Why Vitamin C And Collagen Are Better Together

It seems that everyone from celebrities, influencers, and your average Jenny-from-the-block has been taking you through their 12-step skincare regimen on Instagram. It was, and still is, very in vogue to care about your health and your glow.

Organika is a pioneer in this field and has been coming out with on-trend products that are high quality and affordable for over 30 years.

Two favourited and most relevant products in terms of skin care are Enhanced Collagen and Vitamin C products.

Vitamin C and Collagen Benefits

COLLAGEN’S ROLE IN SKIN CARE

We’ve been hearing about collagen for the past couple of years now, and for good reason. Anyone in their mid-twenties will benefit from collagen. Why? Because collagen production starts to dwindle in our mid-to-late 20s, and we start losing 1% per year after that. By 40, the reduction accelerates dramatically. What does this mean? We begin seeing signs of aging such as wrinkles and dry skin. Additionally, our joints stiffen, we don’t have as much energy and take longer to recover from physical activity. Collagen is important not only for healthy skin, hair and nails, but also for reducing aches and pains in our muscles and joints and even gut health too.

VITAMIN C’S ROLE IN SKIN CARE

Most of us associate vitamin C with immunity, because this nutrient is a powerful antioxidant and boosts our immune systems. Ever since we discovered that scurvy was due to a deficiency in vitamin C, it’s been widely accepted that this vitamin supports the skin, and this knowledge is used as rationale for the addition of vitamin C to beauty products. Our skin, specifically our keratinocytes, contains high concentrations of vitamin C, which aid in collagen production, wound healing, minimizing scar formation and assisting in antioxidant protection against UV damage, all of which ameliorates signs of aging skin.

A diet rich in fruits and vegetables is vital for maintaining healthy skin and collagen production, due to the vitamin C concentration.

Vitamin C has such a wide range of appreciable benefits that supplementation should be part of everyone’s diet. The RDA for Vitamin C is no more than 2000 mg a day, with a minimum of 75 mg, though experts will argue this is too low to have any beneficial effects.

Can I Use Collagen and Vitamin C Together?

Yes! And you should!

Collagen and vitamin C supplements work better together. Why? Because vitamin C is a nutrient that can help boost your body's natural production of collagen (aka a collagen builder). Taking collagen and vitamin C together will likely boost your skin health more than taking either on their own.

Note: You don’t need to consume vitamin C at the same time you take your collagen supplement, they don't need to be taken together to get the full benefits of collagen.

Vitamin C and Collagen Synthesis

If you type in ‘Vitamin C and Collagen’ in PubMed and you’ll get over 1900 results.There has been ample research into the synergy of taking these two compounds together. In one study, it’s been shown that vitamin C increased collagen deposits, showing that it plays a critical role preventing the auto-inactivation of certain collagen enzymes that are key in producing collagen.¹ Another study has shown that vitamin C is important for wound healing because of its essential role in collagen synthesis, and that vitamin C enhanced the formation of collagenous proteins.² Other studies have linked vitamin C to collagen production, skin hydration, wound healing, wrinkle reduction, and improved inflammatory skin conditions.³

Note: Vitamin C is an amazing nutrient for aging gracefully. Even though you don’t have to take collagen and vitamin C together, it’s important to get enough of each. Intakes can increase with age.

Choosing a Vitamin C product

When buying any supplement, including collagen and vitamin C, you want to make sure that it is high quality.

Check the ingredient list: your collagen should be a clean, single-ingredient formula, sourced from grass-fed pasture raised cattle, free from all hormones, antibiotics, GMOs and gluten.

In terms of vitamin C, there are lots of options:

Instant C – vitamin C in convenient tablets that flavour your water

Instant C, D, Zinc Immunity Effervescent – combining additional immune support nutrients

Liposomal Vitamin C – more potent and higher bioavailable vitamin C

References:

1. Effect of vitamin C and its derivatives on collagen synthesis and cross-linking by normal human fibroblasts - PubMed (nih.gov) Boyera N, Galey I, Bernard BA. Effect of vitamin C and its derivatives on collagen synthesis and cross-linking by normal human fibroblasts. Int J Cosmet Sci. 1998 Jun;20(3):151-8.

2. Enhanced production of mineralized nodules and collagenous proteins in vitro by calcium ascorbate supplemented with vitamin C metabolites - PubMed (nih.gov) Rowe DJ, Ko S, Tom XM, Silverstein SJ, Richards DW. Enhanced production of mineralized nodules and collagenous proteins in vitro by calcium ascorbate supplemented with vitamin C metabolites. J Periodontol. 1999 Sep;70(9):992-9.

3. The Roles of Vitamin C in Skin Health - PMC (nih.gov) Pullar JM, Carr AC, Vissers MCM. The Roles of Vitamin C in Skin Health. Nutrients. 2017 Aug 12;9(8):866.

This article has been fact-checked and reviewed by RHNs.