Benefits Collagen for Hair Growth
TL;DR: Emerging research suggests collagen peptides may influence biological processes involved in healthy hair growth. A 2024 study using human hair follicles found that marine collagen peptides helped follicles remain in their active growth phase for longer.
Benefits Collagen for Hair Growth: What Does the Research Say?
If you're considering collagen for hair growth, there's some interesting new research worth knowing about.
Collagen is already widely used for skin, joints and connective tissue.
Its relationship with hair is less established.
But a 2024 study published in the Journal of Functional Foods investigated what happened when human hair follicles were exposed to digested marine and bovine collagen peptides.
The results provide some interesting clues about how collagen could potentially support healthy hair.
Does Collagen Help Hair Growth?
Hair follicles are tiny organs that repeatedly cycle through different stages.
The most important for hair growth is anagen, the active growth phase.
Hair loss and thinning can occur when follicles spend less time in anagen, enter their transition phase prematurely or remain in the resting phase for longer.
The 2024 study found that marine collagen peptides significantly maintained more human hair follicles in the anagen phase compared with the control treatment.
That's interesting.
Collagen for Hair Growth: The 2024 Study
Pappelbaum and colleagues investigated both marine and bovine collagen peptides.
Rather than simply exposing isolated cells to collagen, the researchers used intact human hair follicles collected from male and female donors.
They also subjected the collagen peptides to simulated gastrointestinal digestion before exposing the follicles to them.
This was designed to more closely represent the peptides that could potentially become available following oral collagen supplementation.
The researchers then examined numerous aspects of hair-follicle biology, including:
- the hair growth cycle
- hair-follicle stem cells
- cell proliferation
- hair-shaft production
- keratin expression
- pigmentation
Marine and bovine collagen didn't produce identical results.
And that's where the study becomes particularly interesting.
Marine Collagen and the Hair Growth Phase
The most striking result involved marine collagen peptides.
Hair follicles cycle between growth, transition and resting phases.
Marine collagen maintained significantly more follicles in the anagen growth phase compared with control follicles.
This led the researchers to suggest that marine collagen could have potential as an adjunct nutritional strategy for supporting healthy hair.
Collagen May Also Influence Hair Follicle Stem Cells
One interesting aspect of the research involved hair follicle stem cells.
These cells help support the continual regeneration of the hair follicle throughout repeated hair-growth cycles.
Both marine and bovine collagen peptides affected different populations of these cells.
Marine collagen appeared to help maintain a more quiescent stem-cell environment while influencing progenitor cells involved in hair-follicle regeneration.
Bovine collagen produced a somewhat different response, including increasing the
The researchers suggested these changes could potentially contribute to maintaining hair-follicle resilience.
How Could Collagen Support Healthy Hair?
Collagen peptides are digested into amino acids and smaller peptides, including compounds rich in:
- glycine
- proline
- hydroxyproline
But the study suggests collagen peptides may do more than simply provide protein building blocks.
The researchers proposed several potential mechanisms, including interactions with the extracellular matrix and signalling pathways involved in maintaining hair-follicle stem cells.
Some collagen peptides may therefore have biological activity beyond their basic amino-acid content.
That's an interesting area for future research rather than something we should consider established fact.
Is Marine Collagen Good for Hair?
Marine collagen is interesting because it produced the clearest hair-growth-related result in this study.
Marine collagen peptides:
helped maintain follicles in their active growth phase and increased hair-matrix keratinocyte proliferation in the ex vivo model.
This provides a plausible reason to investigate marine collagen further for hair health.
What Should You Look for in a Collagen Supplement for Hair?
Look at the whole product, not a single ingredient:
Collagen source: Marine and bovine collagen peptides have both been investigated, although the 2024 study found different biological effects between them.
Hyaluronic Acid: May help boost collagen.
Meaningful dose: Check how much collagen you're actually getting rather than focusing on a long list of ingredients in tiny amounts.
Supporting nutrients: Nutrients such as vitamin C have established physiological roles in normal collagen formation.
And remember that a supplement should complement adequate protein and overall nutrition rather than compensate for a poor diet.
Collagen for Hair Growth: The Take-Home Message
Marine collagen peptides helped maintain follicles in their active anagen growth phase, while both marine and bovine collagen influenced hair-follicle stem-cell populations.
This suggests collagen peptides may interact with human hair follicles in biologically meaningful ways, providing a stronger scientific rationale for studying collagen and hair health in future clinical trials.
About the Author
Grant Jenkins is the founder of Propel Health Australia and a physiologist with more than 25 years of experience in human performance, nutrition and health education. He has worked with athletes competing at World Championships and all four tennis Grand Slams, combining scientific research with practical experience to help Australians make informed decisions about nutrition, supplementation and long-term health.
Disclaimer
This article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent hair loss or any other medical condition. Collagen supplements are not a treatment for hair loss. Persistent, sudden or unexplained hair loss should be discussed with a qualified healthcare practitioner.
Reference
Pappelbaum KI, Virgilio N, Epping L, van der Steen B, Jimenez F, Funk W, et al. Revealing novel insights on how oral supplementation with collagen peptides may prevent hair loss: Lessons from the human hair follicle organ culture. J Funct Foods. 2024;116:106124. doi:10.1016/j.jff.2024.106124.
