When we talk about our look, personality and beauty, skin becomes one of the most critical parts of the body. It doesn’t only provide much-needed protection from harmful elements; it also gives our body a unique and appealing look. Man’s entire beauty is depended on the skin.
Just like the skin is essential for the shape and structure of our body, skin itself is depended on collagen for its proper built and structure. Stay tuned to know the best collagen building foods to improve your skin.
As collagen is essential to maintain our skin’s structure, it becomes imperative to maintain collagen levels in our body. Lack of collagen can cause plenty of damage to the skin and skin may become unhealthy, dull and sometimes dead as well. Most of the skin related problems are directly linked to the lack of collagen in our body.
Vitamin-C plays a significant role in our body, and it also plays a vital role in the formation of collagen. Lack of vitamin-C is undoubtedly going to affect the collagen formation, and hence when we talk about treating skin related problems, our primary target is to consume food products which are full of vitamin-C.
In this article, we are going to talk about collagen foods for skin. We are going to discuss further collagen and some excellent collagen boosting foods, their benefits as well as better and beneficial ways to eat them.
What is Collagen and Its Functions?
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body found in the muscles, skin, tendons, and bones. It is a very important substance in our body known for holding together the overall structure of our body.
There are two types of collagen- endogenous and exogenous. Endogenous is synthesized by the body itself whereas synthetic collagen is known as exogenous. Breakdown or depletion of collagen can cause plenty of different health related issues.
We have already discussed a little about collagen and its functions. Let’s have a brief discussion to understand more about collagen and why it is very important for our body. This hard, insoluble, and fibrous protein is responsible for making up one third of the protein. In addition to building new cells, it is also capable of restoring dead cells in the skin. Collagen is a network of macromolecules responsible for determining physical properties of our body tissue.
15 Best Collagen Building Foods for Skin:
As we have learnt, breakdown or depletion of collagen can cause a lot of different health related problems, building collagen is very important. Endogenous collagen is synthesized by the body itself. So we are going to talk about some exogenous collagen building foods for skin.
Plan your diet from below mentioned foods that build collagen for skin.
#1 Fish
Almost all the varieties of fish are very good to build collagen, fishes like tuna and salmon are excellent to do so thanks to the presence of omega-3 fatty acid. Fatty membrane present around the skin is known for providing protection. Omega-3 fatty acid is very good to make the skin cells stronger.
How to eat:
There are plethora of different fish recipes available. You can eat fish in different ways like preparing fish curry, or simply fry your favorite fish. You can use any method of eating fish, but using olive oil is going to be very healthy.
#2 Dark Green Vegetables
Dark green vegetables like spinach are rich in vitamin-C which is essential for collagen boosting. Vitamin-C is also known for its antioxidant properties that is responsible for stabilizing messenger enzymes that break collagen down. Additionally, vitamin-C is very good to provide protection against free radicals to prevent weakness of collagen.
How to eat:
You can prepare different dishes with different dark green vegetables. But if you are suffering from chronic lack of collagen, eating boiled spinach leaves is going to be very effective.
#3 Berries
Berries are one among the top collagen foods for skin. Especially blackberries and raspberries are very good at fighting with free radicals and hence increasing the levels as well as production of collagen.
How to eat:
Simply wash the berries properly and enjoy.
#4 White Tea
White tea is believed to provide protection to the structural properties of the skin especially collagen. It is also very good at preventing enzyme activities which is responsible for breaking down of collagen.
How to Use White Tea:
- Make sure you are purchasing right type of white tea.
- Boil 1½ cup of water (adjust the amount of water according to your requirement)
- Keep water aside for 5 minutes.
- Add two tbsp. white tea per cup.
- Add sugar or honey according to taste.
- Steep well and enjoy.
#5 Egg White
Egg White is not only high in protein, it also contains large amount of lysine, proline as well as collagen. Adding egg white in your diet can help you to improve collagen production in your body.
How to use:
- You can use egg white in different ways.
- Simply remove the egg yolk and consume egg white with a pinch of salt, or fry it in little oil or boil a couple of eggs, remove egg yolk and enjoy.
#6 Oysters
Oysters are great sources of zinc- much needed for collagen building-process. Oysters also provide low-calorie option and is healthy in a handful of ways.
How to take oysters:
- Although there are different methods of using oysters, you can take it after grilling.
- Grill the oysters until the shell is open.
- Remove the shell and enjoy with a piece of mushroom.
- You can even add a little amount of peanut oil for a spicy taste.
#7 Garlic
Garlic is an excellent source of sulfur- which is very important for collagen production. In addition to sulfur, garlic is also good at providing lipoic acid and taurine. Both of them are helpful to rebuild the damaged collagen fibers.
How to eat:
Garlic is one of the most common ingredients in most of the foods. For having great effects of it, you can take 3-4 pieces of raw garlic with water.
#8 Citrus Fruits
Almost all the citrus fruits like limes, oranges, lemons, grapefruits etc. are very good sources of vitamin-C and are capable of helping amino acids, lysine and proline to convert into collagen. These fruits are also helpful to neutralize free radicals.
How to eat:
No need to use any particular way to eat these fruits. You can take them as you want.
#9 Soy
Soy is one of the best foods that build collagen and elastin. Soy contains genistein (hormones containing antioxidants), which is very effective to increase collagen production.
How to eat:
You can take soy through soybeans or use soy milk directly.
#10 Carrots
Carrot is another very healthy vegetable known for improving overall health including collagen production. Carrot is rich in vitamin A which is capable of restoring and regenerating damaged collagen.
How to eat:
Simply wash carrot properly and eat. You can use carrot as an ingredient in your delicious mix veg recipe.
#11 Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potato is another excellent source of both vitamin A and vitamin C. It doesn’t only restores the damaged collagen, it is very good to get rid of free radicals as well.
How to eat:
- Taking sweet potatoes with milk is one of the best options.
- If you don’t want to use milk, you can make it a little spicy and tangy by mashing it and adding salt, black pepper and red chili powder.
#12 Tomatoes
Tomato contains lycopene antioxidant in large quantity. Lycopene is very good at providing protection from sun as well as at increasing collagen levels in the body.
How to eat:
Using tomatoes in different dishes or eating raw tomatoes, both options are equally effective.
#13 Avocados
Avocado is another excellent food that build collagen. Avocado is also known for its great antioxidant benefits. It is a great source of vitamin E which is good to reduce the breakdown of collagen.
How to use avocado:
Preparing food with avocado oil is a very good option to improve collagen production. You can eat avocado directly as well.
#14 Chia Seeds
Chia seeds are excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids that are responsible for contributing to antiaging by building healthy skin cells. Using chia seeds can also improve overall skin health by repairing damaged collagen.
How to take chia seeds:
Dried chia seeds can be added in different juices, smoothies as well as in milk.
#15 Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin seeds are great source of zinc which is very good at improving collagen production. Zinc is also very effective to slow down the collagen breakdown.
How to use:
- Take a handful of pumpkin seeds and boil properly.
- Soak well to get rid of water and keep aside.
- Toss the drained seeds in a little water.
- Enjoy crispy and healthy pumpkin seeds.
Tips to Improve Collagen Production in Skin
Apart from ingesting foods that build collagen in your skin, you must change your lifestyle to improve skin texture.
- Do facial message on regular basis using gentle and smooth products.
- Use collagen creams containing collagen amino acids.
- Eat green leafy vegetables and citrus fruits.
- Quit smoking as soon as possible.
- Reduce sugar intake as much as you can.
- Keep your body hydrated by drinking enough water and other fluids.