Glow

Collagen. If you're not already familiar with this word, then congrats-- you're probably still in your teens. Collagen is that happy protein that keeps your skin plump and youthful-looking; it gives that tantalizing glow to your skin. Sadly, it doesn't last forever and its production starts to slow down in your late twenty's. In recent years, I've noticed a frenzy in the cosmetics industry with churning out all sorts of products targeted to boost collagen production in your skin, but I'm skeptical. Instead of putting weird chemicals on my face that probably never sink deep enough into my pores to do anything, I'd rather explore the internal route--by eating it!

And so I began my experiment.

First I did some research and found out that Sulfur-rich foods makes protein synthesize faster and eventually boosts collagen production. These foods are fresh stalks of celery, olives, and garlic. Since I absolutely abhor olives, I chose celery and garlic. For weeks, I got my mom to buy stalks after stalks of celery. We'd stir-fry them, put them in salad, in soup, in noodles...I have to say, unless you're crazy about celery, it's not the most taste buds-friendly vegetable, so I didn't keep it up.  I'm pretty sure I won't touch celery for the entire 2010.

Then, I laid my siege on garlic. Since garlic was already a big part of my diet, it wasn't hard to add more. The only problem is that raw garlic really does a number on my stomach and breath, so unless a recipe really calls for raw garlic, I always make sure they're well cooked. They're almost too easy to incorporate in your meals, and they require way less effort than the celery. If I have spaghetti, I'll mince a couple cloves of garlic into the sauce; if I cook Chinese food, I'll stir-fry a couple cloves with some vegetables. Now, we eat almost a bulb a day between my mom and I, and luckily, nobody ever complains that we smell funny--yet.

Next I added my favourite fruit of all time--mandarin oranges--to the mix. They're packed with Vitamin C which helps your body produce more collagen among other wonderful things. I like the super tiny ones for their sweetness and bite-size goodness. I make sure I stuff myself with too many of these sweet delights in one day, because one time when I was young, I overdosed on these delicious little things and my hands literally turned orange!

Just recently, I fell in love with the humble but mighty avocado. This super fruit with awful looking skin is soooo creamy and just full of great omega fatty acids which keep the skin supple. Fish contains a lot of omega fatty acids too but it's no comparison to avocado's versatility. I can slice open an avocado and eat the entire thing in one minute at a coffee shop--you just can't do the same thing with fresh fish. Lately, I've been making guacamole every week. I just mash up 2 avocados, mix it with 2 minced cloves of garlic, cilantro, lime juice, a splash of salt and pepper. I think avocados are definitely a staple in my diet from now on.