Collagen

Does collagen help joint pain?

Updated 9 Nov 2026

Short answer

In people with osteoarthritis, collagen eased pain and improved function a little. A 2024 review of 35 trials with 3,165 people rated the effect as small to moderate.[1] In healthy, active people the evidence is weaker: EFSA, the EU food safety authority, did not accept a claim that collagen keeps joints healthy.[2]

What the reviews found

A 2024 review included 35 randomized trials with 3,165 people with osteoarthritis, and its main analysis pooled 25 trials with 2,856 people. Collagen products eased pain and improved function, and the authors rated the effect as small to moderate (standardized mean difference -0.35 for pain and -0.31 for function).[1] They rated the certainty of the evidence as moderate for pain and high for function.[1]

A 2025 review of 11 trials in knee osteoarthritis, with 870 people, also found better pain and function scores with collagen than with placebo.[3] The results of the single trials differed a lot from each other.[3]

A 2019 review used the WOMAC, a questionnaire on pain, stiffness and daily function in osteoarthritis. Collagen lowered the total WOMAC score by 8 points. Of its parts, only stiffness improved significantly; the pain and function parts did not. Pain on a separate scale, the VAS, fell significantly.[4]

A 2018 review of 20 supplements for osteoarthritis found a large drop in pain with collagen hydrolysate in the short term. Undenatured type II collagen had a clinically important effect on pain in the medium term. No supplement had a clinically important effect in the long term, and the quality of the evidence ranged from very low to high.[5]

Single trials

  • 250 people with knee osteoarthritis took 10 g of collagen hydrolysate a day for 6 months. Knee pain scores improved significantly, and people with the worst joints and those who ate little meat benefited most.[6]
  • 191 people with knee osteoarthritis took 40 mg of undenatured type II collagen, glucosamine with chondroitin, or placebo for 180 days. The WOMAC score fell more with collagen than with placebo or with glucosamine and chondroitin.[7]
  • 139 young athletes with knee pain during sport took 5 g of collagen peptides or placebo a day for 12 weeks. Pain during activity fell more with collagen. Pain at rest did not differ from placebo.[8]

Joints in healthy, active people

In a 24-week trial, 147 athletes took 10 g of collagen hydrolysate a day or placebo, and data from 97 of them were analyzed. The authors reported less joint pain at rest, when walking and when lifting.[9] In 2011 EFSA, the EU food safety authority, reviewed a trial of 147 active student athletes for a claim on joint health. After it adjusted for the 15 outcomes that were measured, it found no difference between the groups. It concluded that a link between collagen hydrolysate and the maintenance of joints was not established.[2]

Why it may work

  1. Some collagen peptides reach the blood within 1 to 2 hours after a dose.[10]
  2. The authors of one trial suggest that these peptides may help joint cells make new collagen. This is a hypothesis.[6]
  3. Undenatured type II collagen may act through oral tolerance, an immune response that may reduce inflammation in the knee.[11]

What is still unknown

The trials above lasted 12 weeks to 6 months.[8][6] A 2025 review of undenatured type II collagen asks for larger trials with longer follow-up.[11]

People with a fish allergy or kidney stones should ask a doctor or pharmacist first, as the answer on side effects explains.[12][13]

Sources (13)

  1. Efficacy and safety of collagen derivatives for osteoarthritis: A trial sequential meta-analysis. Liang CW, Cheng HY, Lee YH, Liao CD, Huang SW Osteoarthritis Cartilage, 2024. PMID 38218227
  2. Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of a health claim related to collagen hydrolysate and maintenance of joints pursuant to Article 13(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) European Food Safety Authority, 2011. www.efsa.europa.eu
  3. Effect of collagen supplementation on knee osteoarthritis: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Simental-Mendía M, Ortega-Mata D, Acosta-Olivo CA, Simental-Mendía LE, Peña-Martínez VM, Vilchez-Cavazos F Clin Exp Rheumatol, 2025. PMID 39212129
  4. Effect of collagen supplementation on osteoarthritis symptoms: a meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials. García-Coronado JM, Martínez-Olvera L, Elizondo-Omaña RE, Acosta-Olivo CA, Vilchez-Cavazos F, Simental-Mendía LE, et al. Int Orthop, 2019. PMID 30368550
  5. Dietary supplements for treating osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Liu X, Machado GC, Eyles JP, Ravi V, Hunter DJ Br J Sports Med, 2018. PMID 29018060
  6. A randomized controlled trial on the efficacy and safety of a food ingredient, collagen hydrolysate, for improving joint comfort. Benito-Ruiz P, Camacho-Zambrano MM, Carrillo-Arcentales JN, Mestanza-Peralta MA, Vallejo-Flores CA, Vargas-López SV, et al. Int J Food Sci Nutr, 2009. PMID 19212858
  7. Efficacy and tolerability of an undenatured type II collagen supplement in modulating knee osteoarthritis symptoms: a multicenter randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Lugo JP, Saiyed ZM, Lane NE Nutr J, 2016. PMID 26822714
  8. Improvement of activity-related knee joint discomfort following supplementation of specific collagen peptides. Zdzieblik D, Oesser S, Gollhofer A, König D Appl Physiol Nutr Metab, 2017. PMID 28177710
  9. 24-Week study on the use of collagen hydrolysate as a dietary supplement in athletes with activity-related joint pain. Clark KL, Sebastianelli W, Flechsenhar KR, Aukermann DF, Meza F, Millard RL, et al. Curr Med Res Opin, 2008. PMID 18416885
  10. Identification of food-derived collagen peptides in human blood after oral ingestion of gelatin hydrolysates. Iwai K, Hasegawa T, Taguchi Y, Morimatsu F, Sato K, Nakamura Y, et al. J Agric Food Chem, 2005. PMID 16076145
  11. Undenatured type II collagen for knee osteoarthritis. Gupta A, Maffulli N Ann Med, 2025. PMID 40253594
  12. Collagen-An Important Fish Allergen for Improved Diagnosis. Kalic T, Kamath SD, Ruethers T, Taki AC, Nugraha R, Le TTK, et al. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract, 2020. PMID 32389794
  13. Hydroxyproline ingestion and urinary oxalate and glycolate excretion. Knight J, Jiang J, Assimos DG, Holmes RP Kidney Int, 2006. PMID 17021603

More about collagen

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For education; not medical advice. Talk to a doctor before you start, stop or change a supplement.