Skin, hair, nails

Although aging impacts the whole body, the most visible effects occur in our skin, hair, and nails. As we mature, our outer tissues lose their framework of structural proteins, namely keratin, collagen, and elastin. Loss of structural proteins in the body is further compounded by external factors such as pollution and sun exposure. To counter this visible deterioration, scientists have investigated nutrients that can be taken orally to rebuild the underlying architecture of the skin, hair,...

Collagen makes up about one-third of all protein in the body. In the skin and joints, collagen provides structural support, strength and resiliency. In youth, damaged collagen is continually repaired and replaced. But with age, the body’s ability to replenish collagen stores declines by about 1.5% each year. This loss of collagen is a major contributor to skin aging and loss of joint function.

Zinc is required by the body for more than 2,000 transcription factors involved in gene expressions of various proteins.1 What this means in everyday language is that thousands of essential biological functions are dependent on zinc.

Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body and is essential to good health. Approximately 50% of total body magnesium is found in bone. The other half is found predominantly inside cells of body tissues and organs. Only 1% of magnesium is found in blood, but the body works very hard to keep blood levels of magnesium constant.

MSM (methyl-sulfonyl-methane), also known as dimethyl sulfone, is a naturally occurring sulfur compound, found in human diets and those of virtually all other vertebrates. In its purified form, it is an odorless, slightly bitter tasting, water soluble, white, crystalline powder containing 34% elemental sulfur. Its chemical formula is (CH3)2SO2.

Vegan procollagen contains an amino acid profile identical to human skin type I collagen. In a clinical trial, an oral vegan procollagen formula decreased wrinkles by 13%-14% in eight weeks.