You may have heard that collagen helps your skin look younger and your hair look healthier.
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But what is collagen, what does it do to your body, and can it really reverse the effects of aging and improve your health? Here, I’ll answer these questions and more.
Collagen is a group of proteins. They make up about one-third of the protein in your body and provide the structure for tissues like cartilage, skin and tendons.
Your body produces collagen from the amino acids that you take in through food. However, this ability starts to decline after age 20.
Collagen cannot be absorbed unless it’s broken down into smaller amino acids. So, collagen supplements are not actually collagen. They are components of collagen already broken down into absorbable form.
Collagen supplements come in pill or powder form. The powder form will not turn into a gel when it hits liquid, so it can be mixed with food or beverages.
There are several reasons people say you should take collagen supplements, such as building muscle and reducing wrinkles in the skin.
And while collagen supplements probably won’t hurt you, they may not help you either.
Collagen is the building block of protein in the body. Collagen is going to help your body in the same ways that eating protein would help your body. So, you don’t have to take collagen supplements to get those benefits; you can eat other sources of protein.
Any edible source of protein has the amino acids you need to build protein, including collagen. That includes animal- and plant-based proteins. Collagen can be found in all animal muscle tissue (not organ tissue), bone broth, egg whites and spirulina. These sources provide the same benefits as collagen supplements.
Your body makes collagen and other proteins by combining various amino acids. In order for your body to do this, though, you must eat a healthy diet that includes all the amino acids. Taking collagen may give you extra amounts of some amino acids, but not all. The key is eating a healthy, balanced diet that gives you a variety of amino acids to meet your body’s needs. This ensures that you have the nutrients you need to produce collagen and other proteins, without the trouble, expense and uncertainty of relying on a supplement.
In order to access amino acids and other nutrients in your food, your body breaks that food down. So, eating foods rich in collagen doesn’t give your body collagen. It just gives your body amino acids that it will reassemble into whatever protein it needs.
It’s also important to remember that it doesn’t work to take collagen for a specific issue like getting rid of skin wrinkles, relieving joint pain or growing your hair. We don’t get to decide how our body will use the amino acids in food or supplements. So, there is no reason to believe that taking a supplement works better than healthy eating.
It depends on what your goals are. Similar to how you eat various sources of protein daily to help meet your body’s needs, it’s the same with collagen supplements.
A supplement is meant to be supplementary to your normal diet and enhance the things your diet is already doing for your body. If your goal is to get the maximum benefit that is proposed, you should take it daily.
Collagen supplements are generally made from connective tissue, bones and other parts of cows, pigs, chicken and fish. They can contain toxins and heavy metals that could be harmful. As with all supplements, collagen is not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). So, the purity of their active ingredient is not standardized.
Collagen supplements do not have to be proven effective or safe. The studies that have been done on the safety and effectiveness of collagen supplements are limited and most were funded by the supplement industry, creating concerns of bias.
If you choose to take a collagen supplement, make sure that it has been third-party tested for safety and efficacy. If it contains toxins and heavy metals, the risks may outweigh any potential benefits.
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Collagen supplements can also be expensive. And while you may be able to find more affordable options online, exercise caution. If they’re less expensive, they’re less likely to be third-party tested and have that safety verification.
While there is some research looking into the relationship between collagen and cancer, there is not enough evidence to recommend taking supplements after a cancer diagnosis or during cancer treatment. Patients should always consult with their doctor before taking any supplement, as some can interfere with treatment.
Your lifestyle plays a role in how much collagen you produce and how well collagen works in your body. Aside from eating a healthy diet that has plenty of protein, there are steps you can take to preserve collagen. All of these healthy lifestyle choices have the added benefit of reducing your cancer risk:
The bottom line: The body needs amino acids to build collagen. Collagen supplements may provide these nutrients, but there is limited evidence that they are effective in improving skin, hair or overall health. There are several healthy lifestyle choices that are proven to do that.
Lindsey Wohlford is a wellness dietitian at MD Anderson.
Collagen dietary supplements are becoming increasingly popular, and patients may approach dermatologists for guidance and recommendations. Demand for collagen supplements is increasing at a pace disproportionate to the availability of research on their efficacy and safety. In , approximately 77 percent of the US population reported using at least one type of supplement.1 Collagen supplements, in particular, have seen increased growth, with the market size of the collagen industry expected to reach $7.5 billion by .2
Despite growing interest from consumers, the FDA does not maintain a list of dietary supplements or their ingredients. To document collagen supplement ingredients and identify any concerns, we surveyed locally available collagen dermatology supplements.
Our analysis of collagen supplements draws from a larger survey of dermatology supplements.3 Dermatology supplements were defined as those containing the words “skin,” “hair,” “nails,” or “glow” within the name or tagline. The Supplement Facts label and ingredient list were reviewed to identify collagen-containing supplements. We obtained a total of 59 collagen supplements from retail stores within a three-mile radius of a Houston dermatology practice.
Where does the collagen found in these supplements come from? Does it matter in terms of efficacy or safety? We have very little data available to answer these questions. Research on collagen supplements for dermatology outcomes is limited, and many questions remain regarding efficacy, quality, and safety. This is in part due to the fact that the collagen supplements in these studies vary significantly in terms of their source, types, and formulations.4
Our survey indicates that manufacturers also lack consensus on the “best” type of collagen in dermatology supplements, with a wide variation noted. One product used collagen from “cowhide, chicken bone broth, hydrolyzed fish collagen, and eggshell membrane collagen.” Furthermore, we noted a lack of ingredient transparency among many manufacturers. More than half (30) of the supplements reviewed did not provide any information on the collagen source(s).
When listed, collagen source(s) included (in decreasing prevalence) bovine, marine, chicken, eggshell, and porcine sources (Table 1). One supplement indicated that it contained “grass-fed” collagen, while two supplements used four different sources in a single product.
The type of collagen varied as well: hydrolyzed collagen (37 percent), collagen peptides (29 percent), specific branded collagens (seven percent), and unspecified collagen types (27 percent). Formulations similarly lacked consistency. Supplements were available as powders (31 percent), tablets (22 percent), capsules (15 percent), liquids (14 percent), gummies (10 percent), soft gels (five percent), or chewables (three percent).
For individuals with food allergies, inadequate ingredient disclosure increases their risk. Ten supplements (17 percent) in our sample indicated sourcing from “fish”; of these, nine lacked allergen warnings. As previously mentioned, the majority of products lacked any information at all on collagen sourcing.
Although the allergenicity of collagen powders derived from marine sources requires further research, previous reports have indicated that fish collagen is an important allergen in some patients, while hydrolyzed fish collagen has been reported to cause anaphylaxis in others.5,6 Additionally, there have been cases of allergic reactions to foods containing bovine-derived and porcine-derived gelatin, a denatured form of collagen.7,8
Similarly concerning is the overall lack of information on the processing and quality of collagen supplements. Limited evaluations have been published regarding the quality of collagen supplements. An independent investigative laboratory, ConsumerLab evaluated 15 collagen powders and found one contaminated with cadmium, a toxic heavy metal.9
Under the FDA, supplements are regulated as foods rather than drugs. Dietary supplements are thus exempt from federal pre-market review. Instead, manufacturers are responsible for determining product safety and efficacy.10 Manufacturers may establish their own parameters for industry compliance with regard to the identity of ingredients, intermediary components, and final product composition. These private specifications contribute to a lack of industry uniformity, as products can possess similar labels yet differ drastically in terms of composition.
In response, patients are advised by government agencies to seek products that have undergone quality testing by independent third-party laboratories, such as the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), NSF International, or ConsumerLab. These organizations then provide seals of approval.10 Unfortunately, no products in our cohort displayed these certifications.
As patients continue to seek dietary supplements for skin, hair, and nail health, it is important that dermatologists caution and educate patients. Our survey identified several key concerns for patients. A major concern is the lack of ingredient transparency among collagen dermatology supplements. Almost half of products lacked information on the source of their collagen, raising concerns for allergenicity. Another concern is that of quality. Consumers should be aware that there is no such thing as FDA approval for supplements, and contamination has been reported in at least one collagen supplement. Although consumers are advised by the FDA to seek out products that have undergone testing by recognized independent investigative laboratories, none of the products we surveyed displayed these seals, further highlighting that although this is a lucrative industry, many questions and consumer concerns remain.
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