If you’ve ever read any beauty blogs or magazines, you’ve probably heard the word “collagen” thrown around with very little explanation about what it does, why you need it and how you get it into your system. Despite collagen feeling like a kind of buzzword for the beauty community, it genuinely is important and can have a lot of benefits for your skin and overall appearance.
Collagen is a protein that we all have in our bodies. It’s often found in connective tissue and is known for its elastic properties. Collagen is found most abundantly in the skin and cartilage because it provides structure as well as plasticity to the skin.
Collagen is a strong protein that effectively holds our bodies together. It’s vital for maintaining elasticity in the body, which includes keeping skin firm and flexible. Collagen production naturally declines as we age, which is why tight skin is considered a sign of youth.
The appearance of wrinkles as we age is a result of declining collagen levels, so as well as being important for overall structural integrity, it also helps to maintain a youthful appearance. Consequently, many people search for ways to increase their collagen levels to help maintain a youthful appearance.
Collagen is produced in the body to help your skin and bones maintain some flexibility. Your body creates collagen by breaking down dietary proteins and turning them into base amino acids. Amino acids form the building blocks of every part of your body, including collagen production.
Eating the right foods will help your body produce more collagen by ensuring that everything your body needs to create collagen is in your system in abundance. Choosing a diet that’s high in vitamin C and has plenty of amino acids will help you to give your body everything that it needs for collagen production.
Collagen is naturally produced in our bodies, but the building blocks for collagen production come from our food. Collagen can come from animal sources like beef or fish, but it’s also found in abundance in plants.
Eating a plant-based diet rich in a variety of foods will help give your body all that it needs to stimulate collagen production. Foods that are high in all three amino acids (essential, non-essential and conditional) are best for collagen production. Most legumes are high in amino acids, so adding black beans or kidney beans to your meals will help your body to boost collagen production. Nuts, seeds and soy products (like tempeh or tofu) are also great for boosting collagen production.
Colourful vegetables and fruits are a good indicator of something that includes all of the amino acids that you need for collagen production. Oranges, red peppers, kale, broccoli and strawberries are all rich in vitamin C and will help boost your body’s natural collagen production.
As you lose collagen with age, your skin will naturally start to loosen and might appear to “sag” in some places. While there is nothing wrong with ageing naturally, if you feel self-conscious, there are several treatments that you can have to stimulate collagen production and improve the skin’s appearance.
INTRAcel is referred to as a “non-surgical facelift”. The treatment is designed to rejuvenate your skin and reduce the signs of ageing by targeting collagen production where you need it most. INTRAcel uses radiofrequency technology, microneedles and fractional treatments to firm and smooth any loose skin. Receiving INTRAcel treatment should leave your skin tighter with reduced wrinkles and even minimise the appearance of open pores, stretch marks and broken red veins.
Renuvion is designed to tighten soft tissues and skin without invasive surgery or large amounts of downtime after treatment. Renuvion improves the tone, texture and firmness of your skin by applying radiofrequency energy cooled by helium to contract the collagen tissue and encourage a boost in collagen production which gives an instant firming effect.
Renuvion treatment usually shows immediate results as well as provides long term visible improvements for up to a year after treatment.
Profhilo is a series of injections beneath the skin that moisturises the skin using a unique combination of ingredients that stimulates cell receptors to improve skin elasticity and restore firmness, which reduces the appearance of loose skin or wrinkles. The formula contains hyaluronic acid, which promotes an increase in hydration in order to help the skin repair and appear more bouncy and full.
Because Profhilo is a series of injections into the sub-dermal layer of the skin, there is minimal downtime, and results can last for several months.
There is nothing wrong with growing old naturally and embracing the laugh and smile lines. Likewise, there’s also nothing wrong with trying to maintain your skin’s elasticity for as long as possible. Simple diet adjustments can help your body produce more collagen. If you feel you need some further help, then Hans Place Practice offers lots of ways to increase collagen production with effective, minimally invasive procedures.
43 Hans Place
London, SW1X 0JZ
0207 584 1642
info@hansplace.com
