Peptides

There’s more to your skin than meets the eye. It’s not just a few layers of inert material — it’s a  vital organ all its own that like the rest of your organs, is directly connected to your overall health. 

Skin gets its structure from a certain type of linked amino acids called peptides.

What Are Peptides?

Peptides are unique molecules comprised of linked chains of amino acids. (If you thought that’s what proteins were,you wouldn’t be too far off base. Peptides are like proteins, but contain shorter chains). Most peptides contain between two and 50 amino acids each. 

Why are peptides so important? Because they provide a firm foundation upon which your skin can really flourish. They’re basically the building block that holds everything together. 

If your skin feels less elastic than it used to, however, there could be a peptide problem going on. The body’s peptide production diminishes over time. 

You may be familiar with some other common types of peptides. Creatine is peptide popular for its use as a tool for muscle growth.Another class of peptides includes important hormones like insulin and glucagon. But let’s focus on the skincare benefits of peptides.

Peptides’ Many Benefits

Many different skincare products contain peptides because incredibly effective at renewing and restructuring your skin. People who use peptides report all sorts of benefits, with firmer, stronger skin foremost among them. Other potential benefits include:

  • Reduced fine lines and wrinkles [1]
  • Speed healing from wounds and photo-aging [2]
  • Reduce inflammatory and oxidative damage [3]
  • Help skin stay elastic and hydrated [4]
  • Increase cellular matrix development[5]
  • Help your body build stronger bones after exercise [6]

Take the sum of all these parts and it quickly becomes clear that peptides might be able to turn back the clock by preventing many common signs of aging. 

Some peptides, however, are much more effective than others. Both scientists and science-based skincare brands are most interested in what are called bioactive peptides

How to Use Peptides

Collagen is, by far,the most popular skin-centric peptide out there. Collagen is a type of peptide that’s naturally present all throughout our bodies; in that sense, supplementing with extra collagen merely amplifies what’s already going on. 

This sounds great and all, you might be saying to yourself, but how do I actually experience the benefits of peptides firsthand?

Much like the best way to harness CBD’s skincare benefits is to apply it topically, the easiest way to benefit from peptides is to apply them directly to your skin. 

And if you want to really go all out, consider a two-pronged approach to skincare by taking a peptide supplement orally. One of the studies we cited above explained things this way:  

“Many people around the world strive to achieve younger-looking skin. This is often promised by topical treatments. Oral treatments for skin ageing have been unsuccessful due to their constituents being broken down by acid and enzymes in the gut; however several studies have shown that hydrolyzed collagen is absorbed in the gut and then delivered to skin and joints through the blood stream.”