Aged 25+? Combat collagen breakdown from your mid-twenties
Skincare
If there is one new word you are going to learn today, let it be COLLAGEN.
Imagine your body protects itself by building strong walls, protecting from damage and ageing. Well, these imaginary walls are made of collagen, found in the bones, skin, muscles and tendons. They are essentially the body’s secret weapon to maintaining our skin’s structure, strength and elasticity.
To this day, scientists have identified 28 different variations of collagen. These 5 listed below are the collagens with the most important roles:
Collagen Supplements:
Your body naturally produces collagen, however as the title says, after 25 years of age the production of collagen gradually slows, meaning a simple collagen supplement is the most effective way to ensure your body is full of the nutrients it needs.
Read to the end of the article to learn why collagen production slows down with age.
The most popular way to consume collagen is through a tablet or powder, although chicken skin, fish skin and bone broth are also great food sources of collagen. So next time you make a Sunday roast don’t throw that nutritious chicken skin away!
Any Holland & Barrett, vitamin store or local pharmacy will be able to provide you with their best vitamin or powder within the store. However, Healthline has reviewed Vital proteins collagen peptides: Vital Proteins, Collagen Peptides, Unflavored, 10 oz (284 g) (iherb.com) to be the best on the market. From my personal experience of taking collagen I can recommend My Protien’s collagen powder Clear Collagen Protein Powder | MYPROTEIN™ left my skin glowing within 3 months of use.
What are the benefits of taking collagen?
- Improves your skin- maybe this is the reason why you take collagen. Collagen strengthens and provides elasticity to your body, which can first be seen within your skin. You will see your skin glowing and looking as youthful as ever, actually preventing ageing.
- Reduces pain in your joints- collagen is known to help the cartilage around our joints, meaning as we get older the expected joint pain is reduced as the collagen is reducing any inflammation we may be facing.
- Improves the health of your heart- with the support of collagen the arteries found around our heart will become more elastic and flexible or we can say they are being made young again
- Stronger nails and healthier hair
These are only a few of the benefits of collagen, many more can be read online.
Why Collagen breaks down after 25
Around the age of 25, the quality and production of collagen begins to degrade. This happens for everyone at the same age, yes there are factors that impact it more such as smoking, drinking and a bad diet. But, in general, the body begins to slow the collagen production during our mid-twenties. We can say that each year, our body roughly loses 1–1.5% of its collagen, meaning by the time we reach 80 years old, we have lost 80% of our body’s collagen, Henderson. Making the supplements the most effective way to keep this number as low as possible.
Our experts:
WebMD, Collagen Benefits: What You Need to Know (webmd.com)
Henderson, Why You Lose Collagen As You Age & How to Increase Collagen Naturally (brainmd.com)
