Collagen is all the rage these days, but what actually is it? Is supplementation necessary, and what health benefits, if any, does it provide?
Collagen is incredibly popular right now as a powdered supplement. People are adding it to coffee, soups, oatmeal, you name it. Many dietitians have even jumped on the collagen bandwagon. What does the research actually say though? Let’s find out together!
But first, what is collagen?
Our bodies contain a lot of collagen. It’s a structural protein that exists in connective tissue like muscles, ligaments, tendons, and our skin.
How do we get collagen?
Collagen is naturally produced in our body. In order for synthesis in the body to occur we need the amino acids glycine, proline, and lysine. Out of these amino acids, only one, lysine, is essential, meaning that we need to get it from our diet. The other two can be made in the body using other amino acids. Collagen synthesis also requires Vitamin C as a cofactor which also needs to come from our food.
It also exists in some of the foods we might eat like bone broth and pork skin. The popular place a lot of people are getting collagen nowadays, however, is from supplements. The most popular are hydrolyzed collagen peptides which are a powder people mix into drinks, coffee, or other foods/beverages.
What does collagen do for our body?
Collagen in the body is important for things like joint and skin elasticity, bone health, muscle repair, among other things. It’s synthesized in our body from amino acids like we talked about, in order to do these things. As we age, however, synthesis steadily decreases. This is one of the reasons why collagen supplementation has become so popular.
Is the collagen we get from foods or supplements the same as what’s synthesized in our body naturally?
No. The collagen we get from foods or supplements is generally derived from either cattle, poultry, or fish. There is very limited research demonstrating the potential effects of consumption of collagen from foods (like bone broth). Basically, we just don’t know if our body is able to utilize the collagen from these sources to do anything.
Supplements, however, have been researched a bit more. An important thing to remember, is that they’ve only been researched more because the supplement companies have paid for this research. That’s not to say that the findings are flat-out wrong by any means, but it is something to be aware of. And, because each supplement company has only paid for their own supplement to be researched, we don’t really know if all supplements have the same potential benefits. They’re all a little different, and come from different sources (poultry, cattle, fish, etc), so the results are pretty challenging to generalize.
What does the research say about potential benefits of collagen supplementation?
As I mentioned, the results are pretty difficult to interpret because each supplement company has only really done research on their particular supplement. A lot of this research was also done ex vivo, meaning outside of the human body. Basically, there’s not a lot of high quality research of humans actually ingesting collagen supplements and then documentation of what happens.
Skin
There is some research (again, sponsored by collagen companies) to suggest that supplementation may be beneficial in reducing signs of skin aging like wrinkles. Another important thing to note is that all of this research included supplementation with other vitamins/minerals, so we don’t really know if collagen on its own has these effects. Other claims, like that it improves acne, eczema, etc have no scientific backing.
Joint Health
There is some research (primarily sponsored by collagen companies) to suggest that supplementation may help with joint pain associated with conditions like osteoarthritis. Many of these studies failed to provide key information, however, like the statistical significance of their findings. Basically, it could help, but we still don’t have a ton of data on what dosing and type of collagen might be most beneficial.
Gut Health
There’s no research to suggest that collagen supplementation is beneficial in promoting gut health. Further, there’s no evidence that gut disorders like IBS, IBD, etc benefit from supplementation.
Muscle Growth
An important thing to note here is that collagen is not a complete protein. This means that it does not contain all of the essential amino acids that our bodies need. There’s a little research out there that suggests supplementation may be helpful at preserving muscle mass for elderly individuals experiencing sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass). In younger people, however, we don’t have enough data to draw any conclusions.
Bone Health
There’s a little research in post-menopausal women to suggest that collagen supplementation may be helpful in reducing risk of osteoporosis. Big emphasis on the “may” here though because the sample sizes were pretty small for these studies. The evidence is too limited to make any strong claims one way or the other.
Heart Health
We really don’t have a lot of data here either. There’s been a few, very small studies, that have shown supplementation may increase artery flexibility and increase HDL (good) cholesterol. Again though, there’s not enough data for me to feel comfortable suggesting that collagen is actually helpful for heart health.
Hair and Nails
There are many claims out there that supplementation enhances skin and nail strength and health. We don’t have much data on this though, so as of now, these claims are largely unproven.
Brain Health
We don’t have anything here either. Proponents claim it boosts energy levels, improves mood, and reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression. There’s no evidence to support any of these claims, however.
Weight Loss
Again, no good research exists to support the claims that supplementation enhances weight loss.
As a dietitian, what is your opinion on collagen supplementation?
I’ve got to be honest, I don’t like it. While the potential research around osteoporosis, sarcopenia, and skin health are exciting, in my opinion there’s not enough strong research to draw any conclusions around collagen supplementations potential benefits. Despite this, however, there’s no shortage of proponents claiming that it helps with literally everything. The placebo effect is strong here, my friends (meaning if you believe something will provide a certain effect, there’s a stronger chance it will).
Furthermore, the fact that the majority of the research we do have is either 1) sponsored by the supplement industry, 2) done in animal models, 3) ex vivo (outside of the human body), 4) performed with a really small sample size, and/or 5) doesn’t take into consideration the multitude of other things that influence skin/bone/muscle health, I’m skeptical, to say the least. For more info on what to look for in a scientific study, check out this blog post.
My other primary concern is the lack of regulation in the supplementation industry at large. The FDA has no oversight over supplements, so essentially, collagen supplement manufacturers have nobody checking to ensure their products contain what they claim, are safe, and are effective. More on that here.
Now, that’s not to say that all dietitians are as skeptical as I am about collagen. There are dietitians out there who personally supplement. For me though, the research just isn’t strong enough. I don’t personally feel comfortable making a recommendation to supplement with collagen (and these supplements are wicked expensive too). Ultimately, it’s up to you to determine for yourself whether or not you’d like to supplement with collagen.
TL;DR
Collagen is a structural protein, synthesized by our bodies from amino acids, and is found in connective tissues like muscle, tendons, and skin.
There is some research to suggest that collagen supplementation may be helpful at reducing signs of skin-aging.
Some research suggests that collagen supplementation may be helpful at reducing muscle mass loss in elderly individuals with sarcopenia.
There is some research to suggest that collagen supplementation may be helpful at reducing risk for osteoporosis in post-menopausal women.
Research on potential benefits of food sources of collagen is essentially non-existent.
Based on the limited research that exists, lack of regulation of supplements, and high cost of supplementation I, as a dietitian, do not currently recommend collagen supplementation.