Collagen for Menopause to protect skin, joints, and bone | Papayya

If you’re a woman in your 40s you’ve probably been told to add collagen to your daily routine. As estrogen falls, so does collagen. That’s what people used to say, but is it really that true?

What happens to collagen during menopause

Collage is the main structural protein in skin, tendon, cartilage and bone. Estrogen keeps it intact. Dr. Karen Adams, from Stanford Medicine’s menopause program, states that collagen fibers carry estrogen receptors, which means that collagen is lost after menopause. She also points out that skin ageing is largely driven by long-term sun exposure.

Skin collagen drops by roughly 30% in the first five years of menopause, then by about 2% a year for the following fifteen, although skin is not the only tissue that’s affected.

A study found that skin collagen, skin thickness and bone mineral content all decline from 1 to 2% after the 15 years of menopause, which is a suggestion of a shared connective-tissue mechanism.

Skin: from promising trials to shaky foundations

A study from the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology ran two placebo-controlled trials in women aged roughly 40 to 65 years old using 10g of collagen peptides  showcased that there was improvement in skin hydration after 8 weeks, and an increase in collagen density after only 4 weeks.

A later trial found improvements in hydration and elasticity, although the study had biased information.

Then, in October 2026, Grimes and Mahto found inaccurate reporting of data from the original studies and inappropriate combining of different measurements

The honest summary for skin is possible small benefits, but the evidence is weak and conflicted. If you want to protect your skin, just use your daily sunscreen.

Bones: The strongest signal

Bones is where you can see collagen act best. After a study of postmenopausal women that took either 5g of collagen peptides, it was shown that the collagen group gained bone mineral density in the lumbar spine and femoral neck, while the placebo group lost about 1.3% in the spine and 1% in the femoral neck over the same period.

Joints: Modest relief in osteoarthritis

A 2025 analysis of 11 randomized trials showed an improvement in joint pain and function with the use of collagen. A 2024 analysis pointed to the exact same result.

Although claims of cartilage regeneration remain unproven, if you have joint pain, collagen may offer modest symptom relief, but is not a replacement for muscle building that supports the joints.

Muscle: Look here if you do strength training

Some of the most interesting findings involve collagen combined with training. In a trial made with premenopausal women doing resistance training showed that those taking 15g of collagen daily gained more fat-free mass and hand-grip strength than those on placebo.

Training is the intervention with the best evidence

Stanford Medicine is currently conducting a study that tries to explain that menopause reduces circulating estrogen, which speeds up muscle decline, with resistance training being the most important behaviour for preserving muscle. It also observes that many women respond to weight concerns by eating less and doing more cardio, which compounds for muscle loss.

In the STOP-EM trial, nine months of supervised heavy strength and impact training in peri and postmenopausal women improved lean mass, strength, leg power, lumbar spine bone density and menopausal symptoms. Strength gains ranged from 12.6 to 30.5%

Training also loads bone and tendon, builds the muscle around your joints, which is something collagen can’t do.

Where can Papayya fit in?

Our sessions are live one-to-one online personal training, so there’s always somewhere that can watch your form in real time, adjust the load and keep you progressing. That matters more as you get older, because heavy, well-executed lifting is exactly what research favours. Supplements can be a small extra layer on top of consistent training, sleep and enough protein. They can’t stand in for any of those.

Should you take collagen?

If you’re using it for your skin, there’s very weak and conflicting evidence about it. Sunscreen is the best proven protection. Although we’ve seen some encouraging trails in women with low bone density, it still needs replication. We’ve seen some modest relief in osteoarthritis but there’s no proof it regrows cartilage.

Last but not least, we can see benefits of using collagen alongside resistance training, but mainly shown in other groups.

So, if you decide to try it, it is recommended that you use from 5 to 15g per day as collagen is not a complete protein and it shouldn’t replace your main protein sources. Talk to your doctor first.

Sources

• Adams K. “Ask Me Anything: Menopause.” Stanford Medicine Scope Blog, 2023. Collagen loss after menopause, skin care advice, and why estrogen isn’t prescribed for skin alone. https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2023/08/21/ask-me-anything-menopause/
• “Stronger: Muscle Strengthening for Menopause” (NCT06375356). Stanford pilot study on resistance training in menopause (study description, not results). https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06375356
• Stanford Program in Menopause & Healthy Aging. https://med.stanford.edu/menopause.html
• Grimes DR, Mahto A. “Hydrolyzed Collagen for Skin Aging Meta-Analyses Are Unreliable.” J Cosmet Dermatol. 2026;25(10):e71208. Re-analysis finding data errors, no dose effect, and industry-funding bias. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13618891/
• Asserin J, et al. “The effect of oral collagen peptide supplementation on skin moisture and the dermal collagen network.” J Cosmet Dermatol. 2015. Coverage: https://www.nutraingredients.com/Article/2016/01/27/Researchers-provide-clinical-evidence-of-collagen-peptides-as-anti-ageing-nutricosmetic
• Pu SY, et al. “Effects of Oral Collagen for Skin Anti-Aging: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Nutrients. 2023;15(9):2080. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37432180/
• König D, et al. “Specific Collagen Peptides Improve Bone Mineral Density and Bone Markers in Postmenopausal Women.” Nutrients. 2018;10(1):97. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5793325/
• Simental-Mendía M, et al. “Effect of collagen supplementation on knee osteoarthritis: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.” Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2025;43(1):126-134. https://www.clinexprheumatol.org/abstract.asp?a=21013
• Garcia-Coronado JM, et al. “Effect of collagen supplementation on osteoarthritis symptoms: a meta-analysis.” Int Orthop. 2019;43(3):531-538. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30368550/
• Jendricke P, et al. “Specific Collagen Peptides in Combination with Resistance Training Improve Body Composition and Regional Muscle Strength in Premenopausal Women.” Nutrients. 2019;11(4):892. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/4/892
• STOP-EM trial: heavy strength and impact training in peri- and early postmenopausal women. Bone Reports. Summary: https://www.medznat.ru/en/science/summaries/exercise-for-bone-and-muscle-health-during-menopau
• Brincat M, et al. “A study of the decrease of skin collagen content, skin thickness, and bone mass in the postmenopausal woman.” Obstet Gynecol. 1987;70(6):840-5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3120067/
• “Skin, hair and beyond: the impact of menopause.” Climacteric. 2022. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13697137.2022.2050206
• Joint-pain evidence overview, including the 2024 Osteoarthritis and Cartilage meta-analysis: https://thesouthfirst.com/health/collagen-has-become-a-popular-answer-to-joint-pain-but-what-does-the-science-say/

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