Loose Skin After Weight Loss or Aging: An Ancestral Blueprint to Rebuild

Loose Skin After Weight Loss or Aging? Rebuild Naturally with Ancestral Nutrition

Ancestral Nutrition
September 10, 2025•7 min read

Loose Skin After Weight Loss or Aging? Rebuild Naturally with Ancestral Nutrition

Why Skin Gets Loose

Loose skin is one of the most common frustrations people face after losing a significant amount of weight—or simply as part of the natural aging process. In fact, studies show that nearly 70% of individuals who lose more than 100 pounds struggle with loose skin that doesn’t fully retract on its own (American Society of Bariatric Physicians, 2020). Aging compounds the issue: after age 30, collagen production declines by 1% per year and skin elasticity diminishes, leading to sagging even without major weight loss.

But here’s the empowering truth: loose skin isn’t permanent. With the right nutrition, lifestyle practices, and consistency, you can support your body’s natural ability to rebuild collagen and elastin. The principle is simple: nourish to rebuild.

This article ties directly into our past discussions:

The principle is simple: Nourish to Rebuild.

1. Nutrition First: Building Skin From the Inside Out

Your skin is mostly protein and fat, which means your diet must supply those raw materials. This is why “lotions and potions” don’t fix loose skin—it’s an inside job.

A. Collagen-Rich Foods (Non-Negotiable)

  • Bone Broth: Homemade broth (24–48 hr simmer) is the gold standard. It delivers collagen, glycine, proline, and minerals in the exact form your body needs. Cheaper protein powders (like Vital Proteins) often test high in heavy metals and lack the nutrient density of true ancestral foods.

  • Tough Meats & Cartilage: Oxtail, shank, chuck roast, chicken skin, salmon skin. When slow-cooked, these break down into gelatin, feeding your skin directly.

👉 For more on why ancestral fats (like tallow, ghee, butter) beat seed oils for cellular health, check out the latest blog: The Fat Truth — Why Ghee, Tallow & Butter Beat Seed Oils.

📌 Expert Insight — Dr. Paul Saladino

“Collagen, elastin, and healthy skin come from animal foods—nose-to-tail nutrition like bone broth, organ meats, and connective tissue. Plants can’t provide what your skin truly needs to rebuild.”

B. High-Quality Protein

  • Grass-Fed Red Meat: Provides amino acids, creatine, and carnitine that support muscle and skin health.

  • Pasture-Raised Eggs: Perfect protein + biotin for skin strength.

  • Wild-Caught Fish: Especially sardines and salmon for Omega-3s that reduce inflammation and improve elasticity.

  • Organ Meats: Liver delivers Vitamin A, copper, and B vitamins, critical cofactors for collagen synthesis.

📌 Expert Insight — Dr. Gabrielle Lyon

“Loose skin isn’t just about the skin—it’s about what’s underneath it. Building lean muscle mass provides the structure and support your skin needs, especially as you age or lose weight.”

C. Healthy Fats = Healthy Skin Cells

Your skin cells are made from fat. If you eat poor-quality fats, you build poor-quality skin.

  • Eat: Grass-fed butter, ghee, tallow, avocado, olive oil, coconut oil.

  • Avoid: Industrial seed oils (soy, canola, corn, sunflower)—they damage collagen and accelerate skin aging.

👉 See my earlier blog on Processed to Primal: Preparing Plants, Unlocking Superfoods, and Reclaiming Health for more about fats, whole foods, and ancestral practices.

📌 Expert Insight — Dr. Ken Berry

“Your skin is made from the food you eat. If you want tight, healthy skin, you have to feed it the right building blocks—real protein, collagen, and fat from animal sources, not processed powders and fake foods.”

D. Hydration with Minerals

Water alone isn’t enough. Add mineral-rich salts (Redmond Real Salt, Celtic sea salt) to water or food to deliver hydration to your cells—where collagen is made.

2. Ancestral-Aligned Supplementation (Clean, Grass-Fed & Tested)

Here’s where most people go wrong: they buy the cheapest collagen powders they find online. Unfortunately, many of these—including popular brands like Vital Proteins—have tested high in heavy metals and come from questionable sources.

That’s why grass-fed, pasture-raised, and third-party tested collagen matters. It ensures you’re building skin with clean, high-quality building blocks—not toxins.

👉 To make it simple, I’ve curated trusted products for you here: Do Life Healthier

  • Ancestral Supplements & Heart & Soil

    • Grass-Fed Collagen: Hydrolyzed collagen peptides from clean sources.

    • Beef Organs: Whole-food Vitamin A, copper, and essential cofactors.

    • Bone & Marrow: Collagen + minerals + hyaluronic acid (like concentrated bone broth).

    • Living Collagen: Multi-type collagen (I, II, III, V, X) for comprehensive repair.

  • Ancient Nutrition

    • Multi Collagen Protein: Blends from bovine, chicken, fish, and eggshell membrane for full-spectrum collagen.

  • Key Support Nutrients

    • Vitamin C: Absolutely required for collagen production. Choose whole-food sources like Camu Camu or Acerola.

    • Hyaluronic Acid: Helps your skin retain hydration and elasticity.

    • Gelatin: Easy to use in homemade gummies, another ancestral-approved collagen source.

These are the tools I recommend to clients because they’re pure, effective, and aligned with ancestral living.

3. Lifestyle Practices: Signal Your Body to Tighten Skin

A. Strength Training Builds the Foundation

Loose skin sits over muscle. Add muscle, and you create a firmer, tighter appearance.

  • Focus on compound lifts: squats, deadlifts, push-ups, rows - using dumbbells or kettlebells over bars and machines are more efficient and better for overall functional movement.

  • Build your core: planks, hanging leg raises, rotational movements and exercise bands.

    📌 Expert Insight — Dr. Shawn Baker

    “We’ve been misled into thinking topical creams fix skin. They don’t. Skin health is an inside job—nutrient-dense animal foods, strength training, and time are what restore elasticity.”

B. Fasting & Autophagy

Fasting signals your body to clean up old, damaged proteins and recycle them. This includes damaged collagen.

  • Start with 14–16 hr daily fasts.

  • Once adapted, try occasional 24–36 hr fasts (consult a doctor).

As Dr. Jason Fung says: “Fasting isn’t about starving yourself—it’s about giving your body the chance to repair itself.”

C. Skin Care the Ancestral Way

  • Dry Brushing: Stimulates circulation and lymph flow.

  • Tallow Balm: Grass-fed beef tallow is almost identical to human skin oils and nourishes deeply.

  • Natural Oils: Coconut or emu oil as clean alternatives to chemical-laden creams.

D. Patience & Consistency

Skin remodeling takes time—6–12 months of consistent effort. Stick with it. Your skin will catch up with your progress.

The Bottom Line: Nourish to Rebuild

Loose skin is not a permanent sentence. Whether from major weight loss or the natural aging process, your body can rebuild when you supply it with the right tools:

  • Nutrient-dense ancestral foods (bone broth, organ meats, wild fish, eggs, healthy fats).

  • Clean, grass-fed collagen and organ supplements (👉 Do Life Healthier).

  • Strength training, fasting, and ancestral self-care practices.

This isn’t about gimmicks—it’s about aligning with how humans have healed and rebuilt for thousands of years.

Your skin can be renewed. Your structure can be rebuilt. All it takes is the commitment to nourish from the inside out.

References & Resources

1. Gary Brecka

2. Dr. Eric Berg

3. Dr. Shawn Baker

4. Dr. Paul Saladino

5. Dr. Ken Berry

6. Dave Asprey

7. Andrew Huberman

8. Dr. Gabrielle Lyon

9. Dr. Mindy Pelz

10. Dr. Catherine Shanahan

  • Focus: Seed oils, deep nutrition, traditional fats.

  • YouTube: (Search for interviews)

  • Website: DrCate.com

11. Dr. Anthony Chaffee

12. Dr. Bill Schindler

13. Dr. Mary Ruddick

Scientific Studies & Journals:

  • American Society of Bariatric Physicians (2020) — Post Weight Loss Skin Health Report

  • National Institutes of Health (NIH) — Collagen Decline with Aging Studies

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Coach Ron Lyons helps high-performing entrepreneurs scale their businesses with smart marketing, strategic automations, and cutting-edge AI tools—while optimizing their health through an ancestrally aligned lifestyle. Whether you're running an online or offline business, your success depends on leveraging technology (like CRM systems and passive income streams) just as much as honoring your biology with real food, natural movement, and deep recovery. Ready to upgrade your revenue and your resilience? Book a free consultation to build a business—and a life—that thrives.

Ron Lyons

Coach Ron Lyons helps high-performing entrepreneurs scale their businesses with smart marketing, strategic automations, and cutting-edge AI tools—while optimizing their health through an ancestrally aligned lifestyle. Whether you're running an online or offline business, your success depends on leveraging technology (like CRM systems and passive income streams) just as much as honoring your biology with real food, natural movement, and deep recovery. Ready to upgrade your revenue and your resilience? Book a free consultation to build a business—and a life—that thrives.

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