Highlights:
- Collagen levels and organization in the skin declines as we age
- Oral collagen peptide supplementation has been shown to reverse and or slow down some of age related skin changes
Oral collagen peptides supplement is one we have been particularly interested in for its role in reducing the effects of skin aging as well as joint cartilage health. Even though collagen is a large protein and no protein of that size can get absorbed into our body as a whole from what we eat, there is pretty solid evidence that taking in collagen, either intact, or as collagen fragments also called peptides will increase the collagen levels in our skin and improve joint health. While there are many theories as to how this happens, the beneficial health effects are pretty clear.
The biology:
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body accounting for about 30% of the total protein content. The layers of the dermis (middle layer of the skin) are rich in collagen. As we age there’s profound changes in the layer of the skin marked by reduced collagen production and fragmentation and disorganization of the existing collagen fibrils.
Clinical evidence:
Multiple clinical trials have now shown that taking collagen peptides orally, reduces some of the effects of skin aging. One particular trial of 72 healthy women taking 2.5 gm of collagen peptide daily for 12 weeks had significant improvement in skin hydration, elasticity, roughness and density (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6835901/). There were two other studies where subjects took 3 gm of collagen peptides daily and reported notable improvement in skin elasticity and hydration. A meta-analysis reviewed studies where 2.5 gm to 10 gm per day of collagen peptides were supplemented for a period of anywhere between 8 to 24 weeks and found improvements in skin elasticity, hydration and collagen density (https://jddonline.com/articles/oral-collagen-supplementation-a-systematic-review-of-dermatological-applications-S1545961619P0009X/).
Safety:
Oral collagen peptide (or intact collagen) supplementation appears to be safe and well tolerated for most people.
Supplementation:
Most of the clinical studies on collagen and skin health use oral collagen peptides (aka hydrolysate). I just read a meta-analysis of 10 clinical studies where 9 of them tested collagen peptides and one tested intact collagen for skin health (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32436266/). So the majority of the evidence out there is based on collagen peptides. That said, the one study with intact collagen did find a positive benefit. So, I haven’t seen any reason why bone broth, which is intact collagen, shouldn’t work (https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/collagen/). Brad Stanfield has a good YouTube video on collagen supplementation. He also has a good review of some of the collagen peptide supplements for sale.
What I take:
I take 10 gm of collagen peptides blended in a smoothie or with oatmeal daily.