Is Vitamin C plus collagen the secret to not only looking younger, but to actually be younger? Continue reading and decide for yourself.
Vitamin C, The Anti Aging Antioxidant
Vitamin C is renowned for it’s anti aging properties. Naturally rich in super antioxidants to help protect you (and your skin) from harmful free radicals that cause inflammation and cellular damage to both your skin and within your body. As such, it provides protection against harmful UV rays, skin cell degeneration and premature aging as well as many more unseen health benefits. It also plays a powerful role in collagen production as well as assisting in cell repair and renewal, cleansing your blood and boosting your immune system. In fact, the humble vitamin C is probably one of the hidden gems of natural health. Our Vitamin C supplements are 100% natural and are made up from a combination of berries and botanicals rich in antioxidants.
Antioxidants and Aging
Antioxidants play a major role in maintaining fresh, healthy, younger looking skin as well as helping repair and renew all your body tissues including bones, joints, ligaments, muscles and membranes. Oxidative stress occurs when there is an imbalance between the levels of free radicals versus antioxidants in the body. Our bodies naturally produce free radicals during it’s day to day metabolic processes and is a normal occurrence. Our cells also produce antioxidants that neutralise and eliminate these free radicals before they can inflict damage on our cells. When our bodies are healthy, with a balanced immune system, a good balance is maintained between the free radicals and antioxidants. However, when we produce higher levels of free radicals than antioxidants can deal with, our bodies to come under stress and this is known as oxidative stress. Uncontrolled oxidative stress can cause premature aging as well a a host of other illnesses and conditions.
Oxidative Stress & Aging
Oxidative stress can lead to the development of a number of conditions including;
- Inflammation: Injuries and infections trigger our body’s immune response, causing it to produce white blood cells to fight the infection. While doing their job of fighting off bacteria and viruses, these white blood cells also produce free radicals as a by product and these free radicals can cause damage to healthy cells, which results in inflammation. The over abundance of free radicals causes oxidative stress within our body. In normal circumstances this inflammation usually dissipates once our immune system eliminates the infection or repairs the damaged cells. However, oxidative stress in itself can trigger an immune response, which will then produce more free radicals leading to more oxidative stress, starting a stress – immune response – stress cycle. In the long term this stress inflammation can lead to conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, cardiovascular and other organ conditions.
- Neurodegenerative Disorders: The brain is particularly vulnerable to oxidative stress and long term oxidative stress can give rise to neurodegenerative disorders as healthy cells are continuously being damaged. When under oxidative stress, the brain can produce excessive amounts of free radicals which can cause damage to the cell structures and neurons within the brain.
- Premature Aging: The long term production of excess free radicals can damage your skin cells. The more skin cells that are damaged, the higher the likelihood of wrinkles, lines and other age related skin conditions developing. General stress triggers our body’s ‘fight or flight’ mechanism and also stimulates the production of cortisol (a stress hormone) and cortisol breaks down the collagen in the skin. The more cortisol produced, the more more collagen is broken down, meaning more lines, wrinkles and sagging skin.
Vitamin C for Oxidative Stress
Natural Vitamin C helps to eliminate the free radicals that cause oxidative stress, thereby helping prevent premature aging and the visible signs of aging skin. It is impossible to stop the aging process but it is entirely possible to delay it for as long as possible. Environmental factors also damage your skin, including polluted air, car fumes, UV, wind, dry air etc. Vitamin C and other antioxidants provide protection to your skin cells, helping reduce the impact of environmental damage on your skin.
Collage Supplements For Skin
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body and is a major component of skin, bones, muscles and every other part of the body. More and more people are taking collagen supplements to support their skin health as well as general health and wellbeing. Collagen comes in many forms and there are actually 28 different types of collagen found in your body, the 4 most common being;
- Type 1 is the most common collagen type and is found in all connective tissue within the body,
- Type 2 is found in all our joints and intervertebral discsÂ
(the shock absorbing tissue between the vertebrae of the spine), - Type 3 makes up reticular fibres found in our skin and blood vessel walls and
- Type 4 making up the tissues in the lens of the eyes, the inner ears and kidneys.
Collagen supplements have becoming extremely popular in recent years as more people become aware of the importance of the role played by collagen for a healthy body. A vital component of skin, collagen gives support to the skin structure, providing strength and elasticity and allowing the skin to maintain good hydration levels. One of the most recent studies published by the National Library Of Medicine demonstrates the benefits of collagen supplements for aging in their article Collagen Supplements for Aging and Wrinkles: A Paradigm Shift in the Fields of Dermatology and Cosmetics
The Science Of Collagen
Collagen is made of long chains of amino acids, the building blocks of protein. These amino acid chains are tightly wound together, creating a stable structure that allows cells to stick to one another thus forming all our body structures. These chains are very strong and taut but become weaker and looser as we age, this deterioration starts at around age 20 and decreases by approximately 1% per year after that. Other factors (diet, lifestyle, smoking, environmental toxins, stress etc.) can cause your collagen levels to decline faster. As these collagen chains become looser, our body structures become less secure and this can result in prolapses, general wear and tear as well as skin sagging, loosening, lines and wrinkles. Replenishing your collagen can help maintain your body structures for longer and also keep your skin firmer, smoother and stronger.
Collagen Benefits
The benefits of collagen supplements for skin include;
- Increased skin elasticity and firmness
- Reduced lines and wrinkles
- Plumper looking skin
- Support for thin fragile skin
- Optimal skin hydration.
When taking collagen supplement, it can take a little while for results to start to show. Although your body quickly absorbs collagen, it takes about 3 – 6 months for this collagen to be fully utilised and the benefits to start becoming visible. Replenishing your body’s lost collagen isn’t a quick fix, but the results will be worth while, not just for your skin but for every protein structure in your body.
Vitamin C Plus Collagen, The Anti Aging Combo
We believe that Vitamin C plus Collagen are an unbeatable combo for rejuvenating your skin’s natural vitality. Of course, we also also recommend drinking plenty of pure water and eating as much organic fresh fruit and vegetables as possible, giving your body (and skin) everything they need to defy aging).
We wish you blessings and happiness on your journey to a more healthy and youthful you and if you have any questions or suggestions we would love to hear them. Please leave a comment below or contact us.
Please read our Disclaimer.
We ask that you read our Disclaimer and if you would like to keep up to date on more future articles and news, please subscribe to our newsletter below.
