The Collagen Connection

You want to be healthier and probably want to look younger, or at least look great for your age. Most want that. Fortunately, you have the advantages your mother and grandmother could not even imagine. Molecular biologists have pinpointed the key structural protein integrally involved in creating smooth skin, thick and strong hair, strong flexible bones, and bone mineral density. Its name? Collagen.

The medical effects of generating your body’s own collagen are quite profound:

• Scientists call collagen the most important building block in the human body. It makes up 70% of your skin and 30% of your bone.
• Collagen prevents wrinkles from forming.
• It is integrally involved in vital skin elasticity
• Collagen, along with keratin helps create thick, strong hair.
• In your bones, collagen acts as the binding site for calcium. Clinical trials now show that one specific collagen-generating compound known as ch-OSA, increases bone mineral density by 2.00% compared to placebo. This was an actual increase in bone formation, not just a reduction in loss.

Skin Laxity and Wrinkles:

New research has even related the condition of youth and beauty to your body’s collagen content. But in humans, collagen production begins to diminish by age 21. By age 30 the signs of aging become visible.

Following menopause:

• Skin thickness declines as much as 1.13% annually.
• In the first 5 years, women lose as much as 30% of their skin collagen.
• The decrease in skin collagen correlates with decreases in bone mineral density.
• Skin elasticity declines 0.55% per year.

Little is known about the origin of wrinkles. However, skin laxity, known popularly as saggy skin, is recognized by poor support of the epidermis by the underlying dermis. The loss of collagen, damage to collagen and elastin fibers in the dermis, or structural changes in the junction between the dermis and epidermis are thought to contribute to wrinkle formation.

Skin laxity may be accentuated by loss of blood vessels in the dermis. Not surprisingly, smoking and too much (how much is too much?) sun exposure increase skin wrinkling. Thus, avoiding these sources of damage would probably benefit your skin tone. Nutritional factors are thought to influence wrinkling, but their roles are not clear.

Nothing too ground breaking there. Okay, great. So what can we do to keep our skin looking and feeling healthy and glowing?

Part of the answer may exist in supplementing with ceramides (plant-derived ceramides are called phytoceramides).

Ceramides are moisturizing lipids that help keep your skin’s structure strong and supple. Recently hailed as the anti-aging natural facelift, phytoceramides give your skin the support it needs, from the inside out. Creams work well, but when your cells are fully supported from their source, your complexion and hydrated cells don’t need any outside help or expensive creams to fake a bright complexion.