What Is Collagen And What Are Ways To Stimulate Collagen Production?

Collagen is an integral protein in your body that can be found in your skin, blood, bones, muscles and more. It functions in a variety of ways, such as providing structure to joints, protecting organs, holding bones and muscles together as well as promote skin elasticity. Your body is constantly producing collagen, but like most things, the production slows down as we age. When that begins to happen, the signs of aging start to appear and people start to lose the firmness they once had in their skin, especially around the face. A variety of lifestyle habits can gravely reduce collagen production, including sun exposure, smoking and an unhealthy diet — all of which can speed up the aging process even more.

When it comes to beauty and skincare, the collagen protein plays a crucial part in helping promote a rejuvenated, youthful looking appearance. That’s why it’s something you want to maintain and encourage the production of as much as possible. This mighty protein starts to deplete as soon as you start hitting your 20s, so if you want to stay youthful for decades to come, you’ll want to develop habits that encourage collagen production. Here’s how:

Give Yourself Daily Facial Massages

Every day in the morning when you’re putting your daily moisturizer on or taking part in your daily make-up routine, take a moment to give yourself a facial massage. Practice doing upwards massage movements with your fingers on a daily basis to help stimulate collagen production and increase blood flow to your face.

Stay Hydrated

Ditch that coffee for a glass of water — your skin will thank you! Staying hydrated will not stimulate collagen production, but also improve skin elasticity, keeping your face looking firm and youthful.

Creams And Moisturizers

These days, many creams and moisturizers feature collagen in them, especially medical grade anti-aging creams. This protein doesn’t typically penetrate the skin very well so if you’re going to invest in cream-based skincare, you need to find one that serves up collagen in smaller particles so it can go into the deeper layers of your skin to treat it effectively.

Modify Your Diet

Eating a diet that’s rich in vitamin C and sulphur is a great way to help stimulate collagen. Vitamin C helps aid in production which can be achieved by eating foods like spinach, broccoli and tomatoes. Sulphur, on the other hand, helps prevent the breakdown of collagen fibres which is crucial in preserving healthy skin. This can be achieved through eating foods like garlic, eggs, seafood and nuts.

Quit Smoking

If you’re a smoker, you’ll find that a lot of your beauty and skincare woes are caused by this habit. When it comes to preserving your youth (and health!), it’s best to leave this habit in the past. Smoking kills collagen proteins which only speeds up the aging process by causing premature wrinkles around your face, most commonly around the lips.

Cut Down On Sugar

If you’re known for having a sweet tooth or putting extra sugar in your morning coffee — you’ll definitely want to cut down on the white stuff moving forward. Having too much of it can actually give off similar effects as smoking, including dull and dry looking skin. When there’s too much sugar in the body, the glucose attaches itself to collagen by weighing it down and taking away the firmness that it usually provides, making you appear older.

Chemical Peels

If you’re looking for a more direct approach to stimulate collagen, consider booking yourself a chemical peel. Most commonly used on the face and neck, chemical peels work by brightening up and evening out your skin tone and exfoliating the skin. After a short 30 minute treatment, patients report incredible results including improved skin pigmentation, a clearer complexion and reduced pore size. By using lactic, glycolic and/or salicylic acid, the peel works by unbinding the top layer of skin on your face, resulting in a peel which reveals a healthier layer of skin underneath. While patients can see a significant improvement, they’re encouraged to have a series of 6 treatments to achieve optimal skin results.

ProFractional – Laser Resurfacing

Another great way to promote collagen production is by doing a ProFractional laser treatment. It helps produce a brighter and smoother looking complexion in patients, with skin that looks firm and taut. This treatment has the ability to treat acne scars, hyperpigmentation, and wrinkles in a procedure that takes no more than 30 minutes at a cosmetic clinic.