Are collagen supplements effective and worth taking? | Peter Attia and Luc van Loon
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This clip is from episode 299 ‒ Protein: muscle protein synthesis optimization, quality sources, quantity needs, and the importance of resistance training with Luc van Loon, Ph.D. Luc is an internationally renowned expert in skeletal muscle metabolism.
In this clip, they discuss:
- Is there a unique benefit to consuming collagen as a supplement? - Does the average person get enough collagen in their diet? - Using collagen supplements to help with ligament and tendon issues - And more
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Collagen supplementation does not provide unique benefits for muscle protein synthesis compared to complete proteins like whey or casein, and using collagen as a primary protein source compromises muscle development due to poor amino acid balance.
- Research shows collagen does not increase muscle connective protein synthesis rates within 5-6 hours post-exercise, despite being rich in glycine and proline
- Collagen is a poor-quality protein from an amino acid balance perspective, lacking adequate leucine, lysine, and methionine needed for optimal myofibrillar protein synthesis
- Unless recovering from specific connective tissue injury, complete proteins with balanced amino acid profiles provide superior muscle-building outcomes
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If people use collagen as their primary or sole supplemental protein source, they are undoubtedly compromising myofibrillar muscle protein synthesis because they are not consuming adequate amounts of essential amino acids like leucine, lysine, and methionine that are critical for muscle growth.
“the the the you know the other point to consider is if there are people listening to this who are just using collagen as their supplemental protein Source they're undoubtedly compromising myofibrillar muscle protein synthesis because as you said they're basically just getting a lot of Proline and Glycine and they're probably really missing out on Lucine lysine methionine and the other amino acids that are far more it's a very low quality protein from the perspective amino acid balance”
When dairy protein or whey protein is ingested after exercise, myofibrillar protein synthesis increases further beyond the exercise stimulus alone, but muscle connective tissue protein synthesis does not show significant additional increase within 5-6 hours post-exercise.
“if you ingest protein it further increases the response to exercise and you see greater myop fi protein synthesis however the ingestion on of dairy protein or protein does not seem to increase muscle connective protein synthesis rates”
Exercise alone stimulates both myofibrillar protein synthesis and muscle connective tissue protein synthesis, representing the adaptive response in muscle.
“exercise stimulates both myi as well as connect muscle connective protein synthesis so the Adaptive response in muscle is both connective proteins as well as my f proteins”
Collagen is the main structural protein in the body, found primarily in cartilage, bone, tendons, ligaments, and in smaller amounts in muscle where it helps transfer force from muscle to tendons.
“collagen is a protein uh that is very I mean it's pretty prevalent in your body because it's the it's the main protein that is uh used for uh structural uh protein it's a structural protein so collagen is in your cartilage your bone your tendons your ligaments um and all of that and it's also in muscle very small amount”
Collagen is approximately 50% glycine and proline, making it a poor-quality protein from an amino acid balance perspective compared to animal-derived meat or milk proteins which have more balanced amino acid profiles.
“it contains a lot of glycine and Proline so what you could say is that hey your ligaments your cartilage your bone also contains a lot of glycine and Proline and so it's a good source of these two amino acids um makes perfect sense so the story is uh makes sense but it's a little bit like um yeah if you eat something that you need it's going to be better for you but the question is do we already get enough Glycine and proline in our diet”
Despite the lack of proven benefit for general collagen supplementation, adequate glycine and proline availability in the diet can likely be achieved through consuming balanced, complete proteins, making additional collagen supplementation unnecessary for most people.
“it's a nice source of glycine and Proline but if you take enough protein probably the Glycine and Proline is already sufficiently available in your diet”
Muscle tissue contains only a few percent collagen by weight, whereas tendons, ligaments, bone, and cartilage contain substantially more collagen, suggesting potential benefits of collagen supplementation may be more relevant for these non-muscle connective tissues.
“I still hold an option open for ligaments tendons bone cartilage because when I look at muscle connective protein the fraction that we actually take out of the muscle contains only a few percent of collagen so the muscle doesn't contain a lot of collagen so the question is is it not more important for tendons ligaments bone and cartilage”
The common marketing narrative that consuming collagen is beneficial because 'you need it in those tissues so consuming it will help those tissues' is logically appealing but empirically unsupported for muscle connective tissue and may reflect a fundamental confusion about nutritional logic.
“so the story is uh makes sense but it's a little bit like um yeah if you eat something that you need it's going to be better for you but the question is do we already get enough Glycine and proline in our diet”
Collagen supplementation does not increase muscle connective tissue protein synthesis rates within the first 5 hours after exercise, showing no additional benefit over the exercise stimulus alone.
“now we've tried that also with collagen and we do not see a greater increase in connective tissue protein synthesis rates in muscle so either it is not happening in the first five hours and the exercise is already a stimulus enough and the response is later on or there's enough Glycine and proline in Dairy protein”
Based on current research data, there is no demonstrable benefit of collagen versus whey or casein for increasing either myofibrillar or muscle connective tissue protein synthesis in exercising individuals over a 5-hour post-exercise window.
“so it seems that based on those data there is no benefit in both myofibril fibular or muscle connective tissue protein synthesis using collagen versus using whey or casian so if a person is taking a collagen protein because they believe that it will disproportionately help them increase the strength of their connective tissue the data would say that that is not correct at least in the presence of an exercising individual”
As a scientist, there is currently no clear evidence that collagen supplementation leads to greater connective tissue protein synthesis, but as a practical matter, if someone were recovering from a major injury like a broken hip or knee injury, taking a protein supplement containing collagen could be a reasonable precaution to ensure adequate glycine and proline intake.
“as a scientist I haven't seen evidence that it actually leads to Greater connective tissue protein synthesis rates but if I would actually break my hip or I would actually have a major issue with my knee and I'm recovering and rehabilitating I think I would take uh both a protein supplement that also has a little bit of collagen in order to be sure that I get enough Glycine and protein”
For people with major issues specifically with ligaments, tendons, or other primarily collagen-based structures, collagen supplementation might potentially provide benefit, though this remains an open empirical question requiring further research over the next several years.
“however if you have major issues with ligaments tendons or other almost purely collagen based structures it might be a benefit I'm not throwing that away that is something that we still want to look at for the next few years but the jury is still out on that”
In studies without exercise where massive doses of protein (100 grams) were given, there was an interesting response in muscle connective tissue protein synthesis, suggesting high protein doses might stimulate connective tissue synthesis in non-exercising individuals.
“so you're saying without exercise yes we also done it without exercise and it does not seem to be responsive to nutrition but I have to uh make an exception in that study by urine that huge amount of protein that 100 grams we suddenly see it interesting so in that study where you gave the massive dose of protein and those were not exercising patients over a longer period of time”