We all know the importance of a healthy diet and lifestyle for looking and feeling great. Nutrition is super important for supplying our body with all it needs to recover and replenish, which is often reflected in our appearance. When it comes to skin, hair and nails, keeping collagen levels topped up is one way you can maintain their health and combat the visible signs of ageing!
Collagen Catch-up
If you haven't read post #1 or #2 of our mini-series, here's a brief catch-up on the importance of collagen…
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, weighing in at around one third of our total body protein. Its structural role helps to maintain healthy skin, hair and nails – as well as bones and joints.
- Most abundant protein in the human body
- Hard to come by in the modern diet
- Higher bioavailability in supplement form
- Natural production of collagen declines as we age
Beauty from Within
If you’ve heard the saying ‘you are what you eat!’ you’ll know that a healthy lifestyle, including the right nutrition, can help us to look and feel better. Our cells are replenishing all the time and providing your body with the nutrients it needs to create new cells helps to improve the quality, strength and appearance of things like your skin, hair and nails.
Products containing collagen that are applied topically to hair skins or nails (shampoo, creams, serums) do not improve collagen levels. In fact, the collagen they provide is more likely to remain on their surface and be washed off in your next shower! Now that’s money down the drain for you. Put simply, collagen is too large a molecule to be absorbed from an external source.
The answer is to boost your collagen levels from within, by ingesting collagen in the form of supplements. This will give your body the toolkit it needs to build stronger and healthier hair, skin and nails.
Skin
Our skin is made up of a massive 70% collagen. As we age, collagen levels drop (by around 1% for every year over 40) and this is responsible for the visible signs of ageing we see in skin. The collagen matrix that provides skin with its structure begins to break down and skin becomes thinner, dehydrated and less firm – resulting in those wretched wrinkles!
Boosting collagen levels with supplements helps to counter the effect of declining natural collagen production. Skin cells have a lifespan of just 2-4 weeks, so collagen is in constant demand to replenish them. Making sure you have a ready supply will help to banish blemishes and withstand wrinkles!
Here’s exactly how collagen works to improve the appearance and quality of your skin:
- Provides the infrastructure for elastin, which maintains skins elasticity
- Increases skins hyaluronic acid content, which holds moisture and improves hydration
- Boosts levels of pro-collagen (collagen’s precursor) in the dermis
- Maintains a denser collagen structure to prevent wrinkles and sagging
Collagen has some really important jobs to do when it comes to maintaining healthy skin and fighting the ageing process – make sure you’re getting enough for it to work its magic!
Hair
Keeping your collagen levels topped up can help to create thicker, stronger and healthier-looking locks. Just like collagen can’t be absorbed through the skin, it can’t be absorbed through your hair. So shampoos, conditioners and serums boasting collagen as an ingredient may be more expensive but no better than alternative products!
Research has found that collagen works to improve the quality of hair by boosting levels of keratin. Collagen is made up of three amino acids; glycine, proline and hydroxyproline. These amino acids are used by hair follicle cells to create keratin – a fibrous protein that is the main structural component of hair.
By stimulating the production of keratin, collagen helps to put this key protein back into your hair to provide the following benefits:
- Prevents hair loss and thinning
- Promotes stronger, more luscious locks
- Boosts hair growth rate
- Increases elasticity to withstand damage
Declining levels of collagen, as we age, are a key contributor to balding, thinning and weakness of hair associated with growing older. Topping up your collagen levels will deter this effect and help you to maintain a youthful head of hair into your later years!
Nails
Your hair and nails are pretty similar in that they’re both made up primarily of keratin. The reason our nails are constantly growing is because of the short lifespan of skin cells. As skin dies beneath the nail bed, new cells are formed and push out the dead cells – resulting in what we know as nails. YES, your visible nails are in fact dead! Tip: use this knowledge to prevent future nail-biting!
Collagen intake boosts the synthesis of keratin, helping to create stronger and more resilient nails. Not only does this improve their appearance, but it protects them from damage and nail conditions such as fungal nail infection.
Getting enough collagen improves nail health in the following ways:
- Creates nails that are stronger and less likely to snap
- Boosts the natural growth rate of nails
- Protects nails from infection and external damage
- Improves their appearance
Getting Enough Collagen
We hope we’ve convinced you of the importance of collagen for maintaining healthy hair, skin and nails! Remember, natural collagen production declines as we age and things like sun damage, alcohol and excess sugar in the diet all affect the integrity of what collagen is produced.
The modern diet simply doesn’t supply the collagen we need to counter these effects and keep our levels topped up. Collagen supplementation is a convenient and reliable way to top up your body’s natural production of collagen.
100% Pure Bovine Collagen Peptides
We’ve developed our 100% Pure Bovine Collagen Peptides to provide you with a premium supplement that boosts collagen levels and provides its many benefits. Our collagen peptides are easy to absorb and highly bioactive, as well as lab-tested for purity and free from allergens.
Add around 10-30g of our unflavoured collagen peptides to meals, shakes, dressings, drinks, soups or sauces for your daily collagen boost and healthy skin, hair and nails!
All information provided on our website and within our articles is simply information, opinion, anecdotal thoughts and experiences to provide you with the tools to thrive.
It is not intended to treat or diagnose symptoms and is definitely not intended to be misconstrued for medical advice. We always advise you seek the advice of a trained professional when implementing any changes to your lifestyle and dietary habits.
We do however recommend seeking the services of a trained professional who questions the conventional wisdom to enable you to become the best version of yourself.
