Don't believe the anti-ageing collagen hype

Dr Christian Jessen
7 Jul 2010

Ok, I'm the first to admit I regularly fall for the classy packaging and scientific mumbo-jumbo on pots of face cream. Admittedly it's only when I am bored waiting for a delayed flight. Despite my scientific education I am still drawn by the magic sparkle of penta-nano-lipo-peptides — me and millions of other people.

But a new product has just been announced in the press that comes with the usual bells and whistles, and a following of celebrities. It's a collagen drink that promises to reduce lines on your face by up to 30 per cent in six weeks, and attacks the signs of ageing internally, whatever that means. Such brilliant scientific minds as Sienna Miller, pictured, Victoria Beckham and Kate Bosworth have given it the thumbs-up. So it must be good, right?

Time to set the record straight. If alternative therapies get a lashing from me then so should the beauty industry. They both seem remarkably similar.

People with joint pains and stiffness take collagen supplements and there does seem to be some clinical data showing a modest benefit. But as a beauty product to boost the skin's own collagen it does nothing.

Thinking collagen is somehow absorbed through the skin from a cream and incorporated in the skin's own collagen matrix is a gross misunderstanding of basic biochemistry. It's a huge molecule, which any dermatologist will tell you is far too large to get through the skin. Also, it is water- soluble and easily broken down in the gut by our stomach acid. It's not going to get into our bloodstream and find its way to our wrinkles.

What most amuses me is the quote from the founder of the firm that makes it: “We pride ourselves on being at the forefront of science and beauty and, after a year's worth of research and development, we believe we have devised the most advanced and simplistic way of combating the signs of ageing from the inside out.”

A year's worth of research? Is that all? Most drugs take at least 10 years to get to market, often more. I'm not sure a year quite cuts the mustard.

So, having thoroughly rained on this anti-ageing parade, let me tell you what does actually work. Not smoking, eating a diet rich in fruit and vegetables and most of all avoiding over-exposure to the sun. Think about the lovely smooth wrinkle-free skin on your bottom. Why is it so much more youthful than skin in other areas?

Because for most of us it rarely sees the light of day. Perhaps being told that your face looks like an arse is more of a compliment than it first appears.
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