Collagen Killers

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body. It’s the main building block of our tissues and it strengthens our skin by keeping it elastic. When we’re young, our skin is elastic, smooth and supple because we have plenty of collagen. Unfortunately, collagen production naturally declines as we age, which is why we get wrinkles and sagging skin.

In order to maintain our youthful-looking skin, we need to do the right things to boost the production of collagen. These include prioritizing a diet full of bone broth, vitamin c and hyaluronic acid-rich fruits and vegetables, in addition to antioxidant-rich herbs and spices.

We also need to reduce the factors which have adverse effects on our collagen and the youthfulness of our skin. 

Increase Risk of Collagen Breakdown:

• Sun overexposure
• Poor sleep quality
• Excess sugar consumption
• High free radicals
• Diet low in antioxidants

Sun Overexposure

You can tell when people have spent a lot of their life under the sun, the appearance of their skin is saggy and leathery. As a result of being in the sun too much, they have lost more collagen than what would have normally depreciated with age, and so their skin is less elastic. 

Sun exposure stresses fibrils of type I collagen, which is what comprises the skin. Sun exposure results in collagen degradation because UV irradiation causes the production of free radicals. As these free radicals accumulate in cells and the extracellular matrix, oxidative damage causes a breakdown in collagen. This is how UV irradiation accelerates collagen damage that naturally occurs as a result of aging. 

Prevention is the first and most important strategy to protect your skin and reduce the acceleration of skin aging due to sun damage, which begins with daily application of sunscreen. Another preventative measure is retinoids because topical retinoids can inhibit collagen breakdown caused by sun exposure and even protects against further decreases in procollagen expression caused by the sun.

To protect against and treat sun damaged skin, begin with prioritizing certain fruits and vegetables. Antioxidant rich foods containing vitamins C and E in addition to selenium may provide protection against sun damage. Additionally, supplementing with beta carotene is effective to reduce the rate of mitochondrial mutation in the skin following UV irradiation. Dietary sources of beta carotene include carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, mangoes and papayas. Topical application of aloe vera is also beneficial in the treatment of sun damaged skin.

Poor Sleep Quality

Prolonged sleep deprivation may also impair skin integrity since one of the functions of sleep is helping our body repair and restore. The association between sleep and the stress hormone cortisol negatively impacts our body’s ability to repair and restore skin, which includes the production of collagen. When we don’t get adequate sleep, we don’t allow the chance for our skin to repair itself which increases the onset of fine lines and wrinkles.

Cortisol levels reach their lowest point around midnight and remain at low levels as you sleep. This is beneficial because low cortisol encourages your skin to repair and regenerate overnight. However, stressful conditions and significantly up-regulated cortisol can negatively impact the immune system. Many studies have demonstrated that sleep restores the function of the immune system and a lack of sleep negatively influences the immune response which may affect collagen production. 

Long-term sleep deprivation may promote a break in skin barrier function, causing adverse effects on skin health. This can cause a negative chain of reactions due to the fact that sleep deprivation increases cortisol, of which, high levels of cortisol and stress-induced reactive oxygen species can cause collagen breakdown, subsequently forming wrinkles and fine lines.

One study showed that among 60 middle-aged women, those who consistently had poor quality sleep had less elastic skin, more fine lines, uneven pigmentation and overall had a more aged appearance. Participants who got poor quality sleep even perceived themselves as less attractive. This finding is supported by many studies which demonstrate that sleep deprived individuals are perceived as less healthy and less attractive.

Human growth hormone – the hormone responsible for development and growth of organs and muscles in addition to stimulating cell production – is produced when you sleep. When you’re sleep deprived, you won’t produce as much human growth hormone which has adverse effects on the development of skin. By not getting good quality sleep, your skin isn’t producing new healthy cells, and so you’re promoting premature aging. 

Excess Sugar Consumption

Sugar Breaks Down Collagen & Accelerates Skin Aging

Diets high in sugar may cause premature skin aging by increasing the breakdown of collagen through the process of glycation.

When you consume sugar, sugar covalently binds an electron from a donor molecule, which form advanced glycation end products (AGEs). When the sugar binds with collagen and forms AGEs, this binding makes collagen brittle, causing the collagen to breakdown. When collagen breaks down, it increases wrinkles by decreasing the elasticity of skin. Over time, the more sugar that is consumed increases the accumulation of AGEs in human tissues and continues to accelerate skin aging.

Sugar Causes Inflammation

Studies have also shown that excessive sugar consumption, especially easy digesting high-glucose carbohydrates increases free radicals and oxidative stress which causes inflammation. Chronic inflammation can be damaging by increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and autoimmune diseases. 

It can be challenging to cut out sugar completely from your diet. Keep in mind that moderate sugar naturally found in food won’t negatively influence the appearance of your skin drastically. For example, fruits are high in sugars, however, these sugars are natural, and fruits do provide additional nutrients in your diet. Certain fruits including citrus and tropical fruits are high in vitamin C which is beneficial for your skin because it boosts the production of collagen. 

This is why certain foods that naturally contain sugar won’t be overly harmful to your skin. What will accelerate the appearance of aging skin is excessive sugar consumption. The bottom line is to avoid high glycemic foods, simple carbohydrates and foods with added sugar.

High Free Radicals, Low Antioxidants

Damaging Free Radicals

You want to avoid and reduce free radicals at all costs to protect your collagen. Free radicals are the main culprit of cellular damage, and it is the accumulation of cellular damage that is one of the main factors that accelerates aging.

High amounts of both free radicals and reactive oxygen species in the cells overwhelm the body’s ability to regulate them causing oxidative stress. This free radical causing oxidative stress is detrimental to cellular health and beauty because it shortens our telomeres (biomarkers to predict how long we will live based on lifestyle factors) and it accelerates aging. 

These beauty-threatening reactive oxygen species stimulate collagen degradation. In order to reduce the consequences of reactive oxygen species, you must begin by reducing free radicals.  

Antioxidants come to the rescue because they are able to reduce the damaging effects of free radicals. By removing, delaying or inhibiting the damage of free radicals to our cells, we can slow down aging.

Protective Antioxidants

Antioxidants provide protection from free radicals and oxidative stress by neutralizing free radicals which diminishes their ability to damage our cells. Strategies to combat free radicals include consistent resistance exercise, reducing stress and taking care of your body through an antioxidant-rich diet.

Consuming a diet high in antioxidants will inhibit or delay the damaging effects of free radicals, and ingesting antioxidants from dietary sources can slow aging and prevent disease. Such dietary sources include green tea and fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins A, C and E. Additionally, carotenoids, tocopherols and flavonoids are strong antioxidants which applied topically or ingested as oral supplements promote anti-aging effects for the skin. 

In order to maintain youthful-looking skin, it’s important to be conscious of what factors and lifestyle choices breakdown your collagen. By reducing the chances of your collagen breaking down you can maintain healthy, supple, elastic skin in order to look and feel your best. 

Reduce Collagen Breakdown:

• Wear sunscreen daily
• Apply topical retinoids
• Get good quality sleep
• Reduce stress
• Eat an antioxidant rich diet 

Additionally, there are many foods that boost collagen production which you can adopt into your diet to promote beautiful skin. 

You can read more about choosing a collagen-rich diet here.