Collagen, elastin and your skin

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• Collagens, elastin, adipose tissue, skin firmness and cellulite

• Glycine, proline and hydroxyproline

• Collagens type I, III, IV and VI

• Collagen damage and degradation

• Balanced, gradual skin tightening vs destructive barbaric methods

• Collagen and elastin boosting skincare / cellulite creams

• Collagen and elastin boosting nutritional supplements

• Elastin and collagen boosting exercise

• Elastin and collagen boosting skin treatments

• Check our professional consultancy, for a masterclass in radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, cellulite and skin tightening

Connective tissue, skin firmness, skin elasticity and cellulite

Many of our clients ask us a lot of questions about collagen, elastin, skin tightness, skin elasticity, collagen powders, skin tightening treatments and creams, how to increase skin elasticity, and of course, cellulite.

Here is a concise guide on collagen, elastin and how these proteins affect skin firmness, elasticity and cellulite.

Skin is made primarily of rigid protein-based fibres such as collagen and fibronectin and elastic protein-based fibres, such as elastin and fibrillin.

Collagen and fibronectin give firmness/tightness to skin and other tissues, while elastin and fibrillin provide elasticity.

To understand the difference between firmness and elasticity, consider collagen to be the cotton fibres in elastic jeans that make them hard and resilient and elastin to be the elastane fibres, that make jeans elastic. Collagen/cotton, in our examples, is needed in higher amounts and elastin/elastane is needed in smaller amounts.

Glycine, proline and hydroxyproline

Of all those proteins, collagen is the most common protein in skin and connective tissue, composed primarily of the aminoacids glycine, proline and hydroxyproline (the latter is only found in collagen).

This is why consuming a hydrolysed collagen (collagen peptide) protein powder is much more specific to skin than consuming whey or a vegan protein powder: because it contains a higher concentration of glycine, proline and hydroxyproline at a ratio 2:1:1, which is close to human skin’s ratio of 3:1:1.

This is not to say that whey protein is bad, it’s just that collagen peptide protein (or a vegan equivalent) is superior for skin care.

Collagens type I, III, IV and VI

All these connective proteins (collagen, elastin, fibrillin, fibronectin etc) are secreted by fibroblasts, i.e. what people call “collagen cells”. Some of proteins are secreted to a lesser extent by other cells, including adipocytes (fat cells).

There is not just one collagen but a good 28 of them. Most collagen fibres comprise several collagen types with different collagen types being found in different tissues. However, collagen type I is the most common in the body: 90% of all collagens in the human body are type I.

Skin is specifically rich in collagen type I (hard collagen) and collagen type III (soft collagen) but some parts of the skin may be rich in collagen type IV (e.g. the dermal-epidermal junction).

Adipose tissue is known to also contain collagens type IV and collagen type VI, in addition to collagens type I & III.

Yes, fat has its own collagen that plays an important role in what we call firm fat vs loose fat or soft cellulite vs hard cellulite.

Collagen damage and degradation

Collagen can be damaged by a process called glycation, whereby sugars cross links with collagen proteins in an unnatural way, which leads to tissue degradation and inflammation.

Furthermore, a group of enzymes, called matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) break down collagen, as part of the normal remodelling / healing / recycling processes in the body. Without MMPs damaged collagens would not be removed by the body and scars wouldn’t properly heal.

• Collagen I is mainly broken down by MMP-1 and MMP-2

• Collagen III is broken down mainly by MMP-1 and MMP-8

• Collagen II, found in cartilage, is preferentially broken down by MMP-13

• Denatured (damaged) collagens and collagen IV are mainly degraded by MMP-2 and MMP-9

Too much MMP activity make tissues looser. Too little MMPs lead to hardened skin and fibrosis.

Too little collagen type I also means looser skin. Too much collagen type I, especially misaligned collagen and with not much elastin, as seen in scar tissue, means hardened skin and fibrosis.

As with everything else, balance / equilibrium is the key word.

Balanced, gradual skin tightening vs destructive barbaric methods

This notion of balance becomes important when you consider those barbaric aesthetic skin tightening procedures provided with anaesthesia (numbing creams, anaesthetic injections or whole body anaesthesia) that aim to firm up the skin by cauterising / burning it first in order for it to hopefully improve later (e.g. extreme intensity HIFU, RF microneedling, extreme intensity RF, laser liposuction, ultrasound liposuction etc).

This leads to lots of scar tissue / fibrosis, due to too much misaligned collagen type I and not much collagen III, elastin and fibrillin.

In contrast to the “slash and burn” destructive skin tightening approaches, the balanced way is to stimulate collagen / elastin production gradually with a natural method that will lead to functional collagen / elastin networks.

Deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency and high-power ultrasound cavitation are the best such methods known today.

Collagen and elastin boosting skincare and cellulite creams

A good skincare / anti-cellulite cream, rich in natural actives that aim to stimulate collagen can be useful in helping achieve a firm, elastic, smooth skin, naturally:

• Asiatic acid, asiaticoside, madecassic acid, madecassoside, from gotu kola, are known to stimulate collagen synthesis and collagen remodelling

• Cocoa flavanols are known to stimulate elastin synthesis

• Hydroxyproline is known to stimulate collagen synthesis

• EGCG, from green tea, and curcumin (from turmeric) known to protect collagen and stimulate collagen remodeling

• Chlorogenic acid is known to protect collagen from glycation

Almost all polyphenols in general, including the ones above, help protect collagen and elastin from glycation and excessive MMP action, and help stimulate their synthesis.

Sure, most skincare/cellulite creams contain infinitesimal amounts of active ingredients, with manufacturers make up the difference with silicones and “skin conditioning” chemicals - and lots and lots of marketing. And this is why most such creams don’t work.

But a small number of skincare/cellulite creams do contain such ingredients in proper concentrations.

Collagen and elastin boosting nutritional supplements

• 5-20g per day of collagen peptide powder will offer a great boost to collagen skin levels

• Vegan collagen powders contain normal vegan protein with the added peptides glycine, proline and hydroxyproline at a ratio 2:1:1, and are almost as good as the non-vegan variety

• On of the most important functions of vitamin C is to mediate in collagen production. So eat your oranges, and if possible have some vitamin C, up to 1,000mg per day (more is not necessary)

• Polyphenols, as mentioned above, and especially flavonoids (a class of polyphenols), are very important in protecting collagen and elastin and boosting their synthesis. In addition to gotu kola, cocoa flavanols, EGCG, turmeric and chlorogenic acid mentioned above, there are pine bark extract, grape seed extract, grape vine leaf extract, quercetin, rutin and hesperidin, among others, that help strengthen skin and blood vessels by supporting collagen and elastin.

• (Disclaimer: always consult your healthcare practitioner before taking any supplements)

Elastin and collagen boosting exercise

Exercise, especially exercise that involves some vibration, is proven to help with collagen / elastin production.

Walking, running, power plate training and most sports (tennis, football, netball etc) provide valuable vibration to your fibroblasts, stimulating them to synthesise collagen and elastin.

Static exercise on the other hand, such as yoga and pilates have minimal effect in this regard.

Resistance exercise, although largely static, stands somewhere inbetween, as it has an overall whole body anabolic effect. This is because it indirectly stimulates skin collagen production but not as much as interval running, for example.

With swimming there is no vibration, but there is the micromassage of water on the skin, which in the end does stimulate collagen and elastin. Longtime swimmers have very firm skin, in general.

Elastin and collagen boosting skin treatments

As mentioned above, there are plenty of purported skin treatments that promise collagen synthesis and skin tightening.

There are the destructive treatments, mentioned above, which stimulate scar tissue after tissue burning at 60-90º C, which I find downright stupid, from both a safety and an effectiveness point of view.

And then there are the stimulating treatments:

• Low intensity and/or superficially acting stimulating treatments are also a waste of time (and when provided by untrained people can also cause injury)

• High intensity, deep acting stimulating treatments, which provide deep, strong stimulation for growth, but not strong enough to cause tissue damage

The best safe stimulating treatments for collagen production are:

• High-power radiofrequency, primarily

• And high-power ultrasound cavitation, secondarily

In capable hands, these stimulating treatments have a 99.5% safety rate, or better, and offer the best collagen synthesis/remodelling and elastin synthesis potential.

Together with a healthy lifestyle, exercise, healthy nutrition and a concentrated skin firming / cellulite cream, these treatments offer the best solution for fast, natural, functional collagen and elastin synthesis, and thereby anti-ageing, cellulite reduction and skin tightening.

Check our professional consultancy, for a masterclass in radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, cellulite and skin tightening

Do you want to deeply understand radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, cellulite and skin tightening? Attend a half-day, 1-day or 2-day or 3-day professional consultancy / one-to-one training and confidently offer your clients the safest, strongest and most effective treatment possible. Service available via Zoom or at our central London practice.