What’s the best way to take collagen?
Match a trial dose: 2.5 to 10 g a day. No trial shows morning beats night, so pick a time you’ll remember. But skin and knee trials used very different amounts.
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What is the best way to take collagen?
Take the same amount once a day, every day. That’s how the trials gave it. Most used collagen peptides, also sold as hydrolysed collagen: collagen broken into small pieces.
Your goal sets the dose. A skin trial gave 2.5 g a day. Knee trials gave 8 to 10 g a day, three to four times as much.
| Goal | Daily dose | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Eye wrinkles (women aged 45 to 65) | 2.5 g | 8 weeks |
| Skin, across many trials | About 0.25 g to 10 to 12 g | 2 to 12 weeks |
| Knee pain from osteoarthritis (wear-and-tear joints) | 8 to 10 g | 90 days to 6 months |
Sources: Proksch 2014; Grimes 2026; Lin 2023
Know what to expect. In the skin trial, eye wrinkles were 20% smaller than with a dummy powder after 8 weeks. But a 2026 re-check of the skin trials found no evidence of benefit once dose was taken into account.
For osteoarthritis (wear-and-tear joints), a review of 35 trials in 3,165 people found small to moderate pain relief. The knee trials above were all judged at high risk of bias. That means flaws in how they were run could make collagen look better than it is.
So pick your goal, then check the grams in one daily serving on the pack.
Is collagen 10,000 mg too much?
10,000 mg is 10 g. That’s the top dose in the knee trials, where people took 10 g once a day. It’s four times the 2.5 g used in the skin trial.
- Below 2.5 gBelow the 2.5 g eye wrinkle trial dose. Some skin trials used as little as 0.25 g.
- 2.5 to just under 8 gAt or above the 2.5 g eye wrinkle trial dose.
- 8 up to 10 gKnee trial range.
- Above 10 gAbove the 10 g knee trial dose.
Sources: Proksch 2014; Lin 2023
Is that much safe? In the osteoarthritis review, where doses varied, collagen didn’t raise side effects or drop-outs compared with the comparison groups.
So 10 g a day matches what knee trials used. For skin alone, a smaller daily serving matches the trial. Read the grams per serving, not the number of scoops or capsules.
When is the best time to take collagen?
Whenever you’ll remember it. We found no trial that compares morning with night, or an empty stomach with food.
The only timing study we found was around exercise. It used gelatin with vitamin C added, not collagen peptides.
The one timing study: gelatin an hour before exercise
- 1
Drink
8 healthy men took 5 or 15 g of gelatin with vitamin C, or a dummy drink.
- 2
Wait an hour
Collagen building blocks in their blood peaked 1 hour later.
- 3
Skip
Then they did 6 minutes of rope skipping.
- 4
Blood test
On 15 g, a blood marker of new collagen doubled.
Source: Shaw 2017
That’s a blood marker in 8 men, not fewer injuries. If you train and want to copy it, take your dose about an hour before, though this hasn’t been tested with collagen peptides. Otherwise, tie it to something you do daily, like breakfast.
What should I take collagen with?
Any drink you like. One knee trial gave the powder mixed in a drink of the person’s choice.
What matters more is vitamin C in your day. Your body needs it to build and hold collagen together. Adults aged 19 to 64 need 40 mg a day, and the NHS says you should be able to get it from food.
How to take collagen each day
- Check the grams of collagen in one daily serving. Trials used 2.5 g for skin and 8 to 10 g for knees.
- Take it once a day, at a time you won’t forget.
- Stir the powder into any drink you like.
- Eat vitamin C foods, like oranges, peppers, strawberries, broccoli or potatoes.
- Keep vitamin C supplements to 1,000 mg a day or less. More can cause stomach pain, diarrhoea and wind.
- Give it at least 8 weeks for skin, or about 3 months for knees. Write down how your skin or joints are now, so you can compare.
Sources: Proksch 2014; Lin 2023; NHS: vitamin C
Collagen can’t stand in for other protein. It lacks one essential building block (tryptophan), so it’s an incomplete protein. See how much protein you need a day.
What is the best way to get collagen from food?
Your body makes its own collagen. Food gives it the parts, and vitamin C helps it put them together.
| Option | What you get | Catch |
|---|---|---|
| Protein foods | Meat, fish, eggs, dairy, beans: the building blocks your body makes collagen from | Everyday food, not a set dose. |
| Bone broth | Some collagen building blocks | Lower than a 20 g supplement, and varies a lot by recipe. |
| Collagen peptides | A set number of grams per serving | The form most trials used. |
| Vitamin C foods | Oranges, peppers, strawberries, blackcurrants, broccoli, brussels sprouts, potatoes | Not collagen, but your body needs it to make collagen. |
Sources: Alcock 2019; Pullar 2017; NHS: vitamin C
Bone broth from a standard recipe had much lower amounts of the key building blocks than a supplement. Homemade and café broths varied widely. We found no study showing collagen-rich food raises collagen in your skin or joints.
Like broth? Enjoy it as food. For a set dose, a supplement lets you measure it.
For more, see do collagen supplements work and the best collagen for women over 50.
When to speak to a GP
Taking collagen for sore joints? Don’t let it delay a check. See a GP if:
- Joint pain is stopping you doing normal activities or affecting your sleep.
- The pain or swelling is getting worse or keeps coming back.
- The pain hasn’t improved after 2 weeks of treating it at home.
- Your joints are stiff for more than 30 minutes after waking up.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or call 111 if you have joint pain and the skin around it is swollen and feels hot. Do the same if you have joint pain and feel unwell, have a high temperature or feel hot, cold or shivery.
Go to A&E or call 999 if you have very bad joint pain after a fall or injury. Do the same if you can’t walk or put weight on a joint. The same goes if a joint has moved out of place, or you have tingling or no feeling around it after an injury.
See also blood tests for joint pain and does glucosamine work.