Collagen -Why You Need To Add It Into Your Diet, Plus Budget and Vegan Friendly Options
Collagen has hit its peak in popularity (you heard it here first, ha) in the beauty and wellness arenas, its everywhere! From Sephora to your local chain grocery store and of course as my son calls is “The Amazon”can ship it to your front door. I must say I didn’t dive in head first to this trend. And I don’t usually with a lot of trends, I wait to see if there is any feedback or waining within individual’s results, because frankly it is expensive and time sucking to keep up while being informed on all the latest trends. I also don’t have a lot of extra time to incorporate new items into my routine so functionality of a product is another key factor.
A great example of an ongoing trend that is great but I couldn’t fully get onboard with is the Celery Juice Drink. While I loved having Celery Juice first thing in the morning, I don’t have time to juice celery every morning especially if there is a chance I will wake up the kiddo with the noise of the juicer, and due to most mornings I wake up before me little sleepy head. I found it also nonfunctional with this drink to have celery continually stock in the fridge, ie me always having to run to the store because celery had run out at home wasn’t always plausible. So I have semi parted ways with this drink, and only do it on occasion so I can keep my sanity in the morning, and still keep this healthy beneficial trend in my back pocket.
Yes I know I went off topic a bit, but my point is and I think will always be that I am very practical (hello typical virgo with OCD here) and wanting to only share tips and trends that are workable, realistic, and try to also give cost effective short cuts!
So that leads me back to Collagen. I was familiar with the benefits of collagen for our bodies, but my personal focus with the use of collagen was a bit more cosmetic however I was pleased to have results with my hair, skin and did notice a less cracking of my joints when exercising. Like many women who are moms there are inevitable changes that happen, to it put mildly. After our son was born my hair became super super course in the back. While I have always had thick semi curly hair, this course texture made hair styling so time consuming and I just never fully liked the end results. As for my skin….well you try to go without sleep for two years straight. Lets just say concealer and I are BFFs for life. I have found the Powder I use and the supplement that I have taken on the regular now for a few months were an ease to add into my routine, and more important I saw results. My hair has become more softer like it used to be, and styling is more easily done to the lessening of the former course texture. So my skin…. has been going through its own journey due to some not quite diagnosed medical issues, I have been having swelling, hives and breakouts due to severe allergies and possible other issues (might share later when I have more answers from doctors). However with all the other issues my skin is going through between spells my skin has been able to heal faster and feels more balanced. This is quite funny to write and is so counter intuitive to how bad my face appears when I am going through “bouts” that are linked to other issues, but it is a testament to the benefits of aiding our bodies in the healing process, in this case with collagen.
What Is Collagen?
So why is collagen so beneficial to our bodies? Collagen is one of the building blocks that cements our bodies together, and one of the major types of proteins our body uses. You find Collagen in connective tissue ie joints, ligaments, muscle and skin. You can also find Collagen in fibrous tissues like our heart, blood vessels and digestive track. The major area that is being exposed and hyper focused on at this time for the importance of collagen is in beauty and wellness industry, as collagen being a main component in the structure of our skin, hair and nails, and how the appearance/strength can be improved if our body is making the proper amounts of collagen. Unfortunately our bodies production of collagen does slow down as we get older. You can see the results of the less dense connective tissue under a microscope on someone who is older, smokes or excessively tans which can all attribute to and lower collagen levels in our dermis layer of skin (Middle layer) making it less dense in connective tissue. This can lead to skin looking thinner, crepey, weakened and not as plump. This loss of collagen can also lend itself to contributing to joints and muscles feeling more stiff, limited range of motion and shrinking of muscles. The far reaching affects and benefits of collagen is easy to see how it can be helpful and worthwhile to look into this trending focus on collagen.
So a issue that I had when powders and formulas first came out was they were all animal based, depending on the companies extraction process they use mostly ligaments and other areas where you find connective tissue and extract it from animals bone and tissue. Personally I have been plant based for over twelve years so the formulas I was finding were not compatible. The point I like to make here that sometimes I believe is missed, when you are consuming a protein from an animal in this case mainly collagen which is a triple helix (think DNA) your body can’t consume that protein whole. Because that protein and its formulation was made for that animal’s body based on that animals needs and diet. Since your body can’t consume that protein whole your body has to break it down, and it formulates what your body needs from it, and what it doesn’t use or consume becomes waste. I am bringing up this point not to go on a tangent (again lol) but its a point I see missing from the collagen conversation. On the other hand when eating plant based collagen builders specifically fruits, veggies, legumes, grains and nuts the profile of these foods doesn’t require your body to break down a complex animal protein making it easier on your body to get the resources it needs ie collagen, vitamins and minerals. Beyond that, plant based options offer other nutrients that help support your bodies collagen production like Vitamin C, A, E, B1 which are some of the key components in the synthesis of your body making collagen, so when getting your collagen from plant based options your body gets the all around ingredients it also needs for pre/post production and protection to help prevent breakdown.
So I am aware of the cost of products specifically in the beauty and wellness space can add up really fast . I do want to share a few products that I saw results from. However I wanted to add in foods that can benefit and support our bodies in the making of collagen and are great for overall skin, hair, nails and well body health that are also a little less taxing on our wallets also more sustainable. For me personally investing in my health is important because I see that everything is possible when you have your health. Health is wealth!
Collagen Building Products
Collagen Building Foods
Let me know what resinated with you in this blog and if you start to include any of these tips into your routine. Also please share your favorite collagen boosting tips, you know what to do comment below!
