Your body needs lots of different things to function properly throughout your life. When you’re young, a healthy body will produce everything it needs naturally. As you get older, certain nutrients and substances are no longer produced at the same rate as they used to be. In turn, you start noticing some major differences in your body.
Most people in their midlife years will all start seeing the same changes. One of the main things you hate to see is your skin sagging and wrinkles appearing. You know that you are getting older, but you’d rather not visually appear that way. Unfortunately, this is a natural process that your body goes through, and it can’t be stopped. It can, however, be delayed…
If you are over 40, your body needs more of one specific thing to delay the visual aging process of your skin.
Collagen.
What is collagen and why is it so important for you when you get older? All will be explained in today’s article, helping you learn why you need more of it, how you can get more of it, and the benefits of it.
What is collagen?
Collagen is a protein, well, it’s much more than that, it’s the most abundant protein in the human body. It does many different things in your system, but its primary purpose is to give structure to your skin. If you want a deeper dive into collagen, then it actually helps build all sorts of tissues in your body and is found in your bones, tendons, cartilage, and so on.
However, we’re only interested in it from a skin point of view and type I collagen is the key here. This type of collagen is made of densely packed fibers that help to build strong and firm skin that’s very elastic. Your body produces collagen naturally, but collagen production decreases as you get older. Therefore, your skin becomes less structured and looser, which is why it sags and wrinkles appear.
Why do you need more collagen when you’re older?
As just mentioned, collagen levels decrease, so you must find ways of increasing them to ensure you maintain healthy and wrinkle-free skin. In fact, many studies have shown that women who take collagen supplements saw improvements in their skin elasticity and appearance.
Simply put, it will help you look younger and delay the signs of aging – particularly around your face. Therefore, you can feel more confident in your midlife years, looking more youthful!
How do you get more collagen?
So, how can you counter your lack of collagen production when you get older? Interestingly, there are a series of different approaches to help with this.
Firstly, you can take collagen supplements. It is a good idea to find a supplement that also includes hyaluronic acid as this works with collagen to make your skin more vibrant and healthier. Always be aware of serving sizes and suggested usage of supplements to avoid taking too much and seeing side effects.
Secondly, you can try changing your diet to increase your natural collagen production. Try to eat foods high in vitamin C as this is shown to help boost the production of collagen in your body. If you eat meat, eating things like pork or chicken can help as collagen is found in the skin.
Another idea that has become very popular is to undergo cosmetic treatments that target collagen production. Don’t worry, these won’t involve surgery, they just involve triggering your skin’s natural defence system, which helps to encourage collagen production over an extended period. A couple of treatments that help with this include microdermabrasion and microneedling.
Do topical creams and serums work?
You’ve no doubt seen many face creams claim to include collagen to help you prevent wrinkles. In reality, collagen proteins are too big to be absorbed through the skin, so these creams and serums won’t influence your collagen production at all.
Instead, you can find topical solutions like retinol or glycolic acid that do work. Both of these can be absorbed directly into the skin and help to boost collagen production in one way or another.
In summary, collagen is a crucial protein that you need to maintain healthy and elastic skin. When you get older, you start producing less of it, hence you get wrinkles and saggy skin. Work on increasing collagen production to reduce and prevent wrinkles, making you look far more youthful in your middle years.