It has been very popular for some time: collagen in a pill, powder or jar to keep the skin young. But does it really work?
The collagen supplements are not cheap: the average user spends hundreds of euros a year. Collagen is a protein in our body that provides strength to skin, bones and tendons. As we get older, the amount of collagen decreases and especially after our fifties it becomes scarce. The idea is to supplement the collagen stock with supplements.
But according to Dr. Tjinta Brinkhuizen, dermatologist at the Maastricht University Medical Center and Catharina Hospital in Eindhoven, that’s not how it works. “If something costs a lot of money, people are more likely to believe that it works,” she says in Flemish newspaper De Morgen. “But there is currently no reliable scientific evidence that collagen supplements improve skin.” It is virtually impossible that the supplements can travel the long way through your body to eventually end up in the right place in your skin.
And collagen cream is not a solution either. “Actually, it’s very difficult to get active ingredients into the skin with creams,” says the dermatologist. “Most anti-wrinkle creams cause a tiny swelling in the skin, which temporarily fills the wrinkles.”
What does work? No smoking, healthy food and a good sunscreen.