What Is the Benefit of Collagen Vitamins?

Collagen is not a vitamin, but rather a type of protein that is used to manufacture your connective tissues, such as skin, ligaments and cartilage. Adequate production of collagen provides numerous benefits, such as firm, healthy skin. Your body makes collagen, but it needs vitamin C, lysine and proline to do so and hyaluronic acid to make it more functional. Collagen-enriched creams are popular within the cosmetic industry and can be absorbed and used by your skin.

Collagen is plentiful in your body, comprising about 75 percent of your skin and 30 percent of your body overall.There are four types of collagen, but type-1 is promoted much more by the cosmetic industry because it is present in your skin, ligaments and cartilage. All collagen fibers are made by your body from two amino acids, lysine and proline, which supply tensile strength and flexibility to the fibers. Vitamin C is needed to convert proline into hydroxyproline and lysine into hydroxylysine, which are the final building blocks for collagen. Vitamin C deficiency leads to connective tissue deterioration, which is particularly dangerous in blood vessels and ligaments, according to "Vitamins: Fundamental Aspects in Nutrition and Health." Hyaluronic acid is needed to bind collagen and elastin fibers together to form collagen bundles.

According to "Biochemical, Physiological and Molecular Aspects of Human Nutrition," collagen helps provide firmness and elasticity to our skin, as sagging and wrinkling occurs without enough of it. Unfortunately, as you age, you lose up to 30 percent of the collagen structure in your skin. Collagen-enriched skin creams are promoted by the cosmetic industry to combat this problem because many people want to maintain youthful-looking skin. Collagen creams are also useful for people who have acne scarring or have had laser tattoo removal.

Collagen is an integral part of cartilage, which is the shock-absorptive spongy material between your bones. Without enough collagen production, vitamin C or necessary amino acids, your cartilage becomes dry, less flexible and more prone to wear and tear, which is an early sign of osteoarthritis, according to "Human Biochemistry and Disease."

Collagen is also an important constituent of blood vessels, especially your arteries. Inadequate production of collagen or lack of vitamin C leads to blood vessel deterioration and hardening, which is an early sign of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.

Because vitamin C is required by your body to produce and repair collagen, consuming some on a daily basis is important. According to the "American Dietetic Association Complete Food and Nutrition Guide," rich sources of vitamin C include rose hips, citrus fruits, strawberries, blackcurrants, kiwis, guavas, broccoli, kale, red and green peppers, Brussels spouts and wheatgrass juice.

"Textbook of Medical Physiology -- Tenth Edition"; Arthur C. Guyton, et al.; 2000"Vitamins: Fundamental Aspects in Nutrition and Health"; G. Combs; 2008"Biochemical, Physiological and Molecular Aspects of Human Nutrition"; Martha Stipanuk; 2006"Human Biochemistry and Disease"; Gerald Litwack; 2008"American Dietetic Association Complete Food and Nutrition Guide"; American Dietetic Association; 2006 Article reviewed by Khalid Adad

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What Is the Benefit of Olive Butter for Skin Care?

Olive butter is a thick moisturizer for the skin. Unlike lotion, olive body butter will not wash off your skin easily, making it a rich emollient, which is good for very dry skin. Esthetician Keeley Selvage says lotions are typically made of 70 to 90 percent water, which makes them more water soluble. Butter gets rid of the water and preservatives leaving you with a rich, thick substance made mainly of oil. Selvage says the body butter may feel heavy at first, but easily soaks into your skin in a few minutes.

The olive tree is one of the oldest known cultivated trees in the world, spreading from its native land of Asia Minor to the Mediterranean over 6,000 years ago. Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, advised his followers to put olive oil on their bodies, and he applied the oil to his head. Since then, olive oil is found in many religions and used in religious ceremonies as an anointing oil. According to NaturalSkinCareSecrets.com, Cleopatra used olive oil as a beauty product over 5,000 years ago. Many people of the Mediterranean believe olive oil keeps the skin and body young, and that it not only works topically but also from the inside out. This is one reason the Mediterranean diet contains a large amount of olive oil.

Olive butter is used to increase the skin's moisture by delivering moisturizing oils to the surface of the skin, then locking it in with waterproof butter. Olive butter is made using a Shea butter base then adding olive oil as a carrier oil. Selvage says you can incorporate cornstarch into the mixture if the basic butter and oil mixture is too greasy for your skin.

Olive oil is a natural, hypoallergenic way to moisturize your skin, according to OliveOilSource.com. Extra virgin olive oil contains antioxidants, including vitamins A and E, to help repair and renew skin that has been exposed to harsh, dry weather, sun and air pollution. According to OliveOilSource.com, these antioxidants stimulate cells naturally to return skin to a "firmer, smoother and healthier state."

Olive butter should be used on very dry skin. The rich emollients in the Shea butter may be too heavy for oily skin. Olive butter is best for the body rather than the face since the thick consistency of the butter may clog pores and lead to breakouts. Selvage says butters are good for those who wash their hands often because the butter is less likely to wash off the hands than a lotion.

Olive butter contains the moisturizing and antioxidant properties of olive oil with the deep moisturizing and skin nourishing qualities of Shea butter to create an extra-rich emollient for the skin. In a study performed by U. Kiechl-Kohlendorfer et.al. at the Innsbruck Medical University in Austria, the skin integrity of pre-term infants was tested using a water-in-oil emollient cream and an olive oil cream, and comparing the skin of both groups with the control group's, which did not receive cream. The study lasted four weeks, and found the olive oil cream to be superior to the emollient cream and that topical skin therapy lowers the risk of dermatitis.

Article reviewed by James Dryden 

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