Collagen is familiar to many at least as a word. It is a product that is said to solve many problems. Collagen is recommended not only for skin care but also internally. Many nutritional supplements contain collagen. Similarly, in creams and serums, collagen is said to solve many problems associated with skin aging. How true is this claim? Is collagen a miracle substance and do we need collagen? I will answer these questions in this post.
What is collagen?
Natural collagen is only found in animal products. Collagen is a substance that holds together cell membranes of animals and humans and it is ubiquitous throughout the body. There is 30% collagen in human tissue. It is a protein. There are many types of collagen in the human body depending on where the collagen is located. Many people are concerned about collagen located in the lower layers of the skin, which affects the youth of the skin and the formation of wrinkles. The human body is fully capable of producing collagen if the nutrient supply is normal.
The production of human collagen begins to slow down with ageing. Older persons collagen is also less elastic comparing to the young people.
How does collagen work on the skin?
Collagen occurs in the lower layer of the skin which is called epidermis. It takes care of the elasticity of the skin. As you age, the collagen layer is reduced and the skin begins to look wrinkled. Collagen is the most important factor when keeping up skin’s youthfulness.
Collagen effects only when swallowed
Do we need collagen in skincare? The main message and the basic reason why I wanted to write this story is here. When applied externally to the skin, collagen has no effect at all. All the collagen applied to the skin in creams and serums is useless. Collagen is a protein with a very large molecular size. It cannot penetrate the outer layer of the skin. Collagen is needed in the lower layer of the skin, the epidermis (the dermis). There is no way externally used collagen cream can reach layer existing so deep.
So, it is waste time and money to apply collagen on the face. Collagen must be consumed with food in order to get the benefits of its capability to restore skin’s elasticity.
Is There Herbal Collagen?
Collagen is always an animal product. Vegans around the world have been asking herbal collagen for a long time. Scientists have used yeasts and bacteria to develop a product that is close to vegan collagen. However, animal-based material is also needed for such collagen in order to make the cell dividing equal to natural collagen.
Vegan collagen
Scientists have used Pichia pastoris bacteria to make vegan collagen. The production process still requires a small amount of animal genes and yeast. This produces cells that begin to divide and produce collagen. Animal digestive enzymes are added to the final product to finalize the result. Such a product is called plant collagen. Is it really plant collagen? There may be many opinions about it.
Plant collagen is not popular in cosmetics. It is currently used mainly in medical procedures.
How can I Take Care of the Subcutaneous Collagen?
As I said, collagen should be taken from the nutrition. When applied to the skin the collagen is useless. There is no point in applying unnecessary ingredients on your skin as it is more harmful than beneficial.
You have many options for taking care of subcutaneous collagen.
- You can eat collagen-rich foods such as bone broth. You can also buy ready-to-eat broth. You can also cook meat soup with bones yourself.
- You can get a good collagen supplement. Capsules and powders are available that can be added to drinks and foods.
It is not absolutely necessary to eat collagen to increase the amount of collagen in your body
- You can also boost your own collagen production by eating organic, natural foodstuffs. Very common foods are sufficient to stimulate collagen production.
- Ensure you have adequate intake of vitamins and proteins.
- Vitamin C is very important in the formation of collagen. All berries, fruits and cabbages are very rich in vitamin C. We should eat them several times a day because vitamin C is not stored in our body. The best-known disease associated to collagen and caused by lack of vitamin C is scurvy.
- Plants containing sulphur increase collagen production. Sulphur can be found in all cabbages, beans and garlic.
Nutritional supplements
There are also 100% vegan dietary supplements that increase collagen levels. Here is one example, easy to order online.
Plants such as spinach and Amla are used in collagen-boosting supplements. The ingredients in this collagen booster are all organic certified. They are anyway much more effective than animal-based collagen products applied to the skin. Your body will be able to build the collagen it needs all by itself just by using the right nutrients.
Healthy lifestyle
• Smoking is extremely harmful for the production of collagen. Smoking ages the skin by weakening peripheral blood circulation.
• Sugar makes collagen rigid and inflexible. It attaches to collagen and destroys its structure. Avoid pure sugar and too much carbohydrate in your diet.
• Drink enough fresh water. The easiest way to increase the amount of collagen is to take care of your body’s hydration.
Skin massage
Massage stimulates the skin’s blood circulation and provides more nutrients to skin. Good massage also speeds up the formation of collagen. Massage also strengthens the muscle memory. Muscle memory takes care of the natural contours of the face. To boost facial massage, everyone should use gua sha spatula, also known as tool, gua sha roller and gua sha comb. They are traditional Chinese beauty care tools made of pure jade. They are easy to use and in case you need some guidance, there are many webpages showing how to use them.
Collagen creams may lose their appeal
Do we need collagen? As you can see, there are actually many ways to boost collagen levels in the subcutaneous tissue. Forget creams and serums that contain collagen. They won’t help you. Their effect on your skin’s well-being is exactly zero. Cosmetic manufacturers are the only ones benefiting of these products. They just give cash flow to them.
In addition, collagen made from herbs does not exist and even if it does, it would be of no use for you.
Take advantage of the nutrients that boost your own collagen production, learn the relaxing gua sha method, and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Have you used gua sha tools for facial massage? How did you like them? Please share your experience in the comment box!