by Dave Asprey
This is one reason I worked so hard to bring collagen protein powder to the market and popularize it when it was unknown. Today it’s all the rage, and for good reason. Collagen protein powder is hydrolyzed, meaning it’s been partially broken down into the main amino acids that your body needs to produce more collagen: glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline, along with some smaller fragments called peptides. Supplementing with these can help your skin look younger, for sure. Research shows that collagen supplements improve skin elasticity, reduce wrinkles, boost skin hydration, and increase the density of fibroblasts, the cells in connective tissue that produce protein.4
Collagen supplements do a lot of other things, too. They can reduce joint pain and boost the density of your cartilage, making joints more flexible. A 2008 study found that athletes who took hydrolyzed collagen for six months saw a significant improvement in joint pain.5 Another study showed that men and women over fifty who took collagen for six months experienced a decrease in spinal pain.6
Taking collagen supplements is an easy way to help prevent age-related arthritis, and it can help you avoid osteoporosis, the thinning and weakening of bones with age. Postmenopausal women are especially vulnerable to osteoporosis because of a lack of bone-protecting estrogen. A 2018 study of these women showed that taking collagen supplements for twelve months increased the amount of minerals—namely calcium—in their bones, making them stronger.7
Collagen also repairs and strengthens the intestinal and stomach lining.8 A stronger lining can help reverse leaky gut syndrome, which you read earlier is incredibly aging, and can make it easier to absorb important nutrients. The amino acid glycine that makes up a third of collagen also helps your body produce more stomach acid, which aids in digestion and reduces acid reflux.9
Quick sidetrack about collagen and acid: When I was in my twenties I had terrible heartburn, something you might think is reserved for older people. I went to the doctor and said, “I feel like I have a candle burning in my chest.” He gave me an acid blocker, which worked temporarily. But it turns out that a lack of stomach acid actually causes gastric reflux by sending a signal to your body to not close the sphincter at the top of the esophagus. Acid can then flow into the esophagus, causing the pain associated with heartburn. When you have enough stomach acid, the sphincter closes. Your body needs stomach acid for other reasons, too, like to sterilize the food you eat and break down its proteins and fats. Acid blockers relieve symptoms temporarily, but as soon as you stop taking them, the pain comes back stronger than ever, and they wreck your ability to absorb nutrients.
There is a natural substance called betaine hydrochloride (HCL), which can supplement the body’s natural hydrochloric acid (stomach acid) without negative effects. I stopped taking the acid blockers and began taking betaine HCL with meals. The best way to use this supplement is to find the number of capsules that actually make heartburn worse, and then back off from that number by one. Take it at the beginning or middle of a meal, not at the end.
Your levels of stomach acid decline as you age, from about 180 mg at twenty years old to about 50 mg at over sixty.10 One study found that 30 percent of people over the age of sixty have almost no stomach acid secretion, and another found that 40 percent of postmenopausal women have none.11 In my twenties, I had the stomach acid secretion of someone three times my age.12
What does this have to do with collagen? Remember, glycine is one of the main amino acids in collagen and it helps your body produce stomach acid. Perhaps as a young man I was deficient in collagen and therefore glycine, but more likely I just ate too much sugar.
Glycine is actually an inhibitory neurotransmitter, which means it calms the nervous system and can help you get better quality sleep. One study found that when people who normally had trouble sleeping took glycine before bed, they fell asleep quicker, slept more deeply, and experienced less daytime drowsiness.13 That study led me to write the first blog post ever about using collagen before bed as a sleep hack, and today you’ll find it echoed across the Internet.
In addition to the necessary amino acids, including glycine, your body needs sufficient vitamin C to produce collagen and maintain its vitality. Vitamin C works in two ways to support your skin. First, it is a powerful antioxidant, so it protects your skin cells from damaging free radicals that break down collagen. Second, you need vitamin C to make and repair collagen. Having enough vitamin C ensures that your body can assemble amino acids into collagen when you need to. You can get skin benefits by eating vitamin C–rich foods, taking a vitamin C supplement, and/or applying a vitamin C serum topically.
Once you have the raw materials you need (the right amino acids and vitamin C), there are several specific things you can do to help your body produce more collagen.
CRYOTHERAPY
Brief cold exposure, or cryotherapy, increases collagen production and blocks the inflammatory enzymes and hormones that destroy the collagen you already have.14 Standing in air that is cooled to 270 degrees below 0 F for up to three minutes sounds worse than it is. Steep temperature drops like this increase your production of the antioxidants glutathione and superoxide dismutase, which help fight the free radicals that age your skin.15 It also causes your body to burn extra calories. You can also get cryofacials, which are basically cryotherapy for your face. A small stream of cold nitrogen gas is directed at your face to increase blood flow to the skin. This boosts collagen production, as your blood carries the raw materials your skin cells need to produce collagen.
This all might sound shockingly uncomfortable, but the more accessible alternative is far more uncomfortable: the humble cold shower. Cold air is not such a big deal, and on your face it actually feels refreshing. Cold water feels a lot worse, but it is effective. Cold exposure helps mitochondria, and it also stimulates capillary beds to increase circulation in your skin. Just aim the coldest water that will come out of your shower at your face and neck area for one minute. It will be unbearable for exactly three days, and that’s if you can even do it for a full minute. After that, your mitochondria change their amount of cardiolipin, a component of the inner mitochondrial membrane, so they can produce heat more quickly. The side effect is they can also make energy better, and suddenly that cold shower goes from painful to strangely relaxing and invigorating. Your collagen will thank you if you decide to experience three days of discomfort.
MICRONEEDLING
You can buy a microneedling roller for less than $20 that uses tiny needles to prick invisible holes in the top layer of your skin. This disrupts collagen and stimulates the body to form new, youthful collagen fibers. It’s basically a form of hormetic stress for the face. Your skin cells realize, “Dang, I guess there are going to be needles sometimes,” so they toughen up and get younger and stronger while weak or damaged skin cells are killed off. The results are pretty powerful. One study found that nearly 100 percent of patients with deep facial scars showed significant improvement after just three microneedling sessions.16
To take this a step further, you can combine microneedling with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in a treatment known as the vampire facial. To do this, a doctor takes your own blood and separates out the plasma, which is rich in growth factors. The plasma is applied to your face before and after microneedling to further stimulate the growth factors triggered by the punctures. Aestheticians usually do this with a clinical-grade electric microneedle and numbing cream. It may sound crazy, but it works. A 2014 study found that the vampire treatment improved acne scars more than just microneedling alone.17
You can get your own electric microneedle for about $100, which works better than a $20 roller. If you try either one, make sure everything is sterilized and free of contaminants every time you use it. Whenever you puncture the skin, there is obviously a small risk of infection. These rollers work on your hairline as well, and can stimulate hair growth. They are cheap, they work well, and they don’t take long to use. Totally worth it.
RETINOL
In addition to copp
er peptides (which you read about in the previous chapter), retinol is one of the most effective ingredients for your skin. Retinoid is the blanket term for a pure form of vitamin A. Some formulations like Retin-A require a prescription because they contain high amounts of retinoic acid, the active ingredient in retinoids. This acid purges old skin cells and causes new, healthy cells to form quickly.18
Over-the-counter products known as retinols are less potent because the body needs to convert them into retinoic acid. This extra step means retinols take longer to work compared to prescription products, but they are still effective. Retinol causes skin cells to turn over quickly and increases collagen production,19 leading to a reduction in fine lines and wrinkles, faded age spots, smoother skin, increased firmness and elasticity, and smaller pores.
Sounds pretty good, but there are a few downsides. If you have sensitive skin, you may find retinol irritating. You should always wear sunscreen when using retinol, since it makes your skin more sensitive to the sun. And pregnant and breastfeeding women should avoid retinol, since in high doses it can harm a fetus’s or a baby’s development.20
If you are pregnant, nursing, sensitive to retinol, or simply want a gentler alternative, there is one plant-based ingredient—bakuchiol—that has been proved to mimic the activity and benefits of retinol. Bakuchiol comes from the seeds and leaves of the Psoralea corylifolia plant and is traditionally used in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine to treat skin diseases. In one study, people who used bakuchiol twice a day for twelve weeks saw a significant improvement in fine lines and wrinkles, pigmentation, skin elasticity, firmness, and collagen production.21 Best of all, bakuchiol offers all of these benefits minus the dryness and flakiness typically produced by the use of retinol.
METHYLENE BLUE
If you read Head Strong, you’re already aware of the fact that methylene blue, a medication and blue dye, is a powerful cognitive enhancer. It acts as an antioxidant to mitochondria, meaning it protects them from aging oxidative stress. And because it is absorbed through the skin, it can also protect connective tissue cells from aging. A 2017 study showed that methylene blue was more effective at delaying skin cellular senescence than other antioxidants. The same study demonstrated that methylene blue improved skin viability, promoted wound healing, and increased skin hydration and dermis thickness while upregulating production of elastin and collagen.22 Not bad for a very affordable chemical that’s been around for decades!
The problem is that very few companies make methylene blue skin-care products, and it can’t be patented. It is far easier and more affordable to buy a dropper bottle of medical-grade or food-grade methylene blue (skip the chemical supply or aquarium cleaner versions) and put a few drops into the other products you put on your skin. If you put too much, you’ll look like a Smurf. If this happens, you can usually wash it off with soap as long as you catch it fast enough. I add a few drops of methylene blue to my copper peptide serum and body lotion, and it makes a noticeable difference. This is an incredibly powerful skin booster that is painless and inexpensive. And since you just use a few drops at a time mixed into your other skin-care products, a $20 bottle will last you for a couple of years. I saw the difference after using it on my face for less than a week.
LASER FACIALS
We’ve already discussed some of the skin-enhancing benefits of light therapy, including red light and near infrared light. There are also common and effective procedures using lasers to resurface the skin and make it appear younger. Ablative lasers remove tiny layers of skin to reveal a youthful glow, and less invasive non-ablative lasers stimulate collagen growth and tighten the skin. Before trying an ablative laser treatment, be aware that you may experience pain and swelling after, and it can take several weeks for the skin to fully heal. Don’t try this on the day before an important event! But the results are powerful and can last for years. Non-ablative facials require less recovery time (though your skin may be red and swollen for a short period) and are effective, though the results are not as impressive and do not last as long as the more invasive lasers.
MELANIN
Your brain produces a little-known hormone called alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH). Its job is to send a signal to your melanocytes, the cells that make the pigment melanin that gives skin and hair their color and protects cells from damage that can lead to aging and even skin cancer.
It turns out that alpha-MSH is a broad-spectrum anti-inflammatory hormone, and people with autoimmune conditions and those who have been exposed to toxic mold (like me!) tend to have lower than normal levels.23 After my lab tests confirmed I was low in alpha-MSH, I bought myself some and injected a little once or twice a week. This is not without risk. There is some evidence that very high doses may increase the likelihood of melanoma, but there is also evidence that it can help prevent cancer. Given the low-dose, occasional use, and the other things I do to slash my cancer risk, I decided to use it.
Aside from making my skin look better and giving me a great tan without a lot of sun, the alpha-MSH should increase the melanin levels in my eyes and brain. Our eyes and brains require melanin to efficiently produce energy. As you read earlier, when exposed to sunlight or mechanical vibration, melanin has the power to break water apart, freeing up oxygen and electrons for your mitochondria to use to produce ATP (energy).24 One major side effect from injecting alpha-MSH is that thanks to all this extra energy it makes Viagra look weak. If you’re a man and you use it, expect to feel like a teenager the next day.
You can also produce more melanin by consuming extra polyphenols. Your body makes melanin by linking polyphenols together from vegetables, coffee, tea, and chocolate. You read earlier that polyphenols are hugely beneficial for your gut bacteria, so eating more of these foods is a win-win for your longevity inside and out.
THE LONGEVITY OF YOUR HAIR
Melanin also plays an important role in making sure your hair continues looking young as you get older. Melanocytes (pigment cells) in your hair follicles produce the melanin that gives your hair its color. As melanin production declines with age, grays start to pop up and slowly take over.
In 2009, a team of European scientists made a big breakthrough in determining what exactly causes our follicles to produce less melanin. They found that hair follicles produce a tiny amount of hydrogen peroxide, which builds up over time and damages melanocytes.25 Why does it build up? When you are young, a hardworking enzyme called catalase breaks down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. But as you get older, catalase production starts to slow down, and hydrogen peroxide starts to accumulate in the body. While it’s nice to believe that gray hair is a sign of wisdom, it is really a reflection of damaged melanocytes caused by a lack of catalase.
Catalase is one of the body’s most potent antioxidants, and other antioxidants can also help break down hydrogen peroxide. For instance, glutathione, the body’s master antioxidant, breaks hydrogen peroxide down into water.26 This is yet another reason to supplement with glutathione. It’s also a good idea to eat more catalase-rich foods such as broccoli, cucumbers, radishes, and celery.
You can also ramp up your catalase production by taking antioxidants like ashwagandha, curcumin, saw palmetto, and vitamin E. A 2017 study showed that ashwagandha, an Ayurvedic herb, protected white blood cells in rats from free radical damage caused by hydrogen peroxide.27 And there is real evidence that this can help prevent grays in humans. A scientific review of ashwagandha showed that when middle-aged men took 3 grams in powdered form every day for a year, they significantly increased their levels of hair melanin.28
Very recently, researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have found a connection between gray hairs and viral infections.29 In mice, they noted that when a stressor such as an infection triggered the immune system, it responded by attacking a gene called MITF, which helps melanocytes function properly. A shortage of MITF triggered the immune system to further attack the melanocytes, which led to gray hair. Until we can turn that gene
on or off, your best bet is to maintain a healthy immune system to fight off viruses and do everything you can to avoid autoimmunity. Some of the more advanced anti-aging experts I know believe viruses are causing far more problems than we believe and take an antiviral drug like acyclovir every year. It has side effects, though, and the jury is still out on whether the risk-reward ratio is a good one.
When it comes to aging and hair, though, I’m not ashamed to say that my biggest concern is balding. I’d love to still be rocking a full head of hair when I’m well over a hundred, so I’ve done quite a bit of research on how to prevent and reverse hair loss. Many people think that hair loss with age is strictly a men’s issue, but that is not the case. A huge number of women experience hair loss as they get older. And in both men and women, this actually begins when you’re still young. Eighteen percent of men under the age of twenty-nine have moderate to advanced hair loss, and that number jumps to 53 percent for men in their forties.30 Meanwhile, between 15 and 20 percent of women under the age of fifty experience hair loss, and the numbers go up from there.31
Like so many symptoms of aging, hair loss boils down to your hormones and your mitochondria. Many different hormones play a role in hair growth. Getting the balance perfect with the help of a functional medicine or anti-aging doctor should help you avoid hair loss and even regrow some new hair. It makes sense, then, that the only FDA approved drugs to fight hair loss actually do so by affecting your hormones. Rogaine, Minoxidil, Propecia, and finasteride all work by blocking an enzyme that is responsible for converting testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Too much DHT causes hair follicles to shrink, which eventually leads to baldness. In addition to pharmaceutical drugs, there are several DHT-blocking shampoos on the market. You’re better off with the shampoo, because oral drugs for hair loss often have unfortunate side effects, like shutting down all hormone function.
