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Surprise: This Popular Breakfast Dish Has A Hidden Skin Benefit
Hannah Frye is the Assistant Beauty Editor at mindbodygreen. She has a B.S. in journalism and a minor in women’s, gender, and queer studies from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Hannah has written across lifestyle sections including health, wellness, sustainability, personal development, and more.
While people tend to switch up their go-to dinner menus, it's common to opt for a similar, if not the exact same, breakfast each morning. For some, this repetition may be due to a lack of time in the early hours of the day; for others, a consistent meal may serve as an enjoyable ritual (hey, we love a solid morning routine!).
Everybody has their own taste preferences, but one popular daily breakfast item has a lengthy list of benefits, one of which is particularly skin-loving. Below, we'll dive into what makes this breakfast food so powerful and why it's an adaptable pick for healthy, youthful-looking skin.
How eggs can benefit the skin.
See, eggs contain a hefty dose of high-quality protein, and the amino acids that make up this protein are particularly beneficial for skin health.
"Eggs, specifically the whites, contain a good amount of glycine and proline amino acids, which is what makes up collagen," board-certified dermatologist Whitney Bowe, M.D., once told mbg. So if you're looking to maintain balanced collagen production (and healthy, supple skin as a result), you should pay special attention to those star amino acids.
Maintaining healthy collagen production in the skin is especially important for anyone in or past their mid-20s, as your natural production begins to slowly decline with age from that point on. And while you can always opt for hydrolyzed collagen peptides to help promote your body's natural production of collagen1, grocery staples like eggs are a great way to support those levels, too.* (And if you can't tolerate eggs, don't worry: There are plenty of other tasty and nutritious foods that support collagen production.)
Bowe specifically touts egg whites, but we can't ignore the benefits of the yolk, too. After all, as brain health expert Max Lugavere once said on the mindbodygreen podcast: "I actually think it's really useful to have whole eggs as well as pure egg whites." Specifically, eggs are rich in choline, the precursor chemical for acetylcholine, one of the most fundamental neurotransmitters2.
But the best part about this breakfast item? You can add it to countless breakfast recipes if you are one to switch up your morning dish. Here are a few of our favorite ways to incorporate eggs in the morning:
- Add a cooked egg to your oatmeal for a protein boost.
- Scramble an egg or two with greens like spinach, kale, or arugula.
- Top off a slice of avocado toast with a poached egg.
- Make them the center of your meal—like this harissa egg dish.
The takeaway.
Whether you opt for the same breakfast every day or prefer to switch it up, eggs are a versatile, skin-loving ingredient you may want to consider. The specific amino acids found in eggs, called glycine and proline, make up the collagen that keeps your skin looking tight and youthful. If you can't tolerate eggs and would rather opt for a supplement to maintain balanced collagen production, you can learn more about what to look for, along with a few high-quality options here.*
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