If you struggle with thinning hair, brittle nails, and skin blemishes, the foods you are (or aren’t!) eating might be the cause.

Collagen is one of the main connective tissues in the body–it holds your skin together. The tightness of your skin and the strength of your hair and nails comes from collagen. 

Sometimes, because of the diets that we’re eating, we end up massively depleting the amount of collagen in our body.

Here are foods that will start to crank up the amount of collagen in your body, and help restore the beauty of your skin, hair, and nails.

Bone Broth

To make bone broth, you actually take bones (such as poultry or beef) and steep them in simmering water for 24-48 hours to draw out the marrow and collagen. 

Bone broth can be eaten like soup, and it’s a healthy way to get a lot of collagen.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is the precursor of collagen, so getting vitamin C in will help your body create more collagen to support your hair and nails. 

Any citrus fruits like oranges or peaches are good sources of vitamin C. 

Another good source of vitamin C is eggs. If you’re going to eat eggs, just make sure that they’re clean, natural, and organic so you’re not absorbing toxins. 

How Much Collagen Do You Need In A Day?

If you want to strengthen your nails, amplify hair growth, and get less wrinkly skin, I suggest 15 grams of collagen per day. If you have a lot of issues with these areas of your body, or your system is very sensitive, I recommend taking 30 grams a day.

If you want to get 15-30 grams a day without drinking bone broth or eating a lot of eggs, I have the perfect solution!

I created my very own collagen protein. It’s made from bone broth isolated from cows organically. 

It contains biotin, which is good for the skin, hair, and nails. I also put in vitamin A, which is another precursor for collagen. 

You can drink the powder mixed with water or milk, and it’s an excellent source of collagen.

If you’re super interested in collagen and what it can do to make your body look better, I want to challenge you to do a collagen cleanse. This involves taking protein loaded with amino acids for 2-3 days. 

Then, you stop taking it, and start consuming collagen-rich foods, like bone broth or my powdered collagen .

As you do this, you’re abstaining from eating and activating your body’s cleanup system, autophagy, while providing it what it needs to repair itself. 

If you want to complete the collagen cleanse, check out these tips:

3-Day Collagen Cleanse

For a great meal-replacement smoothie, combine the following in a blender:

• Handful of Spinach
• 1 Can of Coconut Milk
• ½ Cup Blueberries
• 1 Tbsp. Almond Butter
• 1 Scoop Collagen Powder
• ½ – 1 Tsp. of Probiotic Powder
• A Small Amount of Water

You can make this blend all 3 days, and have fermented beverages (I recommend kombucha and Kevita) later in the day. 

Continue this process for 3 days to allow your body to heal and to support your hair, nails, and skin the healthy way.