If you are a woman over 40, your doctor will probably tell you that the best way to build strong bones and prevent osteoporosis is by taking a calcium supplement.
This simply isn’t true.
In fact, studies show women with the highest calcium intakes actually have an increased risk of bone fracture.1
Other research shows too much calcium is downright toxic. We now know that instead of harder bones, excess calcium can:
- Increase your risk of coronary artery calcification by 22%.2
- Spike your risk of a heart attack by a staggering 139%.3
- Make you seven times more likely to develop dementia.4
Here’s why…
When you take in too much calcium it doesn’t just go into your bones. It gets into your bloodstream, your veins and your arteries. It builds up over time and becomes hard. In other words, it calcifies everything in its path.
And too much calcium even makes you look older.
In fact, excess calcium is just as bad for your skin as smoking or severe sun damage.
In the same way that calcium builds up in your arteries, it also accumulates in your skin. It inhibits the normal moisture content of the skin. Cells dry up and wrinkles appear.
It builds up in the soft tissue around your eyes and causes crow’s feet. It shows up as ugly cellulite in your buttocks and thighs.
Excess calcium also throws a monkey wrench in your body’s ability to create collagen.
You may not know it, but your skin is about 75% collagen. It’s what gives your skin strength and structure. It keeps your skin smooth. When excess calcium leads to less collagen, your skin starts to sag. You look older than you ought to.
Collagen starts breaking down in your 20s. And the older you get the less collagen you produce.
One of the best ways to replenish lost collagen is with vitamin C.
Duke University researchers found that vitamin C boosts collagen production whether you’re a newborn or 93 years old.5 And a 2007 study of 4,025 women showed those eating more vitamin C foods had fewer wrinkles.6
The best source of vitamin C I’ve found for your skin is the fruit camu camu. It helps rebuild collagen to firm your skin and smooth fine lines and wrinkles. You can find camu camu powder, juice, liquid concentrate, and capsule form. Look for it online and in your health food store. I like to add the dried powder to juices, smoothies or yogurt. You can increase the dose over time. But don’t get carried away. Diarrhea is a sign you’re overdoing it.
I recommend getting 3,000 mg per day of vitamin C from food and supplements. That will give you enough to produce collagen to repair and rebuild your skin. I recommend getting 3,000 mg per day of vitamin C from food and supplements. That will give you enough to produce collagen to repair and rebuild your skin.
Getting enough C in your diet isn’t the only way to increase your collagen production. You can also apply vitamin C creams or serums right on the skin. I recommend using a water-soluble form called magnesium ascorbyl phosphate. Numerous clinical studies show that this variety that can increase collagen production without the irritation and inflammation of other forms.
Increase Collagen Production in Your Skin
But vitamin C isn’t the only way to save your skin. Here are three more ways to increase and protect your collagen:
- Tone Your Skin With This Heart Nutrient. Most people think of CoQ10 as a supplement you take orally. But you can also use it topically. You see, CoQ10 is a small molecule that easily penetrates the skin’s surface. It gets down to the living layers of the epidermis. It absorbs quickly into your skin cells.A Japanese study found that applying CoQ10 to skin cells boosts production of a special type of collagen that connects your skin’s outermost epidermis layer to its deeper dermis. It anchors your skin so it doesn’t sag and wiggle around. It visibly reduces crow’s feet and wrinkles.
- Smooth On Some Coffea Arabica Seed Oil. In Uganda, Coffea arabica (C. arabica L.) plants cling to the mountains. The oil from the coffee beans helps reverse the breakdown of collagen. When Brazilian scientists tested the oil on human skin samples, they found it almost doubled collagen production.8 The oil helps form new connective tissue to smooth wrinkles. It restores the young firmness and flexibility of your skin. Look for Coffea arabica seed oil in my skin care products.
- Cleanse With Rose Hip Oil. Rose hip oil contains retinoic acid. It can help tighten skin and improve elasticity. It also helps reverse collagen damage. In a double-blind, placebo controlled study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, daily use of retinoic acid increased collagen production by 80%.9
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD, CNS
1 Freskanich D, et al., Milk, dietary calcium, and bone fractures in women: a 12-year prospective study. Am J Pub Health.1997 Jun; 87(6): 992-997.
2 Anderson JJ et al. Calcium Intake From Diet and Supplements and the Risk of Coronary Artery Calcification and its Progression Among Older Adults: 10-Year Follow-up of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).J Am Heart Assoc. 2016 Oct 11;5(10).
3 Kuanrong Li et al. Associations of dietary calcium intake and calcium supplementation with myocardial infarction and stroke risk and overall cardiovascular mortality in the Heidelberg cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study (EPIC-Heidelberg). BMJ Heart. June 2012 – Volume 98 – 12.
4 Jürgen Kern, MD, PhD, et al. Calcium supplementation and risk of dementia in women with cerebrovascular disease. Neurology. 2016 Oct 18; 87(16): 1674–1680.
5 Phillips CL, et al. “Effects of Ascorbic Acid on Proliferation and Collagen Synthesis in Relation to the Donor Age of Human Dermal Fibroblasts.” J In Derm. 1994; 103, 228–232.
6 Maeve C Cosgrove et al, “Dietary nutrient intakes and skin-aging appearance among middle-aged American women.”Am J Clin Nutr October 2007 vol. 86 no. 4, 1225-1231.
7 Muta-Takada K, et al. “CoQ10 protects against oxidative stress-induced cell death.” Biofactors. 2009;35(5):435-41.
8 Velazquez Pereda Mdel C et al. “Effect of green Coffea arabica L. seed oil on extracellular matrix components and water-channel expression in in vitro and ex vivo human skin models.” J Cosmet Dermatol. 2009;8(1):56-62..
9 Griffiths, C., et al, “Restoration of Collagen Formation in Photodamaged Human Skin by Tretinoin (Retinoic Acid),”NEJM 1993; 329(8):530-535