Do collagen supplements really work?

CONSUMABLE COLLAGEN IS A HOT TOPIC IN BEAUTY BUT DO THE FACTS SUPPORT THE CELEB-LED CLAIMS? WE CHAT TO THE EXPERTS FOR THEIR SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE

Beauty supplements are a booming business, with the desire for a convenient – and tasty – way to get better skin more popular than ever. And none more so than collagen ingestibles, with plenty of celebs using their wrinkle-free faces to endorse a product.

The most abundant protein in our bodies, collagen acts as a building block, giving the skin, hair and nails its structure, firmness and elasticity. The rate of collagen production starts to drop from our twenties onwards, which eventually results in skin sagging, fine lines and wrinkles. And it’s not just skin’s appearance that suffers, explains Dr Dave Reilly, Absolute Collagen’s in-house scientist. “The [skin] matrix also supports the nerves and blood vessels needed to keep skin healthy. A weakened matrix makes it more difficult for skin to repair damage such as that from UV and other stressors.”