Is collagen all hype?
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Why do collagen supplements seem so popular despite mixed scientific evidence?
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Wrinkles.
As we hit our 30s, they start appearing in the mirror. It's a time when our own production of collagen, the stuff that keeps our skin springy and tight, begins to decline. And if you believe the skinfluencers, this is where supplements come in. But do they work? Are the tablets, gummies and powders really worth the money? And why is it so hard to figure all of this out? Today, Dr Zan Van Taleken helps us wade through the evidence. From The Guardian, I'm Madeleine Finlay and this is Science Weekly. Zan van Telleken, you are a doctor, you're an honorary professor, and you've written this book, Make Me Well, a quest to understand the confusing world of wellness. And I want to know why. Why do you think it is so confusing?
Why is it so hard? to figure all this out. You know, a simple question like, should I take collagen, which we'll talk about in a minute, getting to the bottom of that feels like a Herculean task. Why? Why is it so difficult?
When I started looking into a few of the supplements, some very strange things happened. You go looking and there are many, many scandals and stories about paper mills, so these institutions that produce fraudulent scientific research for publication. And I thought, well, I wonder if I could find this for myself. And within 15 minutes, I was WhatsAppping with some scientists in Iran who, for 1,500 quid, would fake some research. For another 1,500 quid, they'd put it in a journal and give it some citations. So that's part of it, is fraudulent research. There is also just failing to publish studies that don't give the results that people want. And everyone wants a positive result. Newspapers want it.
How does the decline of natural collagen production affect skin and joints as we age?
Scientists want it. The general public want it. And people don't like engaging with negative results. There's industry sponsorship of studies and there are unregulated claims on social media. And I think all of this means that if you are a member of the public just trying to figure out what you should do, you are overwhelmed with extravagant claims that you could never be expected to unpick or detect on your own. I mean, it took me three years to write the book.
And this is why I was so pleased when I picked it up to see a chapter on collagen, because this was something that we were really in the weeds of trying to make sense of. And I thought, oh, great. Xander's done it for us. But I have to ask first.
Yes.
Have you tried it?
Yes. So I took lots of collagen. And for a while, I was quite persuaded that collagen was doing me good. And I was persuaded it was doing me good because there are many doctors and scientists who take it and recommend it. And I don't just mean people who are selling it online. I mean, friends of mine who do sports medicine, who run clinics, who are, you know, professionals who say, no, I take the collagen. I think it probably works. The claims around collagen, there are many claims, but the big ones are joint pain and sort of creakiness and stiffness and wrinkles. And of course, like everybody else, I would like fewer wrinkles and I would like less joint pain. And so when I embarked on this, I not only wanted it to work, but I thought it probably did work.
So I think the place to start off in unpicking the evidence and the claims is understanding what collagen actually is.
So collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body. And it does extraordinary things. It is an amazing protein. So if you grab the flap of your ear or the tip of your nose, that cartilage is collagen. Your bones are flexible and strong because they have collagen through them. And in fact, almost every cell in your body, every organ is held together with a collagen matrix called the extracellular matrix.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why do collagen supplements seem so popular despite mixed scientific evidence?
0:00–3:04
2
How does the decline of natural collagen production affect skin and joints as we age?
3:04–5:06
3
What does the research say about collagen digestion and peptide absorption?
5:06–8:27
4
Do industry‑funded studies inflate the perceived benefits of collagen?
8:27–10:59
5
What did the systematic review of collagen trials reveal about wrinkles and joint pain?
10:59–13:11
6
How is collagen sourced from animal by‑products and why does it command high retail prices?
13:11–15:38
7
Is taking collagen supplements a cost‑effective way to improve health compared with whole foods?
15:38–18:00
8
What broader lessons does the collagen story teach us about wellness hype and evidence?
18:00–20:28
Speakers
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