Collagen drinks claim to promote glowing youthful skin by raising blood levels of collagen. Is there sufficient scientific evidence to back up this claim.?

Collagen and elastin are the proteins that provide a sort of scaffolding for the skin. Collagen makes up most of the skin’s support network, comprising 30% of the skin’s mass, while elastin accounts for about 5% of the skin’s dry weight.  Collagen is a super-strong, very large molecule that forms bundles beneath the epidermis; these bundles literally hold up the skin and cause it to appear firm and smooth. With age, exposure to toxins, poor nutrition, and cumulative sun damage, collagen is gradually destroyed; resulting in terribly fragile skin, sagging, and severe wrinkling. Collagen or Collagen Boosting drinks are made intending to replace the skin’s collagen layer by helping to build fresh protein bundles.

Many of the collagen drinks on the market such as Toki, Lennox FirmUp, Fresh Face, Meiji Amino Collagen, Shiseido’s The Collagen, Fancl, and BioSil are not really collagen drinks. They contain the building blocks of proteins – amino acids or hydrolyzed collagen which are shorter peptides. They often contain some form of seaweed-derived amino acids. Another ingredient hyaluronic acid is often added to the mix of ingredients; this sugar compound is a terrific water-binding agent and is injected into wrinkles by dermatologists to plump up skin.

Our skin is not capable of absorbing the large molecule collagen directly when applied topically. Many topical wrinkle creams claiming containing collagen are actually containing fragments of marine or other collagen molecules. The collagen supplements designed to be taken orally are expected to be better absorbed by the body. However, these do not give an assurance of having the desired young looking skin. Skin is not the only organ that the collagen works on. It is also responsible for maintaining the other vital body organs. Therefore, the liquid collagen consumed will mainly be used for repair and maintenance of the intestines, artery walls and other organs. When the collagen is dispersed, skin will be the least priority organ.  Through collagen intake, skin is not prioritized.

Drinking collagen to prevent or reverse collagen loss sounds like a great idea. One 8-week study showed that Toki’s product raised collagen blood levels in a test group of women between the ages of 35 and 65. However, this study was paid for by Lane Labs, which distributes the Toki products.

To date, no completely independent test has produced the same results. There is no real evidence that drinking collagen makes the skin look younger. The body’s digestive system does not grab ingested collagen and magically inject it into the skin’s collagen network. This does not mean that collagen drinks have no beneficial effects.

There are dermal fillers containing collagen, but these are not applied topically, instead the collagen was injected into the dermis. If there are more independent test results coming out in the future to convince people for the benefits of collagen drinks for the skin, people will become more comfortable with the marketing claims made by the company who sell collagen drinks.