How can Marine Collagen Peptides help my skin as I age?

Fun fact: our skin is our body's largest organ. A not-so-fun fact? It visibly shows signs of ageing as the years start to creep by. It’s a fact of life that we will all face sooner or later. While there are some basic things you can do to look after your skin as you age, you may like to give it a little extra TLC.

How the ageing process works

To better understand the process of ageing, let’s get familiar with the basics of skin. The epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue are the three layers that make up human skin.

- Epidermis is the skin’s surface, a layer rich in keratin that provides toughness and water-resistance. This is the layer of skin that sheds dead cells.
- Dermis is the second and thicker layer. It’s composed of nerves, fats, blood vessels, elastin, and collagen fibres, which provide elasticity and give skin its plump youthful appearance.
- Subcutaneous is the third and final layer! This one is composed of fat, keeping us warm in the cold months and holding our internal organs in place (something that seems pretty important).

What happens to these layers through the decades?

20’s
After the age of 20, we start to produce 1% less collagen in the dermis each year. This leaves us with skin that’s less plump and starts to show fine lines and wrinkles. In addition to this, the skin’s natural exfoliation process decreases, causing dead skin cells to accumulate and stick together for longer periods of time.

30’s
The moisture transfer from the dermis to the epidermis is slowed and fat cells start to shrink (but not in the good way…). These effects can make our skin look dull and thinner.

40’s
When we reach this age, collagen and elastin fibres break, thicken, stiffen, clump together, and lose their elasticity. The result? Wrinkles and ageing lines.

50’s +

The skin becomes dry and can be easily bruised, damaged, or broken because the sebaceous (oil) glands have decreased in size.

We’re sorry to be a bit of a party pooper! But there are things you can do to help slow the signs of ageing keeping properly hydrated, protecting your skin from the sun (every day!), using quality skincare, eating a healthy and balanced diet and also including supplements like Marine Collagen.

Several studies in the last few years have looked at the effectiveness of oral collagen supplementation. And the results have been pretty encouraging!

For those that enjoy research and science as much as we do, here are a couple of examples:

A study published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology (2015) concluded that “oral collagen peptide supplementation significantly increased skin hydration after 8 weeks of intake. The collagen density in the dermis (the layer of our skin that stores collagen) significantly increased and the fragmentation of the dermal collagen network significantly decreased already after 4 weeks of supplementation. Both effects persisted after 12 weeks.”

Another study by the Journal of Clinical Interventions In Aging (2014), confirmed the efficacy of collagen peptides. In their study, they found that daily ingestion of a marine collagen peptide supplement improved collagen density, suggesting increased collagen synthesis in the skin was a result of daily oral ingestion of collagen peptides.

What does this mean for our Marine Collagen products?

Here at Jeuneora, it’s important to have science behind our products. We often get asked how taking collagen in the form of Renew+, Naked Collagen, and Hair, Skin and Nails actually works. And that’s a great question to ask.

In a nutshell (using not-so-sciencey terms), taking a Marine Collagen Peptides supplement can help support skin hydration (a major factor in skin appearance), support collagen production and help decrease the breakdown of existing collagen. Even better if it’s Type I Collagen like the type found in our Marine Collagen Peptides supplements! Marine Collagen Peptides actually share similarities with the human collagen structure, which is one of the reasons they’ve become so popular in recent years. They also have a much smaller molecule size than other types of collagen, meaning they’re more bioavailable and efficient.

We know everyone is different, and that one person’s results may look different to the next persons. While some of our customers have noticed benefits after a couple of weeks, others see results after a couple of months. Factors like genetics (damn it!), lifestyle choices like smoking, and health issues all play a part in ageing skin, but there’s definitely something to be said for giving the skin a helping hand to slow it down!

Special thanks to Dovepress, Willey, and Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science for their publication of these studies and information.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jocd.12174/full
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4206255/
http://dujs.dartmouth.edu/2013/01/why-does-your-skin-age/#.WaPDD4pLdE4