The 7 best foods rich in collagen to improve your joint and skin health
There are plenty of healthy foods, rich in collagen which can provide the right nutrients and supplementation which enable your body to maintain healthy joints and youthful glowing skin. We have a list of the best foods rich in collagen, which will help you to achieve these goals.
Wrinkles and joint aches
Unfortunately, your body’s collagen production decreases and slows down, as you get older. As a result of less collagen being produced as one ages, not only do fine lines and wrinkles appear on your face and skin, but joint cartilage gets worn down and joint pain or osteoarthritis may develop. Collagen support and supplementation with foods rich in collagen can help to rebuild the collagen fibers in your skin and also helps to prevent cartilage wear and tear, thereby possibly easing joint pain and arthritis.
Here is a handpicked list of our favorite foods rich in collagen. Not only are they delicious, they can also be easily integrated into your daily eating habits, and are excellent sources for the body to be able to build new collagen.
1. Citrus fruit, berries and tropical fruit
Lemons, oranges, grapefruit and other citrus fruit are rich in Vitamin C. Other great sources of Vitamin C are cherries, berries and many tropical fruits like mango and kiwi.
Vitamin C is crucial for the production of collagen. In fact the body simply cannot build enough collagen without sufficient Vitamin C.
Try simply adding a couple of orange segments and berries to your breakfast muesli, or enjoy a refreshing pink grapefruit or mango for your afternoon snack!
2. Chicken
Chicken is rich in connective tissue proteins and provides a great source of the components, which your body needs to produce collagen. The bones and joints of the chicken are particularly rich in collagen, so be sure to make chicken broth or soups to get the maxiumum benefit of this food rich in collagen. Try this delicious healthy chicken recipe which also combines the healthy leafy greens!
3. Leafy greens
Leafy greens such as spinach, kale or salad greens are a key player in any healthy diet. The reason they are included in the foods rich in collagen is due to their high chlorophyll content. Chlorophyll has very powerful antioxidant properties. Moreover, recent studies show that chlorophyll provides an important precursor to collagen – this means that it enables your body to actually make collagen.
4. Cashew nuts
These delicious crunchy superfood nuts are not only perfect as a healthy snack but they are also rich in zinc and copper, which boost the body´s own collagen synthesis.
5. Beans
As you probably know, beans are rich in protein. Especially if you are vegetarian, it is very important to include beans in your diet, as they are foods, which are rich in collagen producing proteins.
This list of healthy foods, rich in collagen building capacities is far from comprehensive but should hopefully help you to become aware of them. So see if you can include these foods as often as possible in your daily meals and snacks?
Bonus tip
Try to avoid foods with added sugar, and refined carbohydrates as they can cause inflammation, which unfortunately destroys collagen. If you are interested in our free 14 Day Anti-Inflammatory Diet be sure to sign up. Cigarette smoking also leads to the depletion of Vitamin C and other essential minerals, and to an excess of free radicals, which cause the breakdown of collagen – so one more reason to kick a bad habit!
We hope that this list is insightful for you? Now you can eat your way to beautiful, youthful, glowing skin and at the same time be kind to your joints!
The Joint Gurus
