Sign In/ Sign UpCollagen is your skin’s best friend: Here’s how
November 07, 2020
The most abundant protein in our body is collagen. It provides structure to your skin apart from being responsible for other important roles like blood clotting. Over the past few years, collagen has become popular as a nutritional supplement as well as being an ingredient in skin skincare body lotions.
Today we talk all about collagen, what it is and what good it does for us.
What is collagen?
Being the most widely found protein in our body, collagen accounts for about 1/3rd of our body’s protein composition. It's the biggest building block of tendons, bones, muscles, skin and ligaments. Your blood vessels, cornea and teeth also contain collagen.
Collagen can be thought of as the glue that holds everything together. As a matter of fact, collagen comes from ‘kolla’ which means glue in Greek.
Collagen’s function in our body
Of the 16 types of collagen present in our body, the main ones are type 1, 2,3 and 4. Let’s understand these four collagen types.
Type 1 collagen: Built up of densely packed fibres, this is approximately 90% of all the collagen in our body. It is responsible for giving shape to our fibrous cartilage, tissus, tendons, teeth, bones and skin.
Type 2 collagen: Unlike type 1 collagen, this is made up of loosely packed fibres. These fibres are present in the elastic cartilage, providing cushioning to our joints.
Type 3 collagen: The backbone structure of organs, arteries and muscles is supported by type 3 collagen.
Type 4 : This collagen is responsible for your skin’s filtration system found in its layers.
As we age, our bodies will produce lower amounts of collagen which has also degraded in quality. Apart from cartilage weakening, another sign of aging is that the skin will lose its firmness and supple nature.
Increasing collagen production with nutrients
Two amino acids, glycine and proline combine to form pro-collagen, where all collagen starts off. Vitamin C is used for this process. You can ensure that your body produces enough pro-collagen by having plenty of these nutrients:
Vitamin C: Found in abundance in citrus based fruits, capsicum and strawberries
Proline: Egg whites are rich in proline. Wheat germ, mushrooms, cabbage and dairy products are also recommended for consuming good levels of proline.
Glycine: Found in most proteins containing foods. Also found in pork skin and chicken skin.
Copper: Lentils, cocoa powder and cashews are rich in copper.
Amino acids: Good quality protein contains amino acids needed by our body to make new proteins. Dairy, Meat, seafood, and tofu are all good sources of these amino acids.
Reasons for collagen damage
There are some collagen damaging foods and behaviours you must avoid.
Superfoods come to the rescue: Dayly Glow
If you feel you are low on collagen, fear not. Hydrolyzed collagen is a type of supplement that has recently gained popularity. Superfoods like Dayly Glow have broken down the large protein into small peptides, making them more absorbable in the body.
The studies on collagen supplements look promising. They have proven to be beneficial in the following spheres
In conclusion
Today we talk all about collagen, what it is and what good it does for us.
What is collagen?
Being the most widely found protein in our body, collagen accounts for about 1/3rd of our body’s protein composition. It's the biggest building block of tendons, bones, muscles, skin and ligaments. Your blood vessels, cornea and teeth also contain collagen.
Collagen can be thought of as the glue that holds everything together. As a matter of fact, collagen comes from ‘kolla’ which means glue in Greek.
Collagen’s function in our body
Of the 16 types of collagen present in our body, the main ones are type 1, 2,3 and 4. Let’s understand these four collagen types.
Type 1 collagen: Built up of densely packed fibres, this is approximately 90% of all the collagen in our body. It is responsible for giving shape to our fibrous cartilage, tissus, tendons, teeth, bones and skin.
Type 2 collagen: Unlike type 1 collagen, this is made up of loosely packed fibres. These fibres are present in the elastic cartilage, providing cushioning to our joints.
Type 3 collagen: The backbone structure of organs, arteries and muscles is supported by type 3 collagen.
Type 4 : This collagen is responsible for your skin’s filtration system found in its layers.
As we age, our bodies will produce lower amounts of collagen which has also degraded in quality. Apart from cartilage weakening, another sign of aging is that the skin will lose its firmness and supple nature.
Increasing collagen production with nutrients
Two amino acids, glycine and proline combine to form pro-collagen, where all collagen starts off. Vitamin C is used for this process. You can ensure that your body produces enough pro-collagen by having plenty of these nutrients:
Vitamin C: Found in abundance in citrus based fruits, capsicum and strawberries
Proline: Egg whites are rich in proline. Wheat germ, mushrooms, cabbage and dairy products are also recommended for consuming good levels of proline.
Glycine: Found in most proteins containing foods. Also found in pork skin and chicken skin.
Copper: Lentils, cocoa powder and cashews are rich in copper.
Amino acids: Good quality protein contains amino acids needed by our body to make new proteins. Dairy, Meat, seafood, and tofu are all good sources of these amino acids.
Reasons for collagen damage
There are some collagen damaging foods and behaviours you must avoid.
- Try not to eat too much sugar and refined carbohydrates. They damage your collagen’s ability to repair itself.
- Avoid too much sun exposure. UV rays from the sun can cause reduced production of collagen.
- Smoking not only impairs collagen production but also messes up the wound healing process.
Superfoods come to the rescue: Dayly Glow
If you feel you are low on collagen, fear not. Hydrolyzed collagen is a type of supplement that has recently gained popularity. Superfoods like Dayly Glow have broken down the large protein into small peptides, making them more absorbable in the body.
The studies on collagen supplements look promising. They have proven to be beneficial in the following spheres
- Improved skin elasticity
- Boost in skin hydration as the supplement locks in moisture
- Retaining skin’s glow and radiance
- Shielding skin from UV and pollution
- Minimized lines and wrinkles
In conclusion
Collagen is the building block of many parts of the body hence the most important protein.Having a healthy diet containing collagen rich foods and foods that boost collagen production can help your body be abundant in it.
Alternatively, you can have collagen superfoods like Dayly Glow to boost your collagen levels. Studies have proven that they improve the quality of skin and prevent it from further damage due to early aging.
