Are collagen supplements worth it?

What is collagen?

Collagen is the superstar structural protein in your body. It makes up a whopping 30% of your body's total protein, and it's the main building block for your skin, bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

Collagen provides strength, structure, and elasticity throughout your body, and as we age, our natural production of collagen slows down. AND, factors like UV exposure, stress, smoking and a high sugar diet all damage and degrade our existing collagen.

This is where collagen supplementation comes in, promising to replenish what time takes and our modern lifestyles take away.

But do collagen supplements work?

This blog summarises the findings of a systematic review of 26 trials, involving 1721 people, researching the effects of collagen supplementation on skin.

The TL:DR

• The effects of hydrolysed collagen supplementation on skin hydration and elasticity have been investigated clinically.
• Collagen supplementation significantly improved skin hydration and elasticity compared to placebo groups.
• Marine collagen is marginally more effective than other sources.
• The duration of collagen supplementation matters - think months, not weeks.
• Overall, collagen supplementation can have positive effects on skin health, but further large-scale randomised control trials are necessary to confirm these findings.

What is skin ageing and how can collagen supplements help?

As we age, there is a marked decline in the number of fibroblasts - the cells responsible for making collagen, and the blood vessels that supply the skin. This gradual decline in the “collagen factories” within your skin leads to a decline in skin quality. Skin becomes thinner, saggier and more dehydrated.

There is also a decline in the amount of hyaluronic acid in the skin, which leads to dry, dull and dehydrated skin.

Throw in some damage from UV exposure, diet and lifestyle, pigmentation and textural changes also occur resulting in skin that is dry, dehydrated, lax and uneven in appearance.

Supplementation with collagen is becoming attractive to an increasingly ageing population, to maintain collagen levels within the skin to help reduce the signs of ageing skin.

But are they worth it?

Do collagen supplements work?

Is one type better than another?

The Study

In May 2023, a review of a number of collagen studies was published. It looked at 26 studies with 1721 participants.

The participants took hydrolyzed collagen peptides from a variety of different sources (14 x fish collagen, 1 x bovine collagen, 1 x chicken, 1 x porcine, 9 x unknown), for a variety of durations - from 2-12 weeks.

The researchers were interested in measuring two skin health indicators:

Hydration was measured using a corneometer. It is a standard way of measuring the amount of water in the uppermost layer of the skin.

Elasticity was measured using cutometry - applying a controlled negative pressure to a small area of the skin and measuring the resulting depression, which is proportional to the skin’s elasticity.

The Results

• Supplementation significantly improved skin hydration and elasticity compared to placebo groups.
• The best effects are seen after 8 weeks of supplementation, so long term supplementation yields the best results.
• Fish collagen had marginally better results than other forms of collagen.
• One study demonstrated a 38.31% improvement in skin quality after 12 weeks of collagen supplementation.
  

How does collagen supplementation work?

Scientists aren’t really sure.

Whenever you eat protein, the digestive system breaks proteins down into amino acids. Your body then takes these amino acids and makes them into tissue - skin, muscle, connective tissue, bone.

Hydrolysed proteins, like those found in collagen supplements, are, essentially, partially digested proteins, so it’s easier and quicker for them to be broken down into amino acids. These amino acids are then absorbed into the bloodstream where they are utilised by the body for growth and repair.

Researchers have radioactively tagged amino acids in collagen supplements, so they could trace them throughout the body. This tagging has shown that the amino acids in collagen supplements move from the gut, to the blood and are incorporated into the skin, bones and other connective tissues. i.e. the amino acids in collagen supplements are incorporated into the body…wherever collagen is found…not just the skin.

It’s possible that collagen supplementation works to improve skin health because it gives your skin a daily dose of easily usable amino acids…which, if you have a diet rich in protein, would provide all of the collagen building blocks needed!

Another hypothesis is that the fragments of collagen “trick” the body by indicating that it has sustained an injury, so it stimulates repair mechanisms, which result in the creation of more collagen.

Whatever the mode of action, there’s an increasing body of evidence indicating that collagen supplementation does work to improve skin health. What hasn’t been tested is whether simply eating sufficient, high quality protein does the same!

Sounds like collagen supplements might be worth a shot? What’s the rub?

Well, you need to take enough collagen (10mg/day), every day (for at least 8-12 weeks), and some of it tastes disgusting…so it can be hard to create that habit!

Collagen supplements can also be pretty expensive.

You also can’t “funnel” the collagen you take to work specifically in the skin. It will be incorporated wherever there’s collagen - skin, ligaments, tendons, cartilage.

Also, if you’re not protecting your skin from UV or your diet is awful, collagen supplementation isn’t going to be a magic bullet. At best, it will give you marginal gains if you have all the other things (healthy diet, SPF daily, don’t smoke, have collagen-boosting treatments) in place.

Click on the image to expand

And it’s not just about collagen…

Collagen synthesis is an enzyme-driven reaction, where individual amino acids (from the proteins we digest or supplements we take) are assembled into new, individual collagen chains, three of which are fashioned into a twisted strand. Lots of these strands form a collagen fibre.

Enzymes are responsible for sticking the right amino acids together in the right order and creating the collagen fibre…and not only does it need a pool of amino acids, there are a few additional “co-factors” needed too.

Vitamin C

We know that Vitamin C is perhaps the most vital for collagen synthesis. It basically helps in the assembly of the stable form of collagen. So having a supplement that contains hydrolysed collagen AND vitamin C could be beneficial.

Zinc

Zinc acts as a cofactor for proteins essential for collagen synthesis, an enzyme called collagenase. Collagenase is an enzyme that breaks down collagen in damaged tissues and helps healthy tissues grow.

Vitamin A

Retinoids, a specific form of vitamin A, can help to protect collagen from breakdown and enhance the production of new collagen. It is particularly beneficial for skin health, and is often used in prescription-strength anti-acne products. Vitamin A can stimulate the creation of new blood vessels, thus improving the delivery of nutrients to skin tissues.

The takeaway

I look at collagen supplementation as insurance.

I eat fairly well. I don’t smoke or drink. My skincare routine is solid. I avoid UV exposure and wear SPF 50 daily. I exercise. I have collagen-boosting treatments in clinic. I’m on HRT.

I take bovine collagen in my coffee each day. For me, it’s like the cherry on the cake. I do all the other things to protect and maintain my collagen levels, so adding a scoop of collagen to my morning cuppa is no hardship. But I wouldn’t attribute all my skin gains to this one thing.

Here's a link to the full study, if you're interested!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10180699/