Pills made of cow collagen attract the A-list herd, but do they work?
The powdered beauty supplement is one of the year’s biggest wellness trends. But can it can really recapture your youth?
Every morning for the past year, while her coffee brews, Libby Brodie has added a hefty scoop of collagen powder to a glass of water and downed it in one. “It’s probably the only thing I do for my skin,” says Brodie, 42.
Her powdered supplement, which costs pounds 32 a month for 40 servings, contains “bovine hydrolysed collagen” – a protein derived from cows. The benefits, according to the manufacturers, include boosted growth for skin, hair and nails, improved joint mobility and “menopause support”. Brodie is unsure if the powder helps her skin or not, “though people do say I look ten years younger than I am. But what I have noticed is that my hair is much thicker.”
Brodie is not the only one buying into collagen: the powders, gummies, capsules and drinks have become a multi-billion-pound industry. According to recent YouGov polling, 15 per cent of women and 5 per cent of men have bought a collagen product in the last six months.
Thanks to A-list fans including Jennifer Aniston and Victoria Beckham, collagen-infused coffee has become one of the biggest wellness trends of the year. Supermarkets are cashing in: Sainsbury’s sells a “collagen raw pressed juice” at pounds 4 a bottle and Lidl has stocked “collagen water”. At Joe & the Juice you can add a scoop of collagen to your pounds 10 smoothie for 95p. You can even buy “collagen brownies”. But does any of it actually work?
Collagen is a protein produced by your body to add structure, elasticity and strength to tissue. In short, it helps keep skin plump, joints and bones strong, and hair and nails healthy.
However, by our mid-twenties collagen production begins to decline, eventually leading to fine lines and wrinkles in your skin, brittle nails and thinning hair. Sun exposure and smoking can speed up the decline, as can the menopause, because oestrogen plays a key role in making the protein.
The collagen used in supplements and beauty products is derived primarily from animals. If broken down into smaller peptides it can be absorbed by humans in the small intestine, allowing it to enter the bloodstream. The effectiveness of skin creams containing collagen is debated because the full molecule is too large to penetrate your skin.
The science behind collagen supplements is not convincing, either. “The majority of trials are small, with often fewer than 100 participants,” says Dr Anjali Mahto, a consultant dermatologist at Self London.
She says these trials are often conducted by the brands selling the products, so there is a vested interest, and even when the data shows improvements “the change tends to be modest”.
Beibei Du-Harpur, a dermatologist at King’s College London, is more sceptical: “There is no collagen in your hair or nails … its role in promoting hair or nail growth and quality is not proven.” She believes the real key to collagen’s success is marketing. “People love the idea of shortcuts.”
Du-Harper says it is unlikely that collagen supplements cause any harm, but that “supplements in general operate within a regulatory blind spot and are not well studied for side-effects, or tested to high standards for contamination”.
For those convinced that collagen has their skin glowing, Mahto thinks this is more likely because “the same individuals already invest in their skin through daily sunscreen use, retinoids, a balanced diet and adequate sleep. These habits are more likely to influence skin quality than a powder you add to coffee.”
The Times
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