Pensive happy woman sipping a milkshake in the street (iStock)
Earlier this week, Jamba Juice released a new smoothie called Poolside Fit. In it, you’ll find familiar flavors — watermelon, cucumber, lemon, strawberry and peach — alongside an ingredient more commonly found in beauty products: collagen.
Collagen is a protein that’s naturally produced by the body. When production slows, which it does starting at age 20, wrinkles, sagging skin and joint pain creep in, Joel Schlessinger, MD, a Nebraska-based dermatologist and contributor to RealSelf, told Fox News.
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To make up for that slowing production, many people apply collagen topically in the form of moisturizers and creams, and, increasingly, they are drinking a powdered version of collagen, which is easy to add to everything from smoothies to coffee thanks to its neutral taste.
“This is my favorite way to get collagen,” Kellyann Petrucci, a board-certified naturopathic doctor, told Fox News. “It’s a two-fer thing: You’re getting great protein and then you’ve got this beauty angle where you’re getting improvements to your skin, your hair is improving, your nails are improving, and that’s a big deal.”
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Getting a smoothie fix and a dose of beauty benefits at the same time? Sounds ideal, but Schlessinger said that while early studies seem promising, there’s not enough evidence yet to say ingestible collagen is a reliable anti-aging treatment.
Until more independent research is done, order the smoothie if you like the taste. But don’t think of it as the secret to younger-looking skin just yet. Schlessinger said to focus on preserving your natural collagen instead — which you can do by wearing sunscreen, avoiding smoking and excessive drinking, eating a healthy diet, and getting at least seven hours of sleep every night — and applying topical products that list peptides as a key ingredient.
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