May
25
Eating Collagen As Face Food
Filed Under Aesthetic medicine, Beauty, Skincare | 8 Comments
Can food be the secret to making you more youthful and attractive?
Seems like the Japanese think they know something we don’t. The Japanese have been know for their longevity, forefront technology and strengths in their beauty and aesthetics industry. Have they come up with a way for eternal youth as well? Previously, there were health food restaurants which promoted healthier diets. Now there are beauty-food restaurants, the majority of which are in Tokyo, which propose menus to turn the sands of time. And the secret ingredient? Collagen.
COLLAGEN IN FOOD FOR BEAUTY
Collagen is a naturally occurring substance, present in all living animals and humans. Collagen is actually a protein, and is the most abundant protein in the body making up 25% to 35% of bodily proteins. It functions to support and bind body tissues- including skin, bone, tendons, muscles and cartilage. In particular, when discussing beauty, we are interested in collagen as a component of our skin. Collagen works with elastin and keratin to provide the skin with strength, flexibility, and resilience. As we age, collagen degrades, and the production of collagen reduces as well. This leads to the appearance of wrinkles. In areas where the skin is thinner and has less fat to buffer, the effects of collagen loss are more obvious. Hence wrinkles making their entry in areas of thin skin first especially around the eye.
The best known use for collagen is to pack it into lips for the bee-stung Angelina Jolie-esque look. Other uses of collagen in the beauty industry is to rub it into skin in the form of creams and ointments. But in food? In Japan, its apparently becoming another food additive, appearing in everything from yoghurt to candy!
However, the collagen in food is derived from animal collagen. It can be eaten as a part of tendons, or drunk as a soup after simmering collagen rich animal parts like tendons, pigs feet and fish cartilage.
When eaten, it promises skin rejuvenation, resilience and smoothness. The most popular collagen dish is a meat and vegetable hot pot known as the nabe. It promises ‘puru puru’, a Japanese phrase for the quality of soft skin which a collagen fix supposedly imparts. Collagen has been put into and cooked with more ingredients featured on Iron Chef- you can get it in salads, sauces, soups, toufu, desserts, sweets… The collagen, when cooked well, is soft to eat and imparts a thickness to the soup its in.
COLLAGEN AS MEDICINE FOR BEAUTY
Collagen injections are popular as soft tissue fillers and augmentation. They can be used to plump up lips, and also to fill up superficial wrinkles, fine lines around the eyes and mouth, and sagging thin skin. There are also creams around which contain collagen, and professes to work by applying it to skin. Don’t buy this just yet: collagen is a large molecule, and is unable to be absorbed by the skin, so its direct benefits are questionable. However, collagen is able to hold moisture well, and would make a good base in moisturizing creams to hydrate your skin. Also, many companies are researching into how to link up collagen onto other molecules to be transported into and under the skin for maximum benefits, so it may not be long before we see collagen working miracles!
SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE FOR COLLAGEN CONSUMPTION
As much as we would like to believe the wonders of consuming collagen, there aren’t any research studies to support the effects of consuming collagen on eternal youth.
CONCLUSION
There doesn’t seem to be any harm in eating collagen and collagen based food. But more research will be needed to investigate whether collagen is useful when eaten or applied directly onto the skin. But a healthy balanced diet and adequate hydration would definitely benefit the health of your skin.
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