14 Ways To Naturally Boost Your Collagen

Collagen is a protein our body makes that keeps our skin looking young. It makes our skin firm, tight, and elastic, but as we age, our body slows down on producing collagen and the collagen that we have left becomes damaged by the sun, pollution, and smoking cigarettes. As a result, our skin starts to sag and we get wrinkles.

Is there a way to get our bodies to step up on collagen production? Can we do it naturally and without the use of expensive treatments? Fortunately for us all, the answer to both questions is yes. We can take an active role in keeping the collagen that we already have from getting damaged and we can encourage our bodies to produce more of this important protein.

What we put into our bodies matters. We need to feed ourselves the important ingredients for our bodies to produce collagen. We also need to stop ourselves from doing the things that can damage our collagen. Everything counts, especially when we start to age. Supplements, diet, habits, and more can and will affect how our skin looks when we reach our thirties, forties, and beyond.

14 Exfoliate

Not only does exfoliating remove dead, dry skin, it also stimulates your skin to produce more collagen. Gently scrub your face and skin in a circular motion with a face or body scrub. Scrubs are readily available in grocery stores, department stores, and at the drug store. You can also make your own natural scrub by mixing together one part brown sugar with one part olive oil, coconut oil, or apricot kernel oil. You can use a scrub as often as once a day or every other day while your take a shower. Afterwards, apply a moisturizer to prevent your skin from drying out.

13 Vitamin C Supplements

Should we take supplements to increase our collagen? Goodness knows, there are a lot of products on the market. However, Livestrong.com recommends that we take a vitamin C supplement each day because it helps with our bodies' collagen production. The recommended amount is 500 mg a day. We are also supposed to eat foods that are rich in vitamin C while taking the supplements, such as citrus fruits, spinach, kiwi, and broccoli.

12 Wear Sunscreen

Most of the damage to our skin comes from unprotected exposure to the sun. The rays from the sun can severely damage the cells in our skin and it can break down our skin's collagen, causing irreversible damage. To reduce sun damage to our collagen, we need to wear an SPF 15 (or higher) sunscreen. Experts say we should massage the sunscreen onto our exposed skin 30 minutes before we go outside. We should also wear UV protection sunglasses to protect the skin around our eyes and our eyesight from the sun.

11 Face Massage

Need a reason to hit the spa? Studies show that a face massage can help boost our collagen production. Technically, we should massage our face each day to stimulate our lymph glands and to make our skin look nice and plump. You can massage your face with your hands, get someone else to massage your face, or you can purchase and use an inexpensive face massager. Use plenty of natural moisturizer when massaging your face to keep your skin soft and hydrated.

10 Phytoestrogen

Our estrogen levels start to decrease as we age. Estrogen is essential to keeping us looking young and as our production decreases, we need to seek out ways to boost our levels to maintain our collagen production. To do this, many women are turning towards plant estrogen, called phytoestrogen. Phytoestrogen can be found in soy products, peas, pinto beans, alfalfa, and flaxseeds. Consuming these items as you age may help slow down the process of diminishing collagen.

9 Healthy Proteins

Protein helps our bodies produce more collagen, so to keep up with the production we should be eating one to two servings of protein a day. Proteins are also essential for our muscle mass, a must for keeping fit. Eat a variety of proteins throughout the week. For example, on day 1 we might choose to eat one serving of cottage cheese for breakfast and for dinner we eat one serving of fish or chicken. On day 2, we might eat a serving of nuts for lunch and have a tofu stir fry for dinner. Gain your proteins from a variety of sources so that you can gain other helpful nutrients from your food.

8 Avoid Cigarette Smoke

Cigarette smoke is not only bad for our lungs, it is terrible for our skin. When we inhale cigarette smoke, we create a damaging enzyme called matrix metalloproteinases. These enzymes permanently damage our skin's collagen. This is why smokers' skin tends to age faster than nonsmokers' skin. Aging includes dry skin and wrinkles. The best course of action is to quit smoking using whatever method works best for you and to avoid being around second hand smoke.

7 Green and White Tea

Both green and white tea are renowned for their health benefits. People drink these home brewed teas to help them lose weight and for their anti-aging properties. When choosing which tea to drink, consider putting a cup of each into your daily diet. Green tea is rich in catechin, an antioxidant, and helps prevent skin damage. White tea works to protect your body's collagen, and also works to prevent aging. If you are not a tea drinker, you can also take green and white tea supplements found in some health food stores and online.

6 Omega-3s

Health experts say we should consume more omega-3 fatty acids to help preserve our youth and reduce aging. In fact, omega-3s have been shown to keep our skin soft and elastic, which is exactly what we want. Researchers are just beginning to understand how omega-3s affect our body's collagen, but the two do play an important role in the way our body forms a blood clot after an injury. We can add more omega-3 fatty acids to our diet by taking fish supplements, consuming more fish, and by taking one tablespoon of flaxseed oil twice a day.

5 Turkey

Who would have thought that eating turkey could be great for our skin? Not only is turkey a great protein for our bodies, it also contains a protein called carnosine that helps prevent our skin from aging. If you are only eating homemade turkey once a year, you are doing yourself a great disservice. In fact, we should all be eating turkey two to three times a week. If you dread the idea of buying a whole turkey, look around the meat department at your local grocery store. Many stores will carry turkey legs or turkey breasts so that you can skip having to do a full turkey roast each week.

4 Avoid Alcohol

While some people tout the wonderful benefits of drinking alcohol, there are also some negative effects involved. Alcohol dries out our skin and can cause dehydration. People who have done their research know that they need to consume water while they are drinking alcohol so as to avoid the bad effects it has on the skin. Too much alcohol on a daily basis can cause premature aging of the skin and any amount of alcohol can damage our body's collagen.

3 Chocolate

When I was growing up, I was always told to stay away from chocolate because it causes pimple breakouts. While that may be somewhat true for sugary milk chocolates, it turns out that dark chocolate is actually very good for our skin. German studies have shown that eating dark chocolate increases blood flow to the skin and this, in turn, helps our body with its collagen production.

2 Avocado Oil

Do you like using natural oils on your skin? Have you ever tried avocado oil? If you haven't, now is the time to put this amazing and beneficial oil into action. Studies have shown that avocado oil actually helps increase our body's collagen production. It is also high in plant steroids and can help reduce the appearance of age spots. You can purchase avocado oil in many grocery stores and in health food stores. Use it on your skin as a moisturizer and, while you are at it, start adding avocados to your diet.

1 Manuka Honey

A few months ago I started taking Manuka honey on a daily basis and I have been very pleased with the results. The honey has been shown to help renew skin cells and helps our bodies produce stronger collagen. Manuka honey is expensive and when ordering it, you will want to find a brand with a certified UMF rating of 16+. The UMF rating shows that the honey is a living food and, while some people use it for wound care, you can eat a tablespoon or more a day as a health supplement.