Does Collagen Powder Work?
Collagen powder, which contains collagen peptides, has been the new buzz product in the health industry for a minute. Products claim that it can help with everything from skin appearance to gut health. But does collagen powder work? Let’s talk about it, because if you’re anything like our clients (and us!), you want to know whether or not it’s worth taking or if you should save your money instead.
What is collagen?
Collagen is the most abundant protein found in your body, which is because it’s the main structural protein (i.e. support system or building blocks) in your skin, bones, muscle, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. It’s also a main part of your organs, blood vessels, and gut lining. Collagen’s job is to help our cells grow, replace dead skin cells, protect our organs, give strength and elasticity to our skin, and help blood clot (Cleveland Clinic).
You can eat collagen in any protein food that contains skin or bones (although it may be a cut of meat that’s less than desirable), and your body can also make its own collagen.
There are five different types of collagen:
Type I: Accounts for 90% of our collagen and provides structure mainly to our skin, bones, tendons, and ligaments.
Type II: Provides joint support because it is part of our elastic cartilage.
Type III: Found in muscles, arteries, and organs.
Type IV: Found in some skin layers.
Type V: Found in our corneas, hair, placenta tissue, and some skin layers.
What is collagen powder? What are collagen peptides?
When we eat protein via our food, our digestive system breaks it down into individual amino acids (you may have heard of some of these like tryptophan and glutamine). Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. So we eat protein, it’s digested into amino acids, and our body uses these amino acids to construct other things we need to function, like hormones and neurotransmitters. Peptides are short chains of these amino acids.
Our body can’t absorb full collagen, so when we consume it, we break it into smaller pieces (called collagen peptides, and more specifically, dipeptides or tripeptides), and then individual amino acids. When we consume collagen peptides, on the other hand, we absorb 90% of them within 12 hours after eating them. After these peptides are absorbed into our blood from our intestine, our body distributes them all over - to our skin, muscles, bone, liver, kidney, brain, etc.
When you buy a collagen peptides product, this is made by changing the structure of collagen and eventually winding up with shorter segments of collagen aka collagen peptides (side note: You may also be familiar with the term gelatin, which is made up of longer collagen peptides). Collagen powder products are usually made from cows, which is why you’ll see them labeled as bovine collagen peptides. Other collagen sources on the market are pork, chicken, fish, and eggshell membranes. Interestingly, some research shows that collagen peptides from fish scales are better absorbed than those from pork skin. Some collagen products also add in things like hyaluronic acid, which may have its own benefits.
Is collagen powder a good source of protein?
I see my clients take collagen powder all the time in the hopes of increasing their protein intake. Although it does offer a pretty good amount of protein (about 10 grams for one scoop of the most popular product), collagen is not a complete protein. A complete protein is one that has all of the essential amino acids (i.e. the ones your body can’t make on its own and needs from food). Sources of complete proteins include meat, fish, dairy, eggs, and soy. For this reason, I’d be more likely to recommend a whey protein isolate, egg white, or soy protein for powders that would contain complete proteins and would likely cost a whole lot less.
However, because collagen powder does have some protein and a lot of people use their collagen at breakfast, it can offer some help in terms of staying full and satisfied into the morning. You can obviously achieve this same fullness-inducing effect by making sure your morning meal has adequate:
Protein: Eggs, breakfast meats, whole grains, beans (like in a breakfast burrito!), yogurt, milk (cow’s or protein-containing vegan milk), kefir, cottage cheese, cheese, hemp seeds, protein powders, etc.
Fiber: Whole grains, beans, nuts/seeds, fruit, veggies
Fat: Avocado, fish (I love smoked salmon!), cooking oil (like olive or avocado oils), nuts/seeds, fat in dairy, etc.
Does collagen powder work for anything?
Yes, but just not the things that these products usually market (like gut or immune health). Research shows that consuming collagen peptides seems to be effective for aging skin. A meta-analysis of the currently available research and multiple clinical studies showed that taking 4-10 grams a particular collagen peptide powder daily for 4-12 weeks improves skin hydration and elasticity in older adults. One study showed that this was especially so in sun-exposed areas (which intrigues me because your girl used to LIVE inside tanning booths). However, another study showed that it can modestly improve wrinkle depth and roughness, but not wrinkle volume. As with most nutrition research, there are also studies that contradict these results with one study showing that collagen peptide powders did not improve wrinkles or crow’s feet. There’s also a question of whether some of these results are due to the collagen alone, or whether they were due to the combination of the ingredients consumed with the collagen (like zinc and vitamins A, C, and E, all of which have been associated with skin health and appearance on their own).
The other thing that has strong-ish research supporting collagen’s use is osteoarthritis. Most research seems to support the fact that taking a collagen peptides powder can improve pain in those with knee osteoarthritis specifically. Clinical studies show that taking 10 grams of collagen peptides daily for 5 months increases the number of people who reported at least a 30% improvement in pain. Those who benefitted the most were those who either had the most joint degeneration at the start of the study and those who consumed the least amount of meat in their diet (which could be related to low protein intake and/or lower collagen intake because meat is a main source of collagen). The research supporting collagen’s use in knee osteoarthritis used to be stronger, but now experts are saying that these improvements are only considered moderate and not clinically significant.
Along those same lines, research is pretty clear at this time that collagen is not effective for improving muscle strength. However, one small clinical study showed that when untrained females (ages 18-50) and untrained males (ages 30-60) took 15 grams of a specific collagen product daily for 12 weeks PLUS did resistance training three times per week, their grip strength improved compared to resistance training alone. Grip strength is an important marker of strength in older populations, but it’s not something we think of so often in younger folks. Furthermore, those male participants had a slight improvement in fat-free mass after taking collagen peptides + resistance training vs. just resistance training alone. However, these results are really similar to the effects that are seen with whey protein… which is usually less expensive than collagen and is a complete protein.
There are so many other benefits that collagen peptide powders market, but unfortunately the research just isn’t strong enough (meaning studies are poorly designed or conflicting, for example) or doesn’t exist to support these conclusions. This includes things like acne, hair loss, athletic performance, eczema, brittle nails, GI symptoms, muscle soreness, and joint pain. So if you’re looking to take a collagen peptides powder for any of these reasons, you may want to dig into the research a bit first to decide on your own if it’s strong enough for you to want to spend your money.
What’s a dietitian’s opinion on whether or not collagen powder works?
The biggest thing we tell people is this: you can’t send collagen peptides that you’ve eaten to a specific area of the body where you want them to work. Read that again! Remember - when you eat collagen peptides, your body breaks those peptides down into individual amino acids and uses them to make any type of protein it needs… not just collagen!
Like most specialty nutrition supplements, it’s definitely pricey with a single serving ranging from $1.50 to $3.00. For something that’s not a complete protein, I’d personally say pass on making that a regular staple in my diet. But on occasion? Maybe… especially because some products out there can make your hot drinks like coffee or tea super creamy and enjoyable!
Like most of the nutrition-related fads, superfoods, and the like, more research is needed to make a conclusive decision about its use. And unfortunately, using collagen for most things is no different.
Our final recommendation is to skip it in the interest of spending your hard-earned money elsewhere where it can really make a difference (like working with a dietitian!), but we also say try it if you want to or are curious and see how you feel or how your skin looks. You might love how it makes your coffee taste, and fans also say it may help with the health of your skin and nails. But is it necessary to help with other things like digestive health? Eh… it’s not fully supported or well-researched yet, and it’s pretty pricey, so in my opinion: no.
I want to add that all statements made by collagen product companies, and any supplements for that matter, are not evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease (and neither is my information here). As you know, check with your doc before adding anything new to your diet.
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