The key to healthy skin, hair, nails and bone is collagen. Collagen is a strong flexible protein that acts as the main structural component of connective tissue. We need a lot of it to maintain optimum health: it makes up 70% of our skin and 30% of our bones. But collagen production slows as we age, beginning at age 21.
Collagen and another protein, elastin, give skin its elasticity and a firm smooth appearance. As we age and produce less collagen and elastin, the skin thins and develops wrinkles, giving us our “mature” look.
Our hair and nails are made of another protein called keratin. Keratin production also slows as we age so our hair grows thinner and weaker and our nails become brittle.
As you know, bones are made of calcium and some other minerals, and bone mineral density is a measure of its strength. But it is collagen strands within the bone that the minerals are bound to. As we age there is less collagen and the bones become thinner and less flexible no matter how much calcium we consume.
What can we do to increase collagen? When we eat collagen-containing foods and supplements they are broken down in digestion into the required amino acids but don’t guarantee that they will be used to produce collagen. Fortunately a particular silica compound called choline-stabilized orthosilicic acid (ch-OSA) has been found to stimulate our body’s production of collagen.
Clinical studies have shown that ch-OSA supplements will:
- increase skin collagen and elastin, improving elasticity and reducing wrinkles
- increase hair thickness and body
- increase nail strength and break-resistance
- increase healthy joint cartilage
- increase bone mineral density, strength and flexibility
The compound ch-OSA is available in Canada as BioSil in both liquid and capsule form.
I wrote about the health and beauty benefits of Silica in April 2013.
For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.
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