Which foods can increase collagen deposition and prevent wrinkles?
How to Boost Collagen Synthesis with Diet
4.8/5 - (105 votes)
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
As we age, the synthesis of collagen decreases by about 1 percent a year, which may contribute to the development of wrinkles. Though we don’t have evidence that collagen is superior to any other proteins for aging skin, those who do want to try it are advised to contact the manufacturers to clarify its source. Most collagen supplements don’t disclose this information, and for good reason. Terrestrial sources can include a witch’s brew of kangaroo and rat tails, duck feet, horse tendons, alligator bones, and frog skin. Aquatic sources are mainly from fish skins, bones, heads, scales, fins, and entrails.
Recommended questions for manufacturers include: “What measures were used to protect against contamination or adulteration? If sourced from fish, were low-mercury fish used? If sourced from cows, what steps were taken to ensure that no brain or nervous system matter was included, in order to prevent prion disease?” In the United States, collagen is exempt from FDA prohibitions against using risky tissues like brains—prohibitions in place to protect consumers against bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease.
So, for food safety, religious, ethical, or allergy-related reasons, there have been calls for non-animal alternatives. For example, 2 to 4 percent of the population is allergic to bovine collagen. To solve the mad cow conundrum, there have been calls to genetically engineer cattle without prions to “offer a safe source of collagen-based materials.” But why not just get plants to make it? A technique has been perfected to produce collagen from plants, but it has not yet reached commercial viability.
It’s hard to beat the cost of feet.
But, what about all of the vegan collagen products on the market? If you look closely, you’ll see the small print: vegan collagen builder or vegan collagen booster. It’s not actually collagen, since collagen is made by animals, but you’re an animal—you make collagen. So, they’re suggesting their supplements can boost production, but since it appears none of them have ever been put to the test, I assume it’s all a load of bunk. But, there are some foods and nutrients that have been investigated.
Researchers burned the butts of 20 women with a UV lamp before and after half of them ate three tablespoons of tomato paste each day for three months. And, there was a significant reduction in MMP-1 levels in the derrières of those who had been randomized to the tomatoes. (That’s a major collagen-eating enzyme that plays a key role in skin aging caused by the sun.) Butt biopsies also show that the amount of beta-carotene found in about one and a third cup of sweet potato can boost collagen production as much as four-fold within three months.
To test the effects of greens, Korean researchers randomized older women to the amount of chlorophyll found in a few tablespoons of cooked spinach a day. After three months, skin biopsies showed a significant increase in collagen production, accompanied by an increase in skin elasticity and a decrease of facial wrinkles. Unfortunately, this was just a before-and-after comparison to baseline, with no control group. But there have been placebo-controlled randomized trials, and of kale no less.
Compared to placebo, there was a significant improvement in a noninvasive measure of skin collagen status after 10 months of being randomized to an extract of curly kale. The researchers concluded that “a healthy lifestyle including a diet rich in carotenoids is the best prevention strategy against premature skin aging.” That led to dermatology journal commentaries with titles like “Eat plenty of green leafy vegetables for protection from the pro-aging rays of the sun.”
But might it actually be more than that? Sulforaphane, the cruciferous compound in kale and broccoli, may be able to mobilize cellular defenses that protect skin against damage by UV radiation, as well as mitigate the premature skin aging induced by air pollution particulate matter––though this was on skin cells in a petri dish.
Soybean compounds can increase collagen deposition and prevent wrinkles in mice. But what about in people? Given improvements of skin aging seen with menopausal hormone therapy, but concerned about the side effects, researchers in Brazil tried giving phytohormones––plant hormones in the form of soy phytoestrogens. Twenty-nine postmenopausal women were given the amount in four servings a day of soy foods for six months. Unfortunately, there was no control group, but they did take skin biopsies before and after, and found a significant improvement in skin thickness, along with increased collagen content and elastic fibers. The biopsies of 25 out of 29 women showed an increase in collagen.
You could also throw in some vitamin C-rich foods, as vitamin C appears to stimulate collagen production from human skin cells. Defective wound healing has long been known as a major manifestation of scurvy, the vitamin C-deficiency disease. A remarkable series of grisly experiments performed on British conscientious objectors during World War II involved being subjected to cuts and stab wounds after being randomized to different levels of vitamin C. The researchers found that the average daily vitamin C intake to prevent weak scar formation was about 95 mg, which is actually higher than the current recommendations––but nothing you can’t get from half a bell pepper.
Vitamin B12 also appears to be necessary for maximal collagen synthesis, which may explain why collagen synthesis rates appear to be about 10 percent lower in vegetarians, because the prevalence of B12 deficiency among those eating plant-based diets is so high. That is one of many reasons why it’s critically important that everyone consuming a plant-based diet ensure a regular, reliable source of vitamin B12.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Chaudhary M, Khan A, Gupta M. Skin ageing: pathophysiology and current market treatment approaches. Curr Aging Sci. 2020;13(1):22-30.
- Albornoz CA, Shah S, Murgia RD, Wang JV, Saedi N. Understanding aesthetic interest in oral collagen peptides: A 5-year national assessment. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2021;20(2):566-568.
- Perez-Sanchez AC, Burns EK, Perez VM, Tantry EK, Prabhu S, Katta R. Safety concerns of skin, hair and nail supplements in retail stores. Cureus. 2020;12(7):e9477.
- Avila Rodríguez MI, Rodríguez Barroso LG, Sánchez ML. Collagen: A review on its sources and potential cosmetic applications. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2018;17(1):20-26.
- Sionkowska A, Adamiak K, Musiał K, Gadomska M. Collagen based materials in cosmetic applications: a review. Materials (Basel). 2020;13(19):4217.
- Rustad AM, Nickles MA, McKenney JE, Bilimoria SN, Lio PA. Myths and media in oral collagen supplementation for the skin, nails, and hair: A review. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2022;21(2):438-443.
- Cao C, Xiao Z, Wu Y, Ge C. Diet and skin aging-from the perspective of food nutrition. Nutrients. 2020;12(3):870.
- Fertala A. Three decades of research on recombinant collagens: reinventing the wheel or developing new biomedical products? Bioengineering (Basel). 2020;7(4):155.
- Seror J, Stern M, Zarka R, Orr N. The potential use of novel plant-derived recombinant human collagen in aesthetic medicine. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2021;148(6S):32S-38S.
- Rizwan M, Rodriguez-Blanco I, Harbottle A, Birch-Machin MA, Watson REB, Rhodes LE. Tomato paste rich in lycopene protects against cutaneous photodamage in humans in vivo: a randomized controlled trial. Br J Dermatol. 2011;164(1):154-162.
- Cho S, Lee DH, Won CH, et al. Differential effects of low-dose and high-dose beta-carotene supplementation on the signs of photoaging and type I procollagen gene expression in human skin in vivo. Dermatology. 2010;221(2):160-171.
- Cho S, Lee DH, Won CH, Kim SM, Lee S, Lee MJ, Chung JH. Drink containing chlorophyll extracts improves signs of photoaging and increases type I procollagen in human skin in vivo. Korean J Invest Dermatol. 2006;13:111-9.
- Meinke MC, Nowbary CK, Schanzer S, Vollert H, Lademann J, Darvin ME. Influences of orally taken carotenoid-rich curly kale extract on collagen i/elastin index of the skin. Nutrients. 2017;9(7):775.
- Mukhtar H. Eat plenty of green leafy vegetables for photoprotection: emerging evidence. J Invest Dermatol. 2003;121(2):viii.
- Talalay P, Fahey JW, Healy ZR, et al. Sulforaphane mobilizes cellular defenses that protect skin against damage by UV radiation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007;104(44):17500-17505.
- Ko HJ, Kim JH, Lee GS, Shin T. Sulforaphane controls the release of paracrine factors by keratinocytes and thus mitigates particulate matter-induced premature skin aging by suppressing melanogenesis and maintaining collagen homeostasis. Phytomedicine. 2020;77:153276.
- Kim SY, Kim SJ, Lee JY, et al. Protective effects of dietary soy isoflavones against UV-induced skin-aging in hairless mouse model. J Am Coll Nutr. 2004;23(2):157-162.
- Accorsi-Neto A, Haidar M, Simões R, Simões M, Soares J, Baracat E. Effects of isoflavones on the skin of postmenopausal women: a pilot study. Clinics (Sao Paulo). 2009;64(6):505-510.
- Elsner P, Fluhr JW, Gehring W, et al. Anti-aging data and support claims—consensus statement. J Dtsch Dermatol Ges. 2011;9 Suppl 3:S1-32.
- Geesin JC, Darr D, Kaufman R, Murad S, Pinnell SR. Ascorbic acid specifically increases type I and type III procollagen messenger RNA levels in human skin fibroblast. J Invest Dermatol. 1988;90(4):420-424.
- Hujoel PP, Hujoel MLA. Vitamin C and scar strength: analysis of a historical trial and implications for collagen-related pathologies. Am J Clin Nutr. 2022;115(1):8-17.
- Institute of Medicine (US) Panel on Dietary Antioxidants and Related Compounds. Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, and Carotenoids. National Academies Press (US); 2000.
- Rao VH, Bose SM. Effect of vitamin B12 on the formation of collagen and nucleic acids in the albino rat skins and granulomas. J Vitaminol (Kyoto). 1970;16(4):253-258.
- Karlic H, Schuster D, Varga F, et al. Vegetarian diet affects genes of oxidative metabolism and collagen synthesis. Ann Nutr Metab. 2008;53(1):29-32.
- White ND. Vitamin b12 and plant-predominant diets. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2022;16(3):295-297.
- Rizzo G, Laganà AS, Rapisarda AMC, et al. Vitamin b12 among vegetarians: status, assessment and supplementation. Nutrients. 2016;8(12):767.
Motion graphics by Avo Media
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
As we age, the synthesis of collagen decreases by about 1 percent a year, which may contribute to the development of wrinkles. Though we don’t have evidence that collagen is superior to any other proteins for aging skin, those who do want to try it are advised to contact the manufacturers to clarify its source. Most collagen supplements don’t disclose this information, and for good reason. Terrestrial sources can include a witch’s brew of kangaroo and rat tails, duck feet, horse tendons, alligator bones, and frog skin. Aquatic sources are mainly from fish skins, bones, heads, scales, fins, and entrails.
Recommended questions for manufacturers include: “What measures were used to protect against contamination or adulteration? If sourced from fish, were low-mercury fish used? If sourced from cows, what steps were taken to ensure that no brain or nervous system matter was included, in order to prevent prion disease?” In the United States, collagen is exempt from FDA prohibitions against using risky tissues like brains—prohibitions in place to protect consumers against bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease.
So, for food safety, religious, ethical, or allergy-related reasons, there have been calls for non-animal alternatives. For example, 2 to 4 percent of the population is allergic to bovine collagen. To solve the mad cow conundrum, there have been calls to genetically engineer cattle without prions to “offer a safe source of collagen-based materials.” But why not just get plants to make it? A technique has been perfected to produce collagen from plants, but it has not yet reached commercial viability.
It’s hard to beat the cost of feet.
But, what about all of the vegan collagen products on the market? If you look closely, you’ll see the small print: vegan collagen builder or vegan collagen booster. It’s not actually collagen, since collagen is made by animals, but you’re an animal—you make collagen. So, they’re suggesting their supplements can boost production, but since it appears none of them have ever been put to the test, I assume it’s all a load of bunk. But, there are some foods and nutrients that have been investigated.
Researchers burned the butts of 20 women with a UV lamp before and after half of them ate three tablespoons of tomato paste each day for three months. And, there was a significant reduction in MMP-1 levels in the derrières of those who had been randomized to the tomatoes. (That’s a major collagen-eating enzyme that plays a key role in skin aging caused by the sun.) Butt biopsies also show that the amount of beta-carotene found in about one and a third cup of sweet potato can boost collagen production as much as four-fold within three months.
To test the effects of greens, Korean researchers randomized older women to the amount of chlorophyll found in a few tablespoons of cooked spinach a day. After three months, skin biopsies showed a significant increase in collagen production, accompanied by an increase in skin elasticity and a decrease of facial wrinkles. Unfortunately, this was just a before-and-after comparison to baseline, with no control group. But there have been placebo-controlled randomized trials, and of kale no less.
Compared to placebo, there was a significant improvement in a noninvasive measure of skin collagen status after 10 months of being randomized to an extract of curly kale. The researchers concluded that “a healthy lifestyle including a diet rich in carotenoids is the best prevention strategy against premature skin aging.” That led to dermatology journal commentaries with titles like “Eat plenty of green leafy vegetables for protection from the pro-aging rays of the sun.”
But might it actually be more than that? Sulforaphane, the cruciferous compound in kale and broccoli, may be able to mobilize cellular defenses that protect skin against damage by UV radiation, as well as mitigate the premature skin aging induced by air pollution particulate matter––though this was on skin cells in a petri dish.
Soybean compounds can increase collagen deposition and prevent wrinkles in mice. But what about in people? Given improvements of skin aging seen with menopausal hormone therapy, but concerned about the side effects, researchers in Brazil tried giving phytohormones––plant hormones in the form of soy phytoestrogens. Twenty-nine postmenopausal women were given the amount in four servings a day of soy foods for six months. Unfortunately, there was no control group, but they did take skin biopsies before and after, and found a significant improvement in skin thickness, along with increased collagen content and elastic fibers. The biopsies of 25 out of 29 women showed an increase in collagen.
You could also throw in some vitamin C-rich foods, as vitamin C appears to stimulate collagen production from human skin cells. Defective wound healing has long been known as a major manifestation of scurvy, the vitamin C-deficiency disease. A remarkable series of grisly experiments performed on British conscientious objectors during World War II involved being subjected to cuts and stab wounds after being randomized to different levels of vitamin C. The researchers found that the average daily vitamin C intake to prevent weak scar formation was about 95 mg, which is actually higher than the current recommendations––but nothing you can’t get from half a bell pepper.
Vitamin B12 also appears to be necessary for maximal collagen synthesis, which may explain why collagen synthesis rates appear to be about 10 percent lower in vegetarians, because the prevalence of B12 deficiency among those eating plant-based diets is so high. That is one of many reasons why it’s critically important that everyone consuming a plant-based diet ensure a regular, reliable source of vitamin B12.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Chaudhary M, Khan A, Gupta M. Skin ageing: pathophysiology and current market treatment approaches. Curr Aging Sci. 2020;13(1):22-30.
- Albornoz CA, Shah S, Murgia RD, Wang JV, Saedi N. Understanding aesthetic interest in oral collagen peptides: A 5-year national assessment. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2021;20(2):566-568.
- Perez-Sanchez AC, Burns EK, Perez VM, Tantry EK, Prabhu S, Katta R. Safety concerns of skin, hair and nail supplements in retail stores. Cureus. 2020;12(7):e9477.
- Avila Rodríguez MI, Rodríguez Barroso LG, Sánchez ML. Collagen: A review on its sources and potential cosmetic applications. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2018;17(1):20-26.
- Sionkowska A, Adamiak K, Musiał K, Gadomska M. Collagen based materials in cosmetic applications: a review. Materials (Basel). 2020;13(19):4217.
- Rustad AM, Nickles MA, McKenney JE, Bilimoria SN, Lio PA. Myths and media in oral collagen supplementation for the skin, nails, and hair: A review. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2022;21(2):438-443.
- Cao C, Xiao Z, Wu Y, Ge C. Diet and skin aging-from the perspective of food nutrition. Nutrients. 2020;12(3):870.
- Fertala A. Three decades of research on recombinant collagens: reinventing the wheel or developing new biomedical products? Bioengineering (Basel). 2020;7(4):155.
- Seror J, Stern M, Zarka R, Orr N. The potential use of novel plant-derived recombinant human collagen in aesthetic medicine. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2021;148(6S):32S-38S.
- Rizwan M, Rodriguez-Blanco I, Harbottle A, Birch-Machin MA, Watson REB, Rhodes LE. Tomato paste rich in lycopene protects against cutaneous photodamage in humans in vivo: a randomized controlled trial. Br J Dermatol. 2011;164(1):154-162.
- Cho S, Lee DH, Won CH, et al. Differential effects of low-dose and high-dose beta-carotene supplementation on the signs of photoaging and type I procollagen gene expression in human skin in vivo. Dermatology. 2010;221(2):160-171.
- Cho S, Lee DH, Won CH, Kim SM, Lee S, Lee MJ, Chung JH. Drink containing chlorophyll extracts improves signs of photoaging and increases type I procollagen in human skin in vivo. Korean J Invest Dermatol. 2006;13:111-9.
- Meinke MC, Nowbary CK, Schanzer S, Vollert H, Lademann J, Darvin ME. Influences of orally taken carotenoid-rich curly kale extract on collagen i/elastin index of the skin. Nutrients. 2017;9(7):775.
- Mukhtar H. Eat plenty of green leafy vegetables for photoprotection: emerging evidence. J Invest Dermatol. 2003;121(2):viii.
- Talalay P, Fahey JW, Healy ZR, et al. Sulforaphane mobilizes cellular defenses that protect skin against damage by UV radiation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007;104(44):17500-17505.
- Ko HJ, Kim JH, Lee GS, Shin T. Sulforaphane controls the release of paracrine factors by keratinocytes and thus mitigates particulate matter-induced premature skin aging by suppressing melanogenesis and maintaining collagen homeostasis. Phytomedicine. 2020;77:153276.
- Kim SY, Kim SJ, Lee JY, et al. Protective effects of dietary soy isoflavones against UV-induced skin-aging in hairless mouse model. J Am Coll Nutr. 2004;23(2):157-162.
- Accorsi-Neto A, Haidar M, Simões R, Simões M, Soares J, Baracat E. Effects of isoflavones on the skin of postmenopausal women: a pilot study. Clinics (Sao Paulo). 2009;64(6):505-510.
- Elsner P, Fluhr JW, Gehring W, et al. Anti-aging data and support claims—consensus statement. J Dtsch Dermatol Ges. 2011;9 Suppl 3:S1-32.
- Geesin JC, Darr D, Kaufman R, Murad S, Pinnell SR. Ascorbic acid specifically increases type I and type III procollagen messenger RNA levels in human skin fibroblast. J Invest Dermatol. 1988;90(4):420-424.
- Hujoel PP, Hujoel MLA. Vitamin C and scar strength: analysis of a historical trial and implications for collagen-related pathologies. Am J Clin Nutr. 2022;115(1):8-17.
- Institute of Medicine (US) Panel on Dietary Antioxidants and Related Compounds. Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, and Carotenoids. National Academies Press (US); 2000.
- Rao VH, Bose SM. Effect of vitamin B12 on the formation of collagen and nucleic acids in the albino rat skins and granulomas. J Vitaminol (Kyoto). 1970;16(4):253-258.
- Karlic H, Schuster D, Varga F, et al. Vegetarian diet affects genes of oxidative metabolism and collagen synthesis. Ann Nutr Metab. 2008;53(1):29-32.
- White ND. Vitamin b12 and plant-predominant diets. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2022;16(3):295-297.
- Rizzo G, Laganà AS, Rapisarda AMC, et al. Vitamin b12 among vegetarians: status, assessment and supplementation. Nutrients. 2016;8(12):767.
Motion graphics by Avo Media
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Title
How to Boost Collagen Synthesis with Diet
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Content URLDoctor's Note
This is the last video in a three-part series on collagen. If you missed the others, see Do Collagen Supplements Work for Skin Aging? and Collagen Supplements for Arthritis.
In my webinar on the topic, I emphasize the last bit from my video about vitamin B12 deficiency by going through the research from How Not to Age demonstrating slower wound healing in vegans.
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