A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study
Type 2 collagen covers and holds our bones and joints together helping with pain-free movement often associated with normal aging. In addition, type 2 collagen helps to relieve painful rheumatoid arthritis by decreasing swelling in the joints. You’ll find this type of collagen abundant in chicken sources of collagen such as chicken bone broth.
Double-blind placebo-controlled study
Collagen soothes and protects the gut lining. It seals and heals damaged cell walls with healing amino acids. This, in turn, helps with water absorption in the intestines to counter potential constipation. Having a healthy well functioning gut helps to alleviate chronic inflammatory bowel diseases such as IBS, acid reflux, Chron’s disease, and ulcerative colitis. And of course, leaky gut, which can lead to a multitude of autoimmune disorders.
Study on effects of collagen from Alaskan Pollack skin on gut health
Green and red cabbage will work here. Cabbage is an excellent source of Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Vitamin C, and Potassium. Vitamin C is important for collagen production. Red cabbage has about 30% more Vitamin C than green. The potassium in cabbage helps to lower blood pressure. In addition to its vitamin and mineral content, it’s also an excellent source of soluble fiber and plant sterols. You can saute it or add it to soups and stir-fries. Or if you really want to love on your gut bacteria eat it as raw sauerkraut. You can buy raw sauerkraut in some supermarkets or health food stores or easily make your own.
The avocado fruit is loaded with vitamins and healthy fat. It’s rich in Vitamin A which regulates sebum production, in turn boosting moisture. Avocado is also a good source of Vitamin E which repairs damaged skin and increases collagen production. Also, avocados provide a good source of potassium.
Eat more cold-water fish like salmon and tuna. But don’t forget about sardines because along with being high in calcium and other nutrients, they’re your very best source of collagen. This is because you eat the whole fish, the skin, eyes, bones, and scales. Fish collagen is considered to be the best for absorption and bioavailability due to its smaller particle size. This type-1 collagen is the most abundant in the human body. Oysters are another good source and are rich in zinc, essential for collagen building.
Garlic is rich in sulfur, necessary for collagen building. It’s also a good source of lipoic acid and taurine, both of which help with rebuilding damaged collagen fibers.
Acting as a natural sunblock, the antioxidant lycopene in red produce protects your skin from sun damage. By eating these powerful fruits and vegetables you’ll be lessening the breakdown of collagen in your skin. You can find lycopene in red bell peppers, tomatoes, beets, and watermelon.
Sweet potatoes, apricots, and carrots are all abundant in Vitamin A. Known for its skin-nourishing properties Vitamin A restores and regenerates damaged collagen.
The chlorophyll in leafy green vegetables is the precursor to collagen in the skin. Load up on spinach, kale, swiss chard, arugula, and greens like collard, mustard, and beet greens. Incorporating leafy greens into your diet will also give you a boost in Vitamin A, C, and Zinc.
Low in sugar, berries are an excellent sweet treat to add to your diet. They have the ability to scavenge free radicals, warding off damage, while simultaneously increasing collagen. You can use fresh or frozen. Try blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries.
Loaded with Vitamin C, citrus fruit neutralizes free radicals which break down collagen and elastin in the skin. Oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruit and all delicious and good choices to up your Vitamin C.
Eggs are the superstar here. They are high in lysine, proline, and collagen, a virtual symphony of collagen nourishing support for your skin and body. Also noteworthy are chicken, beef, lamb, bison, and other meats. These all provide your body with additional stores of the amino acids it needs to build collagen. Consider simmering the bones to make a bone broth which is in itself an excellent source of collagen.
Other protein sources to consider are beans, tofu and nuts, and seeds. You can also supplement. Just make sure you get a product that’s sustainably sourced.
As you may have noticed, all these collagen-building foods are just another recipe for allover healthy living. Throw in some sunlight and a healthy dose of exercise and you’re good to go!
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