10 Foods Containing Collagen: More Health for Skin, Hair and Tissues

There are many foods containing collagen. They provide the building blocks our body needs to build tissue. This includes bones, cartilage, muscles and skin. From the age of 30, collagen formation decreases, from the mid-30s the first wrinkles appear.

Foods containing collagen – these exist

Collagen is an important building material in our body. It’s a protein. Bones, teeth, hair, connective tissue and skin are built from collagen. You can buy collagen as a dietary supplement, but then you have to swallow pills. Not everyone likes that. It is much cheaper if you choose the right foods.

• Just as collagen is present in humans, collagen is also found in animal products. Bone marrow contains a particularly large amount of collagen. You can take it in the form of a bone broth, for example. To do this, you need to cook the bones with bone marrow until the marrow has the consistency of jelly.
• Gelatine is already obtained from the connective tissue of animals, mostly cattle and pigs. You can add gelatine to your meals in a variety of forms.
• Not everyone likes beef and pork, and certainly not bone marrow. Don’t despair of that. Chicken with skin contains not only collagen, but all the amino acids found in our body. The body can use it to make collagen itself.
• If you don’t eat meat or don’t want to eat it, you can also resort to a plant-based product. An example is spirulina. Spirulina is an alga that is made up of more than half protein, including collagen. In addition to proteins, spirulina also contains a number of trace elements such as calcium, potassium and magnesium.
• Of course, eggs also contain collagen. After all, yours are almost pure protein. There is a lot of collagen especially in the skin that surrounds the eggs under the shell. In addition to amino acids, the egg yolk also contains vitamins and healthy fats. Make sure, however, that the eggs are of organic quality and come from free -range husbandry.

Foods that promote collagen production

Non-collagenous foods are important to boost collagen production. There are also foods that contain active ingredients that promote collagen production.

• Foods that contain a lot of vitamin C are very important . Vitamin C has many functions in the body. Among them, it is also involved in the synthesis of collagen. Vitamin C is also important because, along with vitamin E, it is a powerful antioxidant that protects cells and slows skin aging. Broccoli, berries and kiwis as well as citrus fruits contain a particularly large amount of vitamin C.
• Red vegetables are very healthy for the skin. For example, tomatoes contain the substance lycopene. Lycopene is an antioxidant and helps smooth wrinkles. In addition to tomatoes, red vegetables also include peppers, beetroot and radishes. When you eat a lot of vegetables, you take care of your gut health at the same time because you get the fiber you need.
• Don’t forget to get enough omega-3 fatty acids. This can happen, for example, by eating a lot of fish. A classic are salmon, mackerel and herring. When choosing fish, make sure it is wild caught.
• In addition to vitamin C, vitamin A is also important for collagen production. Sweet potatoes and carrots contain a lot of vitamin A. You can easily add sweet potatoes to pumpkin soup. Vitamin A is an antioxidant and ensures that new cells grow and promotes growth.
• In addition to vitamins, the trace elements zinc and copper are important. If in doubt, you can take these as a dietary supplement. Note, however, that copper inhibits the absorption of zinc. You should therefore not take zinc-containing foods together with copper-containing foods. Even if you take the trace elements as a dietary supplement, you should under no circumstances overdose on copper, otherwise you could poison yourself.