Before we dive into collagen and how to boost collagen production, let us first look at what collagen is, what collagen does for your body, and we will then cover natural sources to boost collagen production naturally.
Does collagen improve the look of skin? Are there other benefits to boosting collagen production naturally, such as promoting healthy joints, and building or restoring muscle mass?
What are the best natural sources to boost collagen production? Are there Vegan and or vegetarian sources of collagen?
Simply, collagen is a protein.
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body. It accounts for about 30% of your body’s total protein. collagen helps to provide structure to our bones, and connective tissues and is a primary building block in your body. ~ Cleveland Clinic
Collagen is a flexible protein that helps to provide structure, and is a primary building block of your bones, muscles, tendons, skin, hair, nails and other ligaments and connective tissues. Collagen is also found in your organs, and intestinal lining.
Collagen is a protein made primarily from the three amino acids proline, glycine, and cystine. Your body also requires adequate amount vitamins and minerals that we discuss later in order to produce collagen naturally.
So far, we have discovered 28 different types of collagen that can be found in the body. The primary functions of collagen are to provide structure, to provide elasticity in collagen found in our joints specifically our cartilage. Other types of collagen are primary found in our muscles, arteries and organs. Some types of collagen have been found in the cornea of your eyes.
Collagen is a protein naturally produced by the body that provides structure to your skin, and plays a role in supporting skins elasticity, and replacing dead skin cells.
Collagen is found in great abundance in our body, providing a supportive structure for our skin, collagen has shown to help repair skin damage, and can help support skins youthful appearance. ~ Par Journal
Collagen in the skin is produced by fibroblasts, this type of collagen is known as Type I collagen and makes up 80-90% of the collagen found in your skin.
Collagen plays a vital role in maintaining tendon health and mitigating potential injury-risk in sport. ~ National Library of Medicine
This abundant protein can be found in our muscles, joints, and tendons. Some studies show that collagen peptide supplementation can help lead to increased firmness of the connective tissues, reduce the break down of the collagen protein, and some peptides such as glycine have shown anti-inflammatory properties.
Somewhere around the time our body reaches full maturity usually around age 20 - 25, your body’s natural collagen production declines by a rate of about 1% – 1.5 % per year. Collagen production and the decline in collagen can also be affected by outside factors including smoking, alcohol consumption, refined sugars, refined carbohydrates, and environmental toxins from to much UV exposure. ~ Par Journal
As we age the body naturally produces less collagen. By the time your turn 40 your collagen production has reduced by approximately 20% - 25%, by the time we turn 60 collagen production has reduced by 40% - 50%. This is where we begin to see signs of aging, and notice joint pain, and reduced muscle recovery, and injuries take longer to heal.
Our body cannot naturally absorb collagen as a whole protein, instead it will breakdown the protein into the amino acids or collagen peptides. The body is then able to absorb the peptides or amino acids through the intestines to support the body’s natural collagen production.
When looking to boost collagen production naturally it is important to also ensure you have they key vitamins and minerals involved in collagen production. A key vitamin involved with collagen production is Vitamin C. Minerals such as zinc, copper, MSM, and manganese are key components in natural collagen production.
These amino acids, vitamins, and minerals can all be obtained through a health diet to naturally boost your collagen production.
The best natural sources of natural collagen come from beef bones, pork skin, fish, and shellfish. Making sure that you are eating foods that are high in collagen are a natural way to increase your collagen production. Adding bone broth made from chicken, beef, or fish to your diet is another good way to boost your natural sources of collagen peptides.
The three primary amino acids that make up collagen are proline, cystine, and glycine. ~ Harvard
Vegan sources of protein from plant based foods can be part of a healthy diet that can be included for anyone wanting to increase their intake of collagen peptides. Including protein rich foods high in the amino acids glycine and proline can provide the necessary collagen peptides.
These amino acids can be gained from protein rich plant foods such as tofu, lentils, beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. Increasing your intake of plant protein can help to naturally boost your collagen production.
If you are looking to naturally support your body’s production of collagen having adequate amounts of the right vitamins and minerals is essential to boost collagen production.
Vitamin C is a essential part of boosting natural collagen production. Vitamin A can help to protect from the break down of collagen. Minerals such as zinc, copper, iron, and manganese can help to stimulate collagen production in the skin.
Organic sulfur compounds such as MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) that can be found in our foods, have long been associated with skin health because of the fundamental role it plays in synthesizing collagen and hyaluronic acid. ~Longdom
Increasing your intake of these vitamins and minerals can help to boost body’s natural collagen production.
As an added benefit vitamin C is a powerful anti-oxidant and can help to support your immune system. The minerals zinc and copper can also help to play a role in supporting your body’s immune system. The organic sulfur compound MSM has shown to reduce inflammation in the body as well as provide support to your immune system. Increasing your daily intake of these important vitamins and minerals can naturally boost your collagen production and your immune system.
Using Methylsulfonylmethane or MSM in combination with collagen supplements can help to reduce inflammation and alleviate pain associated with arthritis.
Collagen is an important structural protein that is involved in skin firmness and elasticity, bone structure, joint pain and elasticity. Collagen provides a protective lining on many organs, our arteries, and also plays a role in blood clotting, and wound healing.
Because they body naturally produces less collagen over time, our recovery and healing speed is reduced leading to pain, in muscles, joints, and tendons.
Naturally supporting your body to boost your collagen production can help to ease the pain of aging. Increasing naturally support for your collagen production can ensure that you are not losing more collagen than necessary and may help to build up stores of collagen in the body.
By starting with a healthy diet, you can naturally boost collagen protein production, a very important structural protein for strength and flexibility.
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