How To Get More Collagen Into Your Diet
Your body has been making collagen your whole life. But, unfortunately, the older you get, the less collagen you produce. And in addition to aging, one of the top reasons you might not be producing enough is a poor diet. Because production lessens as you age, if you’re not eating the right collagen-boosting foods, then you’re missing out. Which is why it’s important to know how to get more collagen into your diet.
How To Get More Collagen Into Your Diet
Your body naturally makes its own collagen by breaking down protein into amino acids. Amino acids are the foundation for all kinds of protein in the body. But to get those precise building blocks, you need to eat plenty of protein-rich foods, along with a variety of fresh produce.
Fresh veggies and fruit have an added bonus of providing antioxidants, which helps to protect against oxidative stress from lifestyle habits that can make you age faster, such as too much sun, smoking, or a poor diet.
While you can’t measure your collagen level, you can tell when it’s low. Here are some signs to look for:
- Your skin is sagging and generally has more wrinkles
- You’re less flexible, and your tendons and ligaments feel stiffer
- Your muscles are weak and shrinking
- You experience joint pain regularly
- Your gut health is out of whack (due to the lining in your digestive tract thinning)
As you can see, your body requires collagen for a number of important functions. Luckily, there are several ways you can increase your dietary intake.
Five foods that are high in collagen
Bone broth
Bone broth is a clear, protein-rich broth made by simmering bones and meaty joints in water. It’s often used in sauces, gravies, and soups. But more recently, health-conscious people everywhere have started sipping on bone broth because of its collagen content.
During the cooking process, the collagen in connective tissue is broken down into gelatin and other beneficial amino acids like glycine and glutamine. Scientific research suggests that amino acids in bone broth may have anti-inflammatory effects, particularly in the gut. Bone broth also contains compounds known as glycosaminoglycans which include chondroidant, glucosamine, and hyaluronic acid. These three compounds are known to help support collagen production — as well as overall health.
Tip: If you make your own bone broth, use beef and chicken bones, and throw in the feet, since they contain so much collagen. Bump up the nutrients with veggies and spices. And, simmer for a minimum of eight hours to get the most collagen.
Eggs
Eggs may not have connective tissues like other animal products, but they do have good amounts of proline. Proline is an amino acid necessary for collagen production. Eggs and egg whites, in particular, is one of the top collagen-rich foods.
Tip: Use the whole egg — not just the egg whites. The whole egg supplies healthy fats and is high in quality protein.
Gelatin
Gelatin is a protein that comes from collagen. And not only is it an excellent source of collagen, its protein and amino acids also help the body build more collagen. And that’s important for healthy, firm skin.
It’s flavorless and colorless, and dissolves in warm water. When it cools it takes on a jelly-like texture.
Tip: Add gelatin to soups, stews or broths. You can also make your own healthy gummies with organic citrus juice, grass fed gelatin, and a little raw honey.
Fish skin
When crisped and cooked properly, fish skin is a delicious and a nutritious part of fish. In fact, you get the same nutrients in the skin as in the flesh. But when it comes to collagen — the skin is where it’s at. In fact, most of the collagen in fish is stored in the skin.
Tip: Fish caught in the wild eat a natural diet and tend to be slightly lower in saturated fat than their farm-raised cousins. Some research shows that farm-raised fish can be higher in contaminants.
Chicken
If you’ve ever cooked a whole chicken, you can see that there’s a whole lot of connective tissue in the meat. And since it’s a naturally occurring protein, it makes chicken a great source of collagen.
Tip: While not common in Western cuisine, chicken feet are a great source of collagen. If they come attached, throw them in a stock pot with the bones and make a bone broth.
Collagen-boosting foods
Here’s the thing; it takes more than just collagen-rich foods for your body to start producing more collagen. Your body also needs vitamins and minerals — specifically vitamin C, zinc, and copper — to help with collagen production. That means to raise collagen levels you’ll also need to add collagen-boosting foods to your diet, such as:
- Leafy green vegetables, including spinach, kale, and arugula, are all loaded with vitamin C to help collagen work its magic.
- Citrus fruits, such as oranges, lemon, limes, and grapefruit, are especially high in vitamin C, and loaded with antioxidants.
- Strawberries are high in vitamin C and one of the top collagen-boosting foods. Ellagic acid, an essential type of antioxidant, supports healthy levels of collagen.
- Pumpkin seeds pack a nutritionally-dense punch. One serving contains about 19 percent of the RDI for zinc. And zinc is an important mineral for collagen synthesis.
- Nuts and seeds are an excellent source of copper — an important mineral in collagen production. One serving of almonds provides 33 percent of the RDI, and cashews — 67 percent. One tablespoon of sesame seeds packs a whopping 44 percent of the RDI.
Supplementing With Collagen Peptides
While eating a healthy diet can help support collagen production in the body, sometimes it’s just not quite enough. Getting the optimal amounts of collagen-rich foods every day can be challenging. This is why it can be helpful (not to mention, extremely convenient) to supplement with Collagen Peptides.
The beauty of Collagen Peptides is that they are very easily absorbed by your body, making the amino acids more bioavailable to your tissues. They’re also very easily digestible, making them a great protein supplement for those with sensitive digestive systems.
Plus, hydrolyzed Collagen Peptides are flavorless and dissolves easily in smoothies, coffee, beverages, soups, and sauces. This makes it easy to add this supplement into your daily routine so you can enjoy:
- Improved gut health
- Healthier joints
- Radiant skin
- Stronger hair, nails, and bones
And because not all Collagen Peptides are created equal, Earth Echo uses only the best grass-fed 100% bovine collagen, so you get the maximum benefits of collagen sourced from the best farms and facilities. Click the link below to get yours today!
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*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.