A lot of anti-aging products on the current market have collagen in them, and so many of the said beauty commodities come with very steep price tags. So what does a budget-conscious female like you should do to look young without ending up broke? Include collagen-boosting foods in the diet regularly, that is!
Before we check out these foods, let’s first devote our attention to collagen.
Collagen is a type of protein that is found under the skin. It’s something that helps prevent wrinkles as it makes your skin supple. However, the production of collagen by your body wanes as you age, leaving your skin wrinkled.
By the way, collagen is important not only for keeping your skin young-looking, but also in keeping your bones, joints and blood vessels healthy.
Luckily, you don’t really have to spend all of your savings on collagen-containing beauty products just to erase some years from your skin. That’s because there are a lot of foods that you can consume on a regular basis that can help in the synthesis of more collagen. Here are some of the best:
Fish
Just about any food that contains protein helps boost collagen production since collagen itself is a type of protein. Fish is a wonderful source of protein as it is very low in saturated fat and high in omega-3 fatty acids, healthy fats that are good for your joints, heart, brain and skin.
Turkey
High quality protein found in turkey helps your body make more collagen. Many other nutrients found in turkey also helps make your skin look lovely, such as zinc. If turkey is not around, feel free to go for chicken.
Soy
Regardless of the form, food products containing soy are excellent collagen-boosters. Experts say that soy and soy-based products also impede the action of certain enzymes that break down collagen, resulting in the accelerated aging process of the skin.
Carrots
We all know that carrots help sharpen the vision because of the fact that it’s rich in vitamin A. Did you know that vitamin A is also important for youthful-looking skin? Aside from carrots, you can also get vitamin A from fruits and vegetables that are orange in color.
Oranges
Other than vitamin A, vitamin C is also important for youthful skin — not just a strong immune system. Vitamin C is said to encourage the production of amino acids (building blocks of protein) that make up collagen. Aside from oranges and citrus fruits, you can also obtain vitamin C from the likes of guava, papayas, mangoes and kiwis.
Spinach
You can also obtain vitamin C plus so many other nutrients in spinach, so adding it in your diet regularly can help keep those fine lines and wrinkles at bay. Many other dark green leafy vegetables are age-defying, too.
Onions
Go ahead and add onions to your dishes. That’s because these very common herbs as well as garnishing contain sulfur, something that is very good at boosting collagen synthesis.
Sources: nutritionfacts.org
