Glow Up With Collagen?
You might have been tempted to add collagen into your daily supplement routine to live your healthiest, most glamorous and wrinkle-free life, if we were to believe the numerous ads online. I too was surprised when I opened the kitchen cupboard at my parent’s house, finding a big tub next to the oats and teabags, with my mum eagerly adding dashes of collagen into her morning cuppa. This trend appears to be hitting a nerve across different generations, with, yes, even the social-media-driven-fads-sceptical ones being on board too. And who can blame them, who wouldn’t like some extra glowy skin and hair?
Perhaps it is due to the marketing of collagen, which paints it as a premium and glamorous beauty product, often with fancy and high-end packaging. Who would have thought that a humble precursor of gelatine (yes, that’s the thing that makes jelly, and is responsible for the jiggly bits in bone broth) enters its skincare era. As it turns out, glow sells!
What is collagen?
Similar to fibre not referring to one thing, collagen ≠ collagen. Collagen is a naturally occurring, and is the most abundant protein found in various parts of our bodies, with almost 30 different types being identified so far. (1, 2) While three of the types make up more than 80% of the collagen found in our body, the remaining ones are acknowledged to still play a vital role. (1)
One of its main functions is to provide structure, strength and support to different tissues, meaning this is one of the reasons why our organs keep their distinctive shapes and don’t just become a homogenous mush inside us. (1)
The most common collagen types mentioned in connection with beauty and health supplements are type I-III, which are either sold individually, or as blends. Let’s unpack this more, shall we?
Collagen type I
Collagen type I is the main form of collagen found in skin, and is responsible for its plump, smooth and flexible appearance. Unfortunately, just like our holiday fling, collagen type I is here for a good time, not a long time, and starts ghosting us slowly from our 20s. (3) Not only does it start leaving us high and dry (literally) in one of our most vulnerable times, it packs its bags even faster in presence of excessive alcohol, insufficient sleep, lack of exercise and sun exposure (read, my 20s in a nutshell). (3)
Collagen type II
Type II is predominantly found in cartilage, particularly in joints. The majority of studies are therefore considering its role in cartilage health, osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. Collagen type II is mainly applied in a clinical environment, called tissue engineering, which is exactly what the name suggests. It is either injected directly into the joint to stimulate cartilage repair, or used to grow tissues in a lab.(4) Ever heard of ‘lab grown’ meat? Yes, this is very similar.
Collagen Type III
Type III is mostly present in tissues which stretch or expand, such as blood vessels, lung and skin. Small amounts may also be found in bone, where it plays an important role in growing our skeleton. (5)
Collagen as supplement
As we learnt above, collagen is one of the most abundant proteins, found in different tissues including skin, tendons, blood vessels and cartilage. (1) Because collagen is exclusively made by humans and mammals, I find advertisements for ‘plant’ or ‘vegan’ collagen supplements extremely misleading. When having a closer look, what these supplements actually contain are so called ‘boosters’, which is a blend of different amino acids, minerals, vitamins and more, promising to support your own body in the collagen production. Very limited research is available on these plant collagen boosters, plus their components vary greatly across different supplements making comparisons even more challenging.
The majority of available oral collagen supplements on the market are sold as hydrolised version, which allows easier absorption due to being broken down into smaller components. It also makes it more soluble (6) which means we don’t have to rawdog dry, plain cartilage powder, allowing us to add to liquid, like in my mum’s case, stirred into coffee. Pigs and cows are most commonly used sources due to their availability and similarity to us humans- just on collagen level of course. However, you might see some alternatives such as fish, chicken, ducks and even rabbit skins! (6)
Sip it or skip it?
Some promising results on improved skin hydration, elasticity and reduction of wrinkles have been reported in the literature. The duration and dosage of collagen and supplements did vary, but on average, positive results have been recorded after taking 2.5 - 10g collagen daily for 90 days. It does need some more in depth research, to consider how much other supplements or vitamins, such as Q10, taken in combination with collagen helped achieving those results. (7) Of course, as with any nutrition or supplement studies, there are other lifestyle factors difficult to account for, such as diet, sleep, other supplementation, treatments and more which can influence observed effects. A more recent review from 2025 of oral collagen supplements concluded that most benefits reported in the literature were from industry funded or lower quality studies, and recommends further research to address unanswered questions and to confirm the effectiveness of collagen. But no reason yet to throw out the baby (skin) with the bathwater, while some weaknesses in current evidence were pointed out, the potential beneficial use of collagen as supplement was not ruled out. (8)
When looking at supplementing for bone health, receiving 40 mg of collagen type II daily for 180 days have shown improvements in pain, physical function and stiffness in patients suffering with knee osteoarthritis. (9) While oral application is mostly helping with symptoms, injecting collagen potentially promotes actual cartilage production in osteoarthritis. (10)
In more recent times, collagen supplements have also been advertised with claims suggesting improvements of gut health such as bloating and repairing damaged intestinal lining. Very limited studies are available on this, with the majority being in vitro (so in a laboratory setting, outside of an actual living organism) or rat studies. One exception is a small study (20- mostly male- participants) where collagen peptides (10 g/day) were suggested to manage exercise induced gastrointestinal stress, with no improvements identified. (11) Another study recruited 40 females and prescribed 20 g collagen peptide daily, for 8 weeks. They concluded that supplementation may have reduced bloating and bowel frequency. I should note here, that only 14 people actually completed the 8 weeks, symptoms were completely self-reported and there was no control group. (12) Further, alterations of the microbial flora were detected in mice after feeding them collagen peptides, by reducing certain bacteria which are supposedly linked to obesity. (13) In regard of collagen fixing the gut barrier (leaky gut), there is currently no good-quality human study available, with most claims being based on theories, cell or animal studies. So, in case it’s not clear, we have a longgggg way to go before we can confidently say that collagen supports gut health.
The last bite
So, is it worth spending your money on expensive, but aesthetically pleasing tubs of collagen? Well, when it comes to gut health, I would not recommend relying on collagen to manage symptoms. While there is some interesting research, it’s very early days and claims are not well supported at this stage.
For skin and joint health, at this point there is no guarantee, but while you may not notice any significant improvements, collagen will unlikely make your wrinkles worse. Plus, if adding collagen assists you in keeping hydrated, I would encourage you to add it - since that is well known to help with dewy, plump skin. And, I do have to say, my mum is glowing and beautiful. If that is from adding collagen, her positive outlook on life, her frequent walks or just from the daily ritual of sitting down while relaxing and enjoying a nice cuppa, it really does not matter. It is likely a combination of all of the above, including investing in good skin care, but what we know so far, there is no harm in adding a dash of collagen into your daily routine.
Good to know: Collagen is not a ‘complete’ protein, meaning it lacks some amino acids which are essential for our bodies to function. As long as you do not rely on collagen as your sole protein source, this is no issue- just be aware of ‘high protein’ claims on consumables where collagen is the only added protein source.
References
1. Bielajew BJ, Hu JC, Athanasiou KA. Collagen: quantification, biomechanics and role of minor subtypes in cartilage. Nature Reviews Materials. 2020;5(10):730-47.
2. Ricard-Blum S. The collagen family. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2011;3(1):a004978.
3. Reilly DM, Lozano J. Skin collagen through the lifestages: importance for skin health and beauty. Plastic and Aesthetic Research. 2021;8:N/A-N/A.
4. Wu Z, Korntner SH, Mullen AM, Zeugolis DI. Collagen type II: From biosynthesis to advanced biomaterials for cartilage engineering. Biomaterials and Biosystems. 2021;4:100030.
5. Volk SW, Shah SR, Cohen AJ, Wang Y, Brisson BK, Vogel LK, et al. Type III collagen regulates osteoblastogenesis and the quantity of trabecular bone. Calcif Tissue Int. 2014;94(6):621-31.
6. Al Hajj W, Salla M, Krayem M, Khaled S, Hassan HF, El Khatib S. Hydrolyzed collagen: Exploring its applications in the food and beverage industries and assessing its impact on human health–A comprehensive review. Heliyon. 2024;10(16).
7. de Miranda RB, Weimer P, Rossi RC. Effects of hydrolyzed collagen supplementation on skin aging: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Int J Dermatol. 2021;60(12):1449-61.
8.Myung S-K, Park Y. Effects of collagen supplements on skin aging: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. The American journal of medicine. 2025.
9 .Lugo JP, Saiyed ZM, Lane NE. Efficacy and tolerability of an undenatured type II collagen supplement in modulating knee osteoarthritis symptoms: a multicenter randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Nutr J. 2015;15(1):14.
10. Tarantino D, Mottola R, Palermi S, Sirico F, Corrado B, Gnasso R. Intra-Articular Collagen Injections for Osteoarthritis: A Narrative Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2023;20(5):4390.
11. Taylor G, Leonard A, Tang JC, Dunn R, Fraser WD, Virgilio N, et al. The effects of collagen peptides on exercise-induced gastrointestinal stress: a randomized, controlled trial. Eur J Nutr. 2023;62(2):1027-39.
12. Abrahams M, O’Grady R, Prawitt J. Effect of a daily collagen peptide supplement on digestive symptoms in healthy women: 2-phase mixed methods study. JMIR formative research. 2022;6(5):e36339.
13. Baek GH, Yoo KM, Kim SY, Lee DH, Chung H, Jung SC, et al. Collagen Peptide Exerts an Anti-Obesity Effect by Influencing the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes Ratio in the Gut. Nutrients. 2023;15(11).
