10 Delicious Foods High in Collagen

We all strive to eat well and ensure we are maintaining a healthy balance both inside and out. For us, the goal is healthy, delicious food, while ensuring our food choices are also beneficial for the skin, hair and nails. We take health and wellbeing very seriously, so here’s 10 delicious foods that are high in collagen and can support your overall beauty and wellbeing goals.

Sardines

Calling all seafood lovers. You'll be glad to hear that sardines are a great source of collagen. Fish collagen is concentrated in their bones, skin, and scales. Eating sardines allows you to eat all parts of the fish, optimising the intake of collagen.

When cooking other fish like salmon or barramundi, don't discard the skin. Enjoying it as part of your meal can also provide a nice collagen boost. Incorporating fish skin into your diet presents an alternative route to topping up on collagen type I which is naturally concentrated in skin, bones, and ligaments.

Organ Meats

Organ meats aren't typically a part of an everyday diet, but in the past, they've been the staples of our ancestors' diet for thousands of years. Interestingly, these foods are well known for their high collagen content.

The organs with the highest concentration of collagen tend to have more collagenous valves, tendons, and cartilage-rich structures. Here's a list of some of those organ meats:

• Heart
• Intestines
• Kidneys

These might not sound appetising to many, but organ meats are a great source of collagen.

Berries

A range of familiar favourites like strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries offer a great source of vitamin C which can help the absorption of collagen from foods. 

• Strawberries hold the crown when it comes to vitamin C. Surprisingly, these sweet treats offer more of this nutrient per ounce than oranges.
• Raspberries, blueberries and blackberries aren't far behind. Each provides a satisfying amount of vitamin C.

Aside from vitamin C, berries are packed with antioxidants. These natural defenders protect the skin from damage, making berries a great choice for supporting collagen production.

Broccoli

If you're seeking a plant-based source of nutrients to support collagen production and absorption, broccoli is a great option. One serving of broccoli contains your daily recommended dose of vitamin C, necessary for collagen synthesis within the body.

Aloe Vera

Aloe vera is renowned for its healing properties but it's less known for its role in collagen production. Studies have shown that aloe vera stimulates fibroblasts, the cells responsible for producing collagen. 

It also contains antioxidants which help to mitigate the impact of free radicals, subcellular molecules that can damage collagen-producing cells. Isn't that fascinating?

Citrus Fruits

Though they don't contain collagen themselves, citrus fruits play a pivotal role in your body's collagen production. They're full of vitamin C, a key player in procollagen synthesis, our body's precursor to collagen.

Some of my favourite citrus fruits include:

• Oranges
• Grapefruits
• Lemons
• Limes

Leafy Greens

Think vegetables like spinach and kale. While plant-based foods don't naturally produce collagen, they're able to stimulate natural collagen production in our body by providing essential nutrients such as zinc, copper and ironically, vitamin C. This is where our leafy greens come in handy. 

Beef Bone Broth

Beef Bone Broth is super rich in collagen. Interlaced with high-quality beef bones and connective tissues, it provides a range of nutrients such as collagen, glucosamine, calcium, magnesium, glycine and phosphorus. Also, it offers vital amino acids and chondroitin, which play a significant role in maintaining collagen levels.

Skin-On Chicken

Skin-on chicken is a great collagen source as the skin contains the majority of the chicken's collagen content. 

Beauty Bites

Last but not least, our very own Beauty Bites. Beauty Bites are a fully functional, game changing collagen snack bar designed to make your daily dose of collagen, vitamins and gut health supplements convenient and delicious. Each bar contains 3,800mg of hydrolysed collagen peptides.