Collagen Products and Their Benefits
Collagen products contain collagen, which is a protein found in connective tissue, tendons, cartilage, bone and skin. Most of the dermis, or lower skin layer, contains collagen. The dermis is where new skin cells are produced and is responsible for the elasticity of your skin. When looking at the weight of skin collagen makes up 3/4 of skin, so it is very important.
Collagen itself is connective tissue and holds your facial muscles and skin together as the face is the only part of the body that is directly connected to muscle. As you age the proteins in your cells change and cause you to lose collagen. This results in sagging, stretching and generally less firm skin. Eventually you will lose enough collagen that wrinkles will begin to appear. One of the main rules of thumb when preventing wrinkles is that in order to stop collagen from breaking down all you have to do is increase the supply so you maintain a steady collagen amount.
It is possible to stimulate the skin to produce more collagen and this has shown to be partially effective, as stimulated skin will see a reduction in wrinkles. Your diet is also important, as certain nutrients are needed to make collagen. Vitamin C is needed to synthesis collage and increasing the amount of vitamin C to the skin has shown to cause an explosion of collagen production. Vitamin C also reduces damage to your skin from free radicals. So instead of an apple a day make sure to drink your orange juice each morning. The best anti wrinkle products are the ones that apply vitamin c directly to the skin.
There are many collagen products that include collagen cream, collagen supplements, lip care collagen products and more. It is also common to have collagen implants though the FDA has just issued a warning, as there has been an increase in some rare diseases that are linked back to collagen injections and implants. The FDA does admit that it may not be the collagen that is causes an increase though a link has been found.
