WHAT ARE PEPTIDES?
If you’ve been paying attention to the newest wave of skin care nutrients, you may have found yourself wondering what peptides are!
Peptides have gained significance as a powerful anti-aging tool. But if you’re not an actual scientist, you may not know why they work the way they do – or how they can help your skin.
As we age, the loss of collagen means loss of elasticity and more wrinkles but there is a way to slow down the ageing process.
So, if you’re curious to know what peptides are, how they work, and how they can benefit your skin – here’s a closer look.
In short, peptides are chains of amino acids that are the building blocks of proteins. Unless you’re a biologist, that information probably doesn’t mean very much to you, so here it is broken down:
Amino Acids:
Amino acids are organic compounds that help form proteins. Amino acids are made up of the elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen. They have many functions. For example: amino acids are responsible for giving proteins their structure, transporting nutrients, and sending signals to other cells.
Peptides:
When amino acids link together, they form chains called peptides. These chains can be short or long. And when peptides form longer chains of amino acids, they become the building blocks of proteins.
Proteins:
Proteins make up much of the body’s tissue, organs, and skin. One of the body’s most important skin proteins is collagen. In fact, 75 percent of your skin is collagen protein. Essentially, collagen is the foundation of your skin.
And one of the reasons why you look so “youthful” when you’re young is because you have a high rate of collagen production.
Collagen is what gives skin structure, strength, firmness, and smoothness.
As the body ages, collagen production slows down. The collagen you do have is prone to breaking down, or “fragmenting.” This decrease in collagen production leads to the visible signs of aging – like wrinkles, and skin that looks saggy and crepey. So, you can understand why collagen is so important – it helps increase the appearance of smooth, firm skin.
To summarize this mini science lesson: amino acids form peptides. And peptides, in turn, form proteins like collagen. Collagen is an integral component of firm, youthful skin. And without peptides, it can’t be produced.
The Skin Benefits
So, the bad news is that collagen production slows as you age. The good news is that incorporating peptides into your skincare routine may help boost collagen production. This increase in collagen production is what makes peptides such a potent anti-aging skincare ingredient. Peptides work to encourage skin elasticity, increase hydration and diminish the appearance of ageing of the skin.
The benefits of peptides in skin care involves more than just adding peptides to your skin. Peptides are more than just an ‘instant effect’. Here are some of the benefits of peptides in skin care.
- Once collagen is depleted, it doesn’t become naturally replaced but when you apply peptides to your skin, it acts as a signal for your skin to make new collagen. This then decreases the appearance of fine lines, leaving you with firmer, smoother skin.
- Copper has been proven to be an effective agent in skin healing and has been used to treat wounds and other injuries. When it is attached to a peptide it has the added effect of assisting in the healing of skin.
- Neuropeptides work by relaxing facial muscles and combined with a collagen increase and reduce the appearance of wrinkles, therefore having a similar effect to Botox.
Creams and Serums
Peptides are showing up more and more as a skin care ingredient in creams and serums aimed at combatting the signs of aging. These creams and serums use short-chain amino acids to target the visible signs of aging, like wrinkles and sagging skin.
You see, these short-chain amino acid peptides are able to easily penetrate the top layers of skin. They can then send signals to your skin cells, directing them to perform certain functions, like collagen synthesis.
In other words, when peptides are applied topically to the skin in the form of creams or serums, they can prompt the formation of collagen.
A double-blind clinical trial studied the effects of peptides on the skin quality and smoothness of twenty women between the ages of 40 and 62. After four weeks of peptide application, 75% to 80% of the subjects saw an improvement in skin smoothness. There was a significant reduction in the number of wrinkles, as well as the length and depth of wrinkles on the skin.
Supplements
Hydrolyzed Collagen
Hydrolyzed Collagen is the missing link in supplying amino acids like glycine, proline and lysine that are required by the body to build connective tissue to regulate cell growth. It will benefit hair, skin tissue, muscle, cartilage, ligaments and blood cell growth. Some doctors are referring to this product as the new anti-aging product of the century.
Another study found that skin elasticity was significantly increased after 8 weeks of hydrolyzed collagen supplementation.
Hydrolyzed Collagen is tasteless so you can put it in soups, juices or smoothies or just plain water!
Other Supplements
Once again, there are many products on the market that claim to improve the skin – and trust me I have tried them all over a period of 3 years. I have only been impressed by one product, Arbonne’s SkinElixir. It contains Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin C, Silicon Dioxide, Biotin, Gotu Kola extract, Monteray Pine extract and Sea Buckthorn.
The combination of Hydrolyzed Collagen and SkinElixir have proven to be a really effective combination for me.
Summary
Peptides are becoming a more prominent component of many skincare creams and supplements. Because they play such an important role in collagen production, peptides have the potential to boost your own skin’s firmness, smoothness, and strength. And while the science is surprisingly simple, the results on your skin may be superb. Personally, I won’t use a product that doesn’t contain peptides. I want to spend my hard-earned money wisely!
