Follow the Evidence

Why women deserve better than a poorly researched powder.

Collagen.

Only 82p a scoop.

Which is actually nearly £300 a year but details, details. And what’s with the scoop? Baby powder comes in a scoop. Is this another substitute for our mother’s milk?

Unless you have been hiding under a rock recently (and given the state of the world I would not blame you if you had) you will have met, in some way shape or form, this latest cure all for women’s health issues. Collagen.

Female celebs of a certain age (and younger) are falling over themselves to let us, the great unwashed, into their little secret. ‘A scoop a day takes all your problems away’ they claim. Soft focus faces, athleisure wearing toned bodies, perched on stool in kitchens I would kill for (sod the powder, that double hob looks amazing). All extolling the virtues of this gift from the Gods.

Marine, bovine, Type 1, type 2, you need a degree in microbiology to understand the bamboozling business of amino acids and peptides. Don’t have a degree in microbiology? Don’t worry. The collagen industry has got you covered. All you need to know is basically everyone else’s collagen is shit and ours is the shit! That’s the general message.

Skin, hair, joints, nails, the illegal invasion of Ukraine, there is nothing this food from the Gods cannot fix (ok I lied about the last one, but you get the picture).

The thing is, I don’t think women are getting the picture, the full picture about what really supports our health. I am invested in women’s health, always have been. As a midwifery student I spent three years studying at a prestigious London university gaining a distinction in my course of Midwifery and Women’s Health Studies.

I write under the category ‘health politics’ because I hate to tell those of you who don’t ‘do’ politics, but everything is political, no more so than health (we were taught that on our first day at university).

Increasingly I am seeing women’s health being left in the hands of an industry that frankly only wants to keep us alive to profit from us. As midwifery services dwindle, getting a GP appointment is harder than an audience with the pope, and HRT services are patchy and unreliable, the men in suits have seen an opportunity to answer our ‘health’ woes.

Snakeskin oil salesmen are being fronted by a raft of unwitting (and often dim witted) celebs promoting a product that appears only to be endorsed by the industry that makes it. Its time to really have a look at collagen.

Is it snake oil? Only proper research can tell us that.

What is collagen?

Basically, collagen is a protein. You know protein. Eat enough of it and you will live outlive your grandkids or something like that. Everybody loves protein nowadays. Can’t get enough of the stuff. Not unsurprising that capitalism has jumped onto this densely packed, stomach filling bandwagon.

Pretty but pricey. A collagen molecule.

We need collagen to provide structure for bones, skin, muscle and connective tissue and its also found in organs, blood vessels and intestinal lining. I doubt anyone is taking it for its effect on their intestinal lining though.

As we age our bodies produces less collagen and our bodies break it down at a faster rate. Damn those menopausal bodies of ours! If only there was a way to reverse this collagen decline. For just shy of £300 a year, celebrities whose lives in no way shape or form reflect the lives of average women, are showing us how. Free scoop included.

There are actually many ways to avoid collagen levels decreasing in our bodies. They may not look sexy, empowering and come with a golden ‘scoop’ but they do exist. Stopping smoking, cutting down on sugar and refined carbohydrates, eating a well-balanced diet and reducing exposure to UV light for a start.

There is no profit to be made off the back of this free, common sense, health promotion advice so a solution has been created under the guise of concern for women’s ‘health’ and wellbeing.

This feels like exploitation. During the three years I spent studying women’s health two words were the golden thread that stopped us all unravelling into a world that wants to exploit women and not empower them. ‘Evidence based’.

Always follow the evidence. Our health is important. We deserve the best evidence-based information so we can make informed choices about our bodies and our lives.

So, what is the evidence-based research for collagen?

Small and often industry based is probably the best way to describe it. Industry backed research has been highlighted by independent researchers for its obvious tendency towards bias. If a company is going to profit from a study that claims collagen vanishes wrinkles and gives menopausal women the knees of a five-year-old, that company is probably not the most neutral backer of that study.

Similarly, research findings need to be available in significant quantities to be, well significant. There are not enough quality studies available to support the miracle claims proffered by some of these collagen floggers/bloggers.

The NHS does not generally prescribe collagen supplements. There is no mention of collagen on its webpage ‘Keep bones healthy over 65’ preferring more traditional approaches such as diet and exercise. Nor is it collagen referenced once in its 5 webpages detailing the menopause.

If collagen and menopause go together like birds of a feather, then so does menopause and Dr Lousie Newsome. Dr Newsome is a physician, woman’s hormone specialist and member of the UK Government’s Menopause Taskforce.

In Louise we trust – the Goddess of Menopause

On her website she asks Dr Anjali Mahto, consultant dermatologist and founder of dermatology clinic, Self London for her views on collagen and skin. Dr Anjali explains that there is no conclusive scientific evidence that collagen supplement slow aging. She says there may be some evidence that some collagen may improve skin’s hydration and elasticity, the evidence is not limited and not fully robust.

Dr Anjali promotes a ‘well rounded diet’ for increasing collagen – better to spend 82p a day on lean meats, plant-based protein and legumes than a powder of dubious effect then.

Europe is taking a similar view. Leng Heng, a senior scientific officer for human nutrition at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is quoted in an article by the BBC in February 2025 stating that ‘no health claims for collagen supplements have got the green light’ and cites the lack of ‘high quality’ evidence in coming to this conclusion.

Even the most positive and thankfully independent study of collagen states ‘collagen is not a cure all’. A recent, 2026, study by Angela Ruskin University proposed that collagen could have some benefits in promoting skin elasticity and hydration but will not stop wrinkles. It may help you look younger if having hydrated skin is the metric being used for looking younger.

The Angela Ruskin study proposes that collagen may have benefits for sufferers of osteoarthritis but stresses the importance of consistent and prolonged use (at nearly £300 a year). The study is at odds with the industry claims that certain types of collagens are more effective than others, bovine, marine etc having found no significant between the different varieties and is keen to point out that more independent research is needed and that in no way is collagen ‘a quick fix’.

Am I just being an old, crinkly and aching sceptic? Some women have reported improvements in the appearance of their skin and joint mobility, and I am all for believing women’s experiences. However, scientists have pointed out that taking collagen supplements is often part of a whole life change, changes to diet, exercise, an overall re-boot which could equally account for smoother skin or healthier joints.

Collagen is not a benign substance. For some there are side effects of taking it. Digestive discomfort can occur such as heartburn, fullness or mild diarrhoea. Allergic reactions can be triggered, and some powders can leave an unpleasant or metallic taste in the mouth. The high calcium in the powder can lead to hypercalcemia (high levels of calcium in the blood).

Collagen is leaving its mark globally too. Reports suggest that the increase in cattle farming in the Brazilian Amazon to satisfy the West’s insatiable appetite for bovine derived collagen is leading to deforestation and abuse of human rights of indigenous people. No mention of that in the glossy adverts is there?

Why do I care so much?

I write about women, I care about women, I am an advocate for women’s health issues. I don’t know many women that have nearly £300 a year to risk on a poorly researched powder. If there is some miracle factor in these collagen supplements, I want them to be properly and independently researched and made part of a nationwide program which provides them free to all women who need them.

But I know about women’s health and the funding of women’s health. Women’s health comes just above mending potholes and just below bidding for the next Olympics in terms of global, governmental and societal priorities.

There is little enough research on issues such as endometriosis, dysmenorrhea (period pain) and miscarriage. Independent research into collagen is not likely to be a priority and how many women will be betting £300 a year on collagen until it becomes available?

Women’s health research. Chronically underfunded and under researched.

And are we really talking about women’s health? Are we conflating, as so often is the case for women, health with beauty? Are we profiting the men who set the unrealistic and costly beauty standards at the expense of the women looking for a manmade cure for manmade problems?

Having lines on your skin is not a health hazard. It’s just called aging. Your hair is not as lustrous as it used to be, don’t worry you soul is shining. Your joints don’t feel like they used to - join a gym, pump some iron, imagine you are lifting the weight of female injustice off your soul.

A beautiful face. With lines. Who knew?

Eat well. You deserve it. Want a bit of self-care – tell your kids to pick their f*cking trash up off the floor to stop you having to bend so much and your husband that he needs to do more than put the bins out and cook a spag bol occasionally so you can actually rest and relax.

Join a rally. Start a rally. Fight for the health of women. The health. Not the beauty. Nothing shines like the inner beauty of a woman that isn’t taking the crap anymore.

You will not be surprised to know I don’t take collagen supplement. No shareholders will be holidaying in the Maldives on my dollar this year. If you do and they work for you that’s brilliant. I am glad you have found your thing.

But I write because I want women to have more things on their side. To have the evidence-based health care they deserve. To not have their health conflated with their beauty. To have the rights of their male counterparts and not to have to look for solutions to in costly powders and potions but to be protected indefinitely in law, in medicine, in life as their female status demands.

I’ll have a scoop of that a day… care to join me?

Love to know your thoughts on the collagen debate. Is it health or is it beauty? What can we do to get women’s health properly researched and funded? What women’s health issues would you make a priority? Please comment, like or restack, everyone is welcome.

For less than the price a few scoops of the ‘magic’ powder, you can become a paid subscriber to This Woman’s work. All my supportive writing and health and life experience for just £5/$6 a month. Join us is making light work of being a woman . Prices will be rising soon so jump onboard quickly and invest in someone that is truly invested in you. Rebecca X