Collagen: miracle supplement or expensive marketing hype?
If you've spent any time on social media recently, you'll probably have noticed that collagen is everywhere.
Collagen powders.
Collagen gummies.
Collagen coffees.
Collagen sachets.
Collagen for your skin.
Collagen for your joints.
Collagen for your hair.
Collagen for your bones.
Collagen for your muscles.
And, apparently, collagen for just about everything else.
The marketing is clever and I can understand why it appeals particularly to women in midlife.
We're told that declining collagen is responsible for our wrinkles, sagging skin, joint problems and ageing bodies.
Then we're offered a tub of powder that promises to help put it all right again.
But does collagen supplementation actually work?
… it's complicated and I think women deserve something a little more useful than an influencer's affiliate link.
First: collagen is important
Collagen is an important structural protein in the body. It's found in skin, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, bone and other connective tissues, and collagen production does change as we age. So the basic biology behind collagen supplements isn't nonsense.
The question is whether drinking a collagen powder actually produces meaningful benefits that justify spending your money on it.
This is where things get more interesting.
What happens when you drink collagen?
One of the biggest misunderstandings is that you drink collagen and it somehow travels straight to your skin or your knees and gets incorporated there.
It doesn't work like that - When you consume collagen peptides, your digestive system breaks them down into amino acids and small peptides.
Your body then decides what to do with those building blocks. This is important to understand because your body doesn't have a special delivery service labelled:
"Please send these amino acids directly to my wrinkles."
Your body uses the nutrients available to it according to its needs.
Which brings us to the first question:
Do you actually have enough of the raw materials to build and maintain healthy tissue?
If you're eating a varied diet with sufficient protein, fruit and vegetables and adequate micronutrients, you may already be giving your body plenty of what it needs. This is where I get slightly frustrated with the supplement industry.
Because the basics aren't sexy enough. Nobody is going to make a viral TikTok telling you: "Eat enough protein, eat your vegetables, strength train twice a week and get enough sleep."
There isn't much money in that. But these things are incredibly important for healthy ageing. They're not glamorous and you can't put them in a cute little tub and charge £40 for 30 servings.
So does collagen actually help your skin?
This is where the evidence is genuinely mixed.
Several earlier systematic reviews and meta-analyses found that hydrolysed collagen supplementation was associated with improvements in measures such as skin hydration and elasticity. For example, a 2023 meta-analysis included 26 randomised controlled trials involving 1,721 participants and reported improvements in hydration and elasticity.
Another 2025 systematic review of 25 randomised controlled trials also reported improvements in several skin measures.
Based on these findings you might reasonably conclude: "Great. Collagen works."
But here's where you need to look beyond the headline.
A 2025 meta-analysis of 23 randomised controlled trials involving 1,474 people found that collagen appeared to improve hydration, elasticity and wrinkles when all studies were pooled.
However, when the researchers looked at the studies according to funding source and quality, the apparent benefits disappeared in studies that weren't funded by pharmaceutical companies and in the higher-quality studies.
The authors concluded that there was currently no clinical evidence supporting collagen supplements for preventing or treating skin ageing.
This is a very important finding.
Because "some studies show a benefit" isn't the same as "we have strong evidence that you should spend your money on this."
What about joints?
This is where I'm more interested.
There is evidence suggesting collagen supplementation may help people with osteoarthritis.
A 2024 trial-sequential meta-analysis included 35 randomised controlled trials involving more than 3,100 people and found small-to-moderate improvements in pain and function in people with osteoarthritis, with moderate-to-high certainty of evidence for those outcomes.
Another 2024 systematic review focusing specifically on knee osteoarthritis also found improvements in pain and function across 11 RCTs involving 870 participants.
So if someone has symptomatic osteoarthritis and wants to try collagen as an adjunct to their existing management, I wouldn't dismiss it.
But notice the wording: Adjunct, as in supplement. Not replacement.
Collagen isn't a substitute for appropriate exercise, strength training, weight management where appropriate, physiotherapy or medical treatment.
And importantly, these findings relate to specific populations and outcomes.
They don't mean that every healthy woman taking collagen powder is going to develop bulletproof knees.
What about tendons?
This is another area where the research is interesting.
A 2026 systematic review of eight Randomised Controledled Trials (RCTs) found that collagen supplementation combined with resistance or plyometric training may enhance some measures of tendon remodelling.
Interestingly, the higher doses — around 15–30 g per day — were the ones associated with improvements in tendon stiffness or related measures.
But the studies were small and short, and the review found strong evidence against an additional effect on muscle strength. Evidence for other performance outcomes was much less certain.
And that brings us to a really important point.
The exercise may be doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
If you're taking collagen because you want healthier tendons, don't overlook the thing that has a very strong rationale for tendon adaptation: progressive loading.
Your tendons respond to mechanical loading.
Your muscles respond to resistance training.
Your bones respond to loading.
Your cardiovascular system responds to cardiovascular exercise.
There is a pattern here.
Exercise is not optional background decoration.
If your goal is muscle?
I'd choose your protein differently. Collagen is a protein, but it's not a particularly good muscle-building protein. It is relatively poor in some essential amino acids and has much less leucine than high-quality complete proteins.
In a controlled study comparing whey with collagen peptides during a 10-week resistance-training programme, whey produced greater increases in muscle thickness than collagen, despite the collagen being supplemented with additional leucine to match the whey group's leucine intake.
Another study found that whey stimulated muscle protein synthesis after exercise whereas collagen did not produce the same response.
So if someone tells you: "Take collagen to build muscle." I'd be sceptical.
If your priority is maintaining or building muscle in midlife, I'd suggest a more powerful combination is:
adequate total protein + good-quality protein sources + progressive resistance training.
So should I take collagen?
Here's my honest answer. Maybe. But you probably don't need it.
If you have the budget, enjoy taking it and believe you are getting a worthwhile benefit, collagen supplementation appears reasonably well tolerated and there is some evidence for specific outcomes.
For someone with osteoarthritis, for example, it may be a reasonable supplement to an appropriate exercise and treatment programme.
And there are plausible reasons why someone with a specific tendon issue might discuss collagen supplementation with a qualified professional alongside progressive loading.
But if you're a healthy woman in midlife who has been persuaded that you need collagen because you're getting older? I'd pause before handing over your money.
Ask yourself these questions first
Are you eating enough protein?
If not, fix that first. Eggs, greek yoghurt, fish, chicken, lean meat, tofu, tempeh, beans, lentils, dairy. Whatever fits your dietary preferences.
Are you eating enough fruit and vegetables?
Vitamin C is required for normal collagen formation so before buying a collagen powder containing added vitamin C, perhaps make sure you're actually eating your fruit and vegetables.
Are you strength training?
If you're worried about ageing, muscle loss, bone health and physical function, this is a much bigger conversation.
Lift something heavy: Progressively. Consistently. For years.
Are you sleeping properly?
Your body doesn't stop needing recovery because you've bought an expensive supplement.
Are you managing your overall diet?
A scoop of collagen doesn't compensate for a diet dominated by ultra-processed foods and lacking in fibre, fruit, vegetables and adequate protein.
Are you moving?
Walk, run, cycle, swim, lift, play. Do whatever you enjoy.
Your body responds to what you repeatedly ask it to do.
And this is where my real problem with the collagen industry lies
It's not that collagen is necessarily rubbish. It isn't. There are some genuinely interesting findings in the research available. My issue is the leap from "there is some evidence for a particular outcome" to "every woman over 40 needs this product."
That's marketing.
And women are particularly vulnerable to this kind of messaging because the industry knows exactly what to press: Wrinkles, menopause, weight gain, joint pain, muscle loss, ageing, loss of confidence, fear of looking older.
And then comes the solution: Buy this. I'd rather tell women something less exciting but much more empowering. You don't need to buy your way out of ageing.
You need to invest in your health.
And that investment might look remarkably ordinary.
A protein-rich breakfast.
A decent lunch.
More vegetables.
A walk outside.
Two or three strength sessions a week.
Running because you enjoy it.
Getting enough sleep.
Managing stress.
Keeping socially connected.
Looking after your cardiovascular health.
Eating enough rather than constantly dieting.
And doing the boring stuff consistently for years.
The bottom line
Collagen isn't snake oil.
There is emerging evidence for some specific benefits, particularly around osteoarthritis and potentially some aspects of connective-tissue adaptation.
But the evidence for the glamorous "anti-ageing" claims is much less convincing than social media would have you believe — particularly when study quality and funding are taken into account.
And if you're buying collagen because you think it's the missing ingredient in your healthy ageing strategy, I'd look at the foundations first.
Because there is something far more valuable than another tub of powder sitting in your kitchen cupboard.
A body that is well-fed, well-trained, well-recovered and capable of doing the things you want it to do.
That's the kind of ageing I'm interested in. Not anti-ageing. Ageing well.
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