Now that I’m in my 40’s, skincare is becoming a big deal. I feel lucky that I’ve made taking care of my health a priority since my mid teens. I am regularly mistaken for being in my late 20’s. Everyone asks me my secret, and here it is: What you eat and how you take care of yourself will outperform lotions and serums paired with a poor diet and lifestyle.
And the good news is that it’s never too late to start taking care of yourself from the inside out! I’ve seen some amazing skin changes when clients have made diet and lifestyle changes.
I’m going to share with you 6 nutrients that support collagen production which are a must in any healthy diet. But before I dive into those nutrients, we have to talk about the foundational steps for these nutrients to be able to do their job well. These foundational steps lay the groundwork for your health and thus, your skin. Because youthful skin starts on the inside.
Habits For Glowing, Youthful Looking Skin
There are 4 habits that will impact the look, texture, and feel of your skin. These 4 habits are:
- Eating 90% whole, real food while minimizing ultra-processed food, seed oils, added sugars, and alcohol.
- Getting 7,000 steps daily and strength training 2-4 days a week for 10-20 minutes.
- A consistent sleep schedule getting at least 7 hours of sleep per night.
- Drinking half your body weight in ounces of water daily.
Nothing too intense or hard to stick with thankfully! While there’s a lot of noise out there about what is and isn’t healthy, and “50 steps for a healthy life”, living healthy can seem impossible but it’s really not. These 4 habits are the foundation. You can add supplements, focus on certain foods for your health goals (like today for collagen production), and other biohacks, but none of them will get you close to your goals if you aren’t living these 4 habits daily.
6 Nutrients For Collagen Production
Time to get to the stuff you opened this blog for, the 6 nutrients you need for collagen production and thus, youthful, glowing skin. These 6 nutrients/foods are:
#1 Bone Broth/Added Collagen Peptides to Diet
Collagen is too big to be absorbed into your skin. Any topical cream/serum claiming to put collagen back into your skin is selling you snake oil. Collagen does not get absorbed topically. It has to be ingested. The most gentle on the stomach form is bone broth. It is rich in bioavailable collagen and all kinds of other amino acids and minerals that are good for your gut, joints, and skin. Supplementing with dietary collagen whether in the form of bone broth or collagen peptides helps the body out because as we age our bodies produce less and less collagen. Supplementation helps fill the gap between natural production and what our skin needs to remain elastic and hydrated.
#2 High-Quality Protein
Amino acids (protein) are the building blocks for your cells. Without sufficient protein intake your cells cannot do their jobs well. They’re running on fumes. This will show up in your skin. How? You may ask. It’s a great question!Protein (amino acids) are essential for skin’s structural integrity (staying lifted and elastic versus sagging and wrinkling), cell turnover, production of collagen and elastin, repair of cells and replacement of used up cells, keratin production, and last but not least, moisture retention. Any adult should be getting at least 100g of protein per day but ideally 1-1.5g of ideal body weight per day.
#3 Copper
Copper plays a crucial role in collagen and elastin production, keeping skin tone even, preventing age spots, preventing acne, and healthy cell turnover. As you know, collagen and elastin are essential for skin firmness and elasticity, which is what keeps your skin looking youthful. When you lose collagen and elastin, your skin becomes loose, saggy, and wrinkly. Adequate copper intake will help keep your skin tone even and help prevent age spots. It is also antimicrobial which means it helps keep bacterial and fungal infections from occuring, and as you know, acne is bacterial. So adequate copper intake helps prevent acne caused from external factors.
Foods that contain copper are oysters, liver, shellfish, beef, chicken eggs, nuts and seeds, dark chocolate, and legumes.
#4 Vitamin C
Not only does vitamin C help support the immune system, it is vital for your skin health, elasticity, and firmness. Vitamin C neutralizes free radicals from excessive sun exposure and environmental pollution, is a cofactor for collagen production, essential for skin repair and regeneration, keeps your skin hyrdated, and it brightens your skin more than a tan ever will.
Skip the orange juice and enjoy more bell pepper, broccoli, and kiwi.
#5 Zinc
Another mineral that we know is essential for immune function and fertility, but alo crucial for your skin health. Zinc plays a role in cell growth and repair, breaksdown damaged collagen tissue, promotes new collagen production, is anti-inflammatory, helps reduce acne and skin redness, and regulates oil production.
Foods rich in zinc are oysters, beef, lamb, pork, chicken, eggs, dairy products, legumes, dark chocolate, and nuts and seeds. (Noticing a pattern?)
#6 Silicon
Silicon is vital for skin elasticity, firmness, hydration, scar reduction (think acne scars), and reversing sun damage. It is yet another crucial cofactor for collagen production and without it, collagen production cannot happen and your skin will age more quickly.
Foods rich in silicon are brown rice, oats, green beans, spinach, dark leafy greens, and bananas.
You might have noticed that many foods give your body what it needs to support youthful skin. That makes it a lot easier to incorporate! If you want guidance on how to eat in a healthy way, schedule a discovery call with me to discuss meal plans and coaching. I do the hard part for you so you can get to eating delicious food that gives you glowing, youthful skin.
