Can we age more gracefully with the help of food and supplements? We certainly can! I love both collagen and biotin for this! Bonus, not only will you help slow the aging process, you will gain stronger hair, nails, and more! 

Let's start with collagen, as I am sure you have heard by now the benefits collagen has on the aging process. But do you know why? When I work with clients, I like to give them the education to make informed decisions. So, for example, I would tell you why collagen works instead of just telling you to incorporate collagen-supporting foods into your diet to ward off aging. I find that if we know the why, we are more inclined to try something. 

So just why does collagen work? Collagen is the most abundant protein in our bodies. It is needed for structure and to build skin, bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons. When it comes to aging, collagen helps to keep our skin looking youthful as it provides suppleness and elasticity. These are important for preventing aging as both prevent the skin from becoming thin and wrinkled. Unfortunately, we naturally produce less collagen as we age, so eating various collagen-supporting foods and supplementing is vital to help slow this process down.

To understand what to incorporate into our diets through foods and supplements, we first need to look at the precursors of collagen-building, aka pro-collagen. 

Vitamin C is a must and consuming enough is critical to building collagen. 

Foods high in vitamin C are:

• sweet red peppers
• kiwi
• strawberries
• broccoli
• oranges 
• amla fruit powder (one of the richest whole food sources of vitamin C) 

Supplements:

• look for ascorbic acid
• amla powder 
• Camu Camu 

Nutritionist tip: It's essential to ingest vitamin C throughout the day because the body uses it within four hours of consumption. We then excrete what we do not use. 

Other essentials for pro-collagen are protein, to be specific, lysine, glycine, proline, and leucine. Our bodies use lysine to build the cross-links in collagen; without it, collagen would not have stability or tensile strength. In other words, it gives our skin the strength and flexibility needed to prevent aging. 

Foods high in lysine are:

• navy beans
• black beans
• tempeh
• quinoa
• lentils
• chicken
• salmon
• sardines
• turkey

Supplements:

• look for l-lysine

Let's move on to biotin and what it offers. Biotin is a B vitamin; it is water-soluble. Biotin is proven through clinical studies to work well with collagen to prevent the aging process. The two work together by helping keep the skin hydrated, full of elasticity, and smooth; and improve skins density. Other nutrients used in the linked study were vitamin C, zinc, and a vitamin E complex. 

Foods high in biotin (vitamin B7) are:

• avocado
• raspberries
• raw cauliflower 
• eggs 
• salmon
• whole wheat bread 

Ok, so you now know why collagen and biotin work so well together to help slow the aging process. You may not know, but Herbaland has two supplements that I love that support collagen production and hair and skin health. 

First is the Herbaland Vegan Collagen Booster Gummies. Why do I love them? The Herbaland Vegan Collagen Booster gummies contain nutrients that stimulate the production of collagen. They are loaded with vitamin C, and, as we now know, vitamin C is part of the foundations for collagen growth. The gummies contain both ascorbic acid and a whole food source from amla fruit powder. They also include the amino acid l-lysine to help promote cross-link production, aka strength and flexibility, as we discussed above. And as a bonus, Herbaland also added vitamin A. We didn't get into vitamin A, but please know your skin will love you for this! 

Next, we have Herbaland's Pure Beauty Gummies. Why do I love them? One word, biotin! We discussed how well biotin works with your natural collagen to promote the skin you want! The other nutrients in this are zinc, which we mentioned earlier, vitamin B12, and folic acid. 

By adding these two gummies to our daily routine, we can be confident that we are supporting our body's natural collagen production process. 

But don't forget real food! You cover all bases for stimulating collagen growth by incorporating a real food diet with supplements. Do you already consume many of these age-defying foods I mentioned? I hope so! 

Remember, you don't have to take collagen to produce collagen. As long as you stick to a diet rich in collagen-building foods and supporting supplements, you are on your way to the glowing, youthful and healthy skin we all want! 

 

Featured Blogger: Michelle Vysohlid, Holistic Nutritionist

I'm Michelle, the founder of Eat Well with Michelle & Find Wellness. I am a Holistic Nutritionist with a passion for holistic health & living and sharing how easy this lifestyle can be. I love educating my clients and audience on valuable and practical ways to find wellness in their lives. I will show you how you can heal and thrive one meal at a time! My main focus in practice is gut health, hormones, and metabolic syndrome. Learn more here. Please reach out to me on social media as I love meeting new friends worldwide that share the same love for living with intention. Hope to hear from you friends!