It’s easy: A lack of collagen causes wrinkles. But what does collagen must do with pores and skin growing old, anyway? Well, let’s not neglect that your pores and skin is made up of collagen. It’s a necessary a part of the construction of our pores and skin, bone, cartilage, and muscle that helps tissues to be extra elastic and stand up to stretching (so, for instance, it retains pores and skin wanting younger and supple).
While you do make your very personal provide of collagen naturally, it declines as you age. Starting in your 20s, collagen ranges lower about 1% annually1 (we all know—a lot ahead of anticipated). Plus, different way of life and environmental components can cut back your collagen manufacturing, akin to solar injury, high-sugar diets2, stress, and extra—you possibly can examine all of them right here.
So when your collagen begins to degrade at a faster price than you naturally produce it, whether or not that is attributable to environmental adjustments or age, that is when your pores and skin’s elasticity and tightness change into compromised (amongst different full-body results).
The reply: While you possibly can’t apply collagen to your pores and skin and anticipate it to replenish your inner financial institution, you can ingest it. Specifically, hydrolyzed collagen peptides have been proven to assist promote the physique’s pure manufacturing of collagen1 and different molecules that make up the pores and skin, like elastin and fibrillin—so maintain a watch out for “hydrolyzed collagen peptides” in your product labels.
Not positive the place to look? Here’s a curated listing of the 9 finest collagen dietary supplements available on the market, (all backed by a diet Ph.D.) to get you began.