Collagen Benefits for Anti-Aging: Health, Youth, and Glow
Collagen is often called the building block of beauty, and for a good reason. This essential protein plays a vital role in maintaining the structure and elasticity of your skin, the strength of your hair and nails, the health of your joints and bones, and more.
With age, body’s natural collagen production may decline, leading to visible signs of aging, such as wrinkles, sagging skin, and joint discomfort. Fortunately, scientific research shows that collagen supplementation can counteract these effects and promote rejuvenation from the inside out.
Explore how collagen supports your skin, hair, nails, joints, and bones — for a healthier, more vibrant You.
Collagen in the Body (adapted from Campos, L. D. et al., 2023)
😍 Skin Health & Youth
Collagen is the foundation of youthful, radiant skin. It restores elasticity, reduces wrinkles, and keeps your skin hydrated by boosting the skin’s structural integrity and promoting natural repair processes.
The skin is the body’s largest organ. Collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid — are the 3 main components of the skin. They are produced by fibroblast cells in the skin. [1]
Structure of young, health skin and the effect of aging on its structure (adapted from Campos, L. D. et al., 2023)
Oral collagen supplementation restores collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid synthesis by stimulating fibroblast cells, and by providing them building blocks. [2]
- supports the skin's structural integrity,
- improves skin hydration and elasticity,
- reduces the appearance of wrinkles,
- and promotes overall skin health.
Human Studies
- The 2020 Review of 10 randomized placebo-controlled human studies has concluded that 10/10 studies have shown improved skin health, such as moisture, elasticity, wrinkle number and dryness. Studies ranged in duration from 8 weeks to 12 months, with results apparent as soon as 6 weeks, and used doses up to 10 g/day. [3]
- A 2021 review of 19 clinical studies, with a total of 1125 participants aged 20-70 years, has concluded: "...collagen peptides can delay and improve the signs of skin aging by decreasing facial wrinkles and improving skin hydration and elasticity, while the supplementation is maintained. The time required to delay skin aging in most studies was 90 days, and the result was maintained for 4 weeks after the end of supplement administrations... Supplement intake is effective and safe because no adverse effects were reported in any of the analyzed studies..." [4]
- The most recent 2024 randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study of 80 women aged 30 years and older has concluded: "After 6 weeks, participants that received collagen had significant improvements in biometric skin wrinkle parameters from baseline, with a reduction in volume by 46%, in area by 44%, and in depth by 9%, along with a greater increase in skin moisturization (by 34%) than those in the placebo group" [5]
Changes in Skin parameters (on crow’s feet) after 6 weeks of Collagen Peptides intake in healthy women aged 30-65, in the 2024 clinical study (adapted from Carrillo-Norte, J. A. et al., 2024)
🤩 Hair & Nails Glow
Healthy, strong hair and nails owe much to collagen. This remarkable protein has shown promise in reducing hair fall, stimulating hair growth, and strengthening nails, giving you the glow of youth and vitality!
Cell & Animal Studies
- "...collagen peptides may help to prevent hair loss and maintain healthy hair by preserving epithelial HF stem cells and/or improving the generation of stem cells progenies." [6]
- "...collagen peptides could be used as food supplements and nutraceuticals for hair loss prevention as well as hair regrowth during alopecia." [7]
- "...collagen peptides has the potential to increase hair growth via activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway." [8]
Human Studies
There were 3 human studies regarding collagen effects on hair health [9, 10, 11] , and 1 on nails [12]:
- "An oral supplement containing hydrolysed fish-origin collagen, taurine, cysteine, methionine, iron, and selenium has demonstrated to improve the clinical efficacy of specific anti-hair loss treatments in subjects with androgenic alopecia or telogen effluvium." [9]
- "It was observed after 56 days that therapy with SRC (the mix of 5g Collagen Peptides, vitamins C and E, Hyaluronic Acid, and Biotin), compared to placebo, produced a substantial effect on reduction of wrinkle depth and fine lines by 48.11% and 39%, respectively. There was a 15.69% improvement in skin hydration observed and 28% reduction in hair fall." [10]
- After 12 weeks [hydrolyzed collagen and vitamin C] vs. placebo, skin hydration was increased by 13.8%, R2 elasticity index was increased by 22.7%...an average 11.0% improvement in scalp scaling and a 27.6% increase in the total number of hairs counted vs. placebo. This was associated with a 31.9% increase in clinical grading score for hair healthy appearance." [11]
- "Bioactive collagen peptides treatment promoted an increase of 12% nail growth rate and a decrease of 42% in the frequency of broken nails. Additionally, 64% of participants achieved a global clinical improvement in brittle nails, and 88% of participants experienced an improvement 4 weeks post-treatment." [12]
🦵 Joint Health
Whether you’re an athlete or just staying active, collagen is key to joint health. Research supports its ability to enhance mobility, alleviate joint pain, and protect against wear and tear.
There were at least 14 randomized clinical studies on the efficiency of hydrolyzed collagen peptides in improving joint health (8 in people with osteoarthritis and 6 on healthy people), and all except one have showed improvements. [13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20; 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26]
Some examples:
- "...the results suggest that athletes consuming collagen hydrolysate can reduce parameters (such as pain) that have a negative impact on athletic performance..." [21]
- "These findings suggest 10 to 20 g/d of collagen peptides supplementation over 6 to 9 months may improve activities of daily living, pain, mental component scores, and physical component scores in middle-aged active adults." [25]
- "In conclusion, the daily intake of 5 g of specific collagen peptides...resulted in...decrease in functional joint pain at rest, during walking and when climbing stairs... Furthermore...resulted in...reduction in pain when kneeling down and restrictions when squatting..." [26]
🦴 Bone Health
Collagen forms the backbone of bone health. Supplementing with collagen peptides supports bone density and healthy elasticity.
Bone is approximately 10% water, 30% organic, and 60% inorganic. Collagen makes almost 9/10 of the organic part. [27]
A couple of studies on animals [28, 29] and 3 human clinical studies [30, 31, 32] have shown the benefits of collagen intake for bone health.
Human studies
One study investigated the effects of solely collagen peptides:
- "In the specific collagen peptides group, bone mineral density of the spine and of the femoral neck increased significantly compared to the control group...a favorable shift in bone markers, indicating increased bone formation and reduced bone degradation." [30]
Another study — in combination with Calcium and Vitamin D:
- "The loss of whole body bone mineral density in women taking [collagen, calcium, vitamin D) was substantially lower than that of the control group at 12 months" [31]
The third study compared Collagen peptides, Calcium and Vitamin D vs just Calcium and Vitamin D:
- "The addition of collagen peptides in a calcium and vitamin D supplement may enhance its already known positive effect on bone metabolism" [32]
Conclusion
Collagen supplementation is more than just a beauty trend — it’s a science-based solution for health, glow and rejuvenation! No matter what, Forever Hot 🔥🔥🔥
