At every age and stage of life, taking care of our skin—both inside and out—is essential if we want to experience a healthy, glowing complexion.
But as we begin to age, it becomes even more vital to be diligent about nurturing our skin, given that collagen levels also begin to decline as early as our twenties. While one of the gifts that comes with ageing is that we tend to become more and more comfortable and confident in our own skin, unfortunately we are also faced with more challenges when it comes to caring for it.
Menopause is one such milestone that can certainly have a profound impact on not only our health and wellbeing—but also our skin. With studies estimating that we lose around 30 percent of our collagen in the first five years of menopause, it’s no surprise that many women begin to notice skin changes and the effects of skin ageing as they enter this new stage of life.
Here, we take a deeper look into how menopause affects our collagen levels and what we can do to remedy it…
The Link Between Menopause & Collagen Loss
Like many female-centric issues, we can blame hormonal changes for the increased rate at which we lose collagen as we enter menopause—no matter our chronological age. Put simply, oestrogen plays an important role in keeping our skin looking healthy and youthful by modulating epidermal keratinocytes, dermal fibroblasts and melanocytes—and in turn these critical cells help to produce hyaluronic acid as well as key proteins, collagen and elastin. But as oestrogen levels begin to drop dramatically during peri-menopause and menopause, this can subsequently lead to a dramatic loss in collagen, too—at a rate of about 2 percent per year.
As a result, many women begin to experience an increase in the visible signs of ageing—including thinning skin, an increase in fine lines and wrinkles (as well as wrinkle depth), skin sagging, increased dryness as well as a profound decrease in skin firmness and elasticity. There is also evidence that oestrogen has a protective effect against the impacts of external aggressors—and so during menopause, our skin can also be more susceptible to the effects of like things UV rays, further impacting our skin’s ability to synthesise collagen and regenerate.
How Can We Protect Our Skin During Menopause?
The good news is that it’s not all bad news! While we are unable to reverse the effects of collagen loss due to the ageing process—we can help to slow it down and mitigate its effects with dietary and lifestyle practices that help to nourish menopausal skin inside and out.
Protect & Prevent
As with anything, prevention is always better than cure—so whether we are already transitioning into menopause, or it’s still a fair way off yet, it’s important to protect our skin from factors that can speed up collagen loss. This includes over-exposure to harmful free radicals in the form of sun exposure and UV rays (which are estimated to account for a whopping 80 percent of visible signs of ageing in the skin) , pollution and cigarette smoke which damage the skin’s healthy cells, including collagen and elastin (the proteins we need to keep our skin smooth, plump and vibrant). And although we can’t completely avoid extrinsic factors that contribute to collagen loss—we can protect our skin by wearing sunscreen or SPF-rich mineral makeup everyday to prevent premature ageing.
Stay Hydrated
If your skin is dehydrated, it simply means the water content of your skin is low—and as a result, your skin is unable to function optimally. Most often, dehydrated skin is due to external factors such as UV light, exposure to extreme fluctuations in temperature, hot water, as well as diet and lifestyle choices—so remedying this is key in the quest for glowing youthful skin. Water is also an intrinsic component of collagen—so staying hydrated is a simple way to help protect and preserve your natural collagen levels. While sipping on H20 is an obvious way to up your hydration, noshing on water-dense fruits and vegetables will also help maintain your body and skin’s hydration levels. You could also add a hydrating inner beauty supplement like HYDRATION Inner Beauty Boost to your routine—which when consumed with water, not only helps to hydrate, but also contains an abundance of antioxidants and gut-loving ingredients to nourish your skin from the inside out.
Supplement Wisely
While not all supplements are created equal, investing in formulas that help to support your hormonal health can help to mitigate the side effects associated with this stage of life. Our SUPERGENES™ Menopausal Balance*, for example, contains a unique combination of evidence-based herbs, nutrients and exclusive probiotics to support the body during peri-menopause and menopause, reducing the effects of menopause symptoms such as hot flashes and sweats. And although it’s impossible to prevent loss of collagen as we age, supplementing with collagen has been shown to improve the effects of skin ageing including skin elasticity. The key is to select a collagen supplement that is 100% clean, pure and potent like our DEEP MARINE COLLAGEN™ powder which contains certified sustainable marine collagen peptides to improve skin elasticity, hydration, collagen density and protects collagen deep within the skin.
*ALWAYS READ THE LABEL AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS FOR USE.
Eat Well
Beauty comes from within—and while a nutrient-dense diet containing an abundance of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables is essential at every age, upping our antioxidant intake during menopause may help to protect us from collagen loss as these powerhouse compounds help to mop up free radicals (which as we know, damage healthy cells and degrade collagen). During menopause, it’s also important to pay attention to the amount of essential fatty acids (EFAs) in your diet, as healthy fats play an important role in keeping skin moisturised. Given dry skin is another common sign of ageing (and also linked to decreased collagen levels), munching on foods high in these essential fatty acids such as oily fish, walnuts and avocados can help to nourish the skin from within by supporting skin barrier function and reducing skin inflammation.
Review Your Skincare
Although our topical skincare routine won’t impact collagen production on a deeper level, ensuring we’re using skincare products that help to support the integrity of the skin barrier can dramatically improve the visible signs of skin ageing and optimise skin health. Look for ingredients like hyaluronic acid which helps to lock in moisture, vitamin C which brightens skin and bakuchiol which is a natural alternative to retinol and helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles as well as helping to improve skin elasticity, skin tone and firmness.
