It can sometimes feel impossible to keep your skin, hair and nails looking vibrant and healthy as you get older. Whether it’s dry sky, thinning hair, or brittle nails, it’s tough to stay feeling your best as time begins to take its toll.
But it’s important not to despair, and nor should you tell yourself that you just need to accept it as part of the ageing process. In fact, there are a whole range of things you can do to slow down or even reverse the impact that time has on your skin, hair and nails.
And while there are plenty of supplements that can help you out by providing a whole range of vitamins and minerals that have a proven benefit, it’s important not to overlook a major newcomer: collagen.
Collagen supplements have been the talk of the town in the health and wellness world in recent years, and understandably so! There is growing evidence that taking a high-quality collagen supplement is a great way to tackle some of the wear and tear we all experience as we age, and even to reverse some of the damage that our busy lifestyles can cause.
So if you’re struggling with keeping your skin, hair and nails looking their best, you really should be looking at adding collagen supplements to your daily routine!
In this post, we’ll look at how collagen supplements work and explain the benefits of taking collagen for skin, hair and nails. We’ll also give you some advice on how to pick the best collagen supplement for rapid and reliable results.
What is collagen?
First things first: what is collagen? This simple question can often get overlooked in all the discussion of how good it is for you, but it’s important to understand the basics before you start taking any supplement, even one that’s receiving such positive attention.
Though it may be surprising to learn, collagen is actually one of the most important substances in the human body. It is the most abundant protein in our bodies, forming a key component of our skin, tendons, and connective tissues. It is an essential building block for our bodies – without it, we’d be in serious trouble!
Why do you need a collagen supplement?
So, it’s pretty clear that collagen is important to our health – but that still doesn’t explain why we’d need to take collagen supplements. Surely our body should be able to take care of our collagen levels on its own?
Unfortunately, the reality is that the collagen in our bodies, like everything else, is subject to the effects of time. As the years pass, it begins to wear down and needs replacing. And while your body can produce new collagen, its ability to do so slows as you age.
This means that as we get older, we’re left with more and more collagen that is a little bit worn out – and we’re less and less able to replace it. This decline in our ability to produce collagen is behind many of the common signs of ageing, from sagging skin and wrinkles to stiff joints and even digestive troubles.
Thankfully, we can help our body out and offset some of these issues by providing it with a fresh supply of collagen using collagen supplements.
What are the benefits of collagen for skin, hair and nails?
There are wide range of benefits of collagen supplementation, but let’s focus on three of the key ones for helping you stay looking your best and explain why you should be taking collagen for skin, hair and nails.
Skin
There’s no denying it: as we age, the most obvious impact is on our skin. As time passes, our skin becomes less smooth and supple. Instead, it starts to sag, becoming wrinkled and dry, and generally has a major impact on our appearance.
A key part of this change, as we mentioned above, is the fact our body loses the ability to produce enough new collagen. Reversing some of these changes is a key benefit of collagen supplements!
Studies have shown that taking collagen supplements can help to restore the elasticity and hydration of your skin, as well as reducing the appearance of wrinkles. And with that kind of impact, it’s no wonder the health and beauty industry has been quick to embrace the benefits of collagen!
Hair
Another obvious visible impact of ageing is on our hair – and we’re not just talking about the changing colour! As we get older, our hair becomes more brittle and grows more slowly as well as slowly turning grey. Altogether, this can add up to a big change in our appearance, leaving many of us missing our full, healthy and vibrant hair.
Thankfully, this is another area where declining collagen levels play a big role – and that means that collagen supplementation can be a huge help! There’s evidence that collagen supplements can help to prevent hair thinning and even to stop hair loss. There’s also some indication that it can slow down the rate at which our hair goes grey.
So if you’re wanting to keep your hair looking its best for the long-run and reverse some of the damage that it suffers in the course of your daily life, collagen supplements are a great option.
Nails
There’s nothing more frustrating that your nails getting more brittle and breaking more easily – especially if you’re someone who likes to keep them long or get them painted with eye-catching designs!
Yet again, it is our body’s inability to replenish its collagen levels that leads our nails to become increasingly breakable as we age, as well as growing more slowly. Collagen supplementation can help to keep your nails strong and healthy, so you’ll be less likely to suffer those frustrating breakages.
Which collagen supplement should you buy?
Thanks to the growing recognition that collagen supplements can provide major health and wellbeing benefits, the number of different supplements on the market has increased massively in recent years. And while this is great news for those considering taking collagen supplements, it can also be a bit confusing – how can you decide which supplement is best for you?
Well, if you’re looking to take collagen for skin, hair and nails, there are a few things to look out for when making your first purchase.
Firstly, you’ll want to look for supplements that use marine collagen – as you might guess, that’s collagen sourced from fish. The other common option is bovine collagen (sourced from cows), which is generally less bioavailable than marine collagen, meaning it’s harder for the body to absorb and may lead to slower results.
You’ll also want to focus on the strength of the supplement, particularly if you’re looking to see improvements more quickly or if you’re having persistent issues with your hair, skin and nails. It’s best to aim for supplements that contain 10,000mg of collagen, as this will help you get the best results as well as being more cost-effective over the long term.
Finally, many collagen supplements also come with added vitamins and minerals, some of which are important for maintaining the health of your hair, skin and nails. Look out for supplements that contain these in addition to collagen and you’ll be able to maximise the benefits.
Based on these criteria, these are the collagen supplements we’d recommend:
Our top choice when it comes to collagen for hair, skin and nails is Reverse Life’s 10,000mg marine collagen. As the name suggests, it offers 10,000mg of high-quality marine collagen, perfect for revitalising your skin, restoring your hair, and strengthening your nails. It also includes zinc, biotin, and vitamin C to help further boost the benefits it offers.
Bioglan’s Beauty Collagen Powder sports high-quality marine-sourced collagen, as well as added vitamin C, biotin, and selenium. However, it only contains half the amount of collagen as Reverse Life’s offering, which means it may take a bit longer to see the effects you’re looking for.
Wellgard’s Gold Standard Pure Collagen offers an extremely high dose of collagen, coming in at 13,000mg per serving. It’s also free from additives and preservatives, making it a good choice for those who like to know exactly what they’re consuming. However, it does use bovine collagen rather than marine collagen, which makes it a little harder for the body to absorb and means you may see less pronounced results.
Ingenious Beauty’s marine collagen contains astaxanthin, an antioxidant that can help to reduce skin damage. However, the capsule form may be more difficult for some people to take, as it can’t be conveniently dissolved in a drink. It also contains a lower amount of collagen than Reverse Life’s alternative, at 627mg per serving.
Conclusion
Hopefully you now have a clear sense of why you should be taking collagen for skin, hair and nails. You should also have a good idea of what to look for if you’re considering buying your first supplement. So, what are you waiting for? We’re confident that once you see the benefits of collagen supplementation for yourself, you won’t look back!
