Does Collagen Help With Hair Growth? Here’s What To Know
Collagen is one of the rare substances that’s equally popular among beauty lovers, gym-goers, and wise elders. It has many purported benefits, from supporting joint and bone health to promoting overall skin health. And there are plenty of products that contain collagen for hair growth.
So, is it true? Does collagen help with hair growth? And to take it a step further, does collagen help prevent hair loss?
The short answer is that collagen benefits hair, but it’s not a miracle worker — it’ll take more than a collagen-infused smoothie to prevent hair loss. Still, there are reasons you may want to add collagen to your daily routine.
Read on for everything you need to know about collagen for hair growth, including what form of collagen is best and what else you can use to prevent hair loss.
What Is Collagen?
Collagen accounts for about 30 percent of the body’s total protein, making it its most abundant protein. Your body makes protein naturally, but production declines with age. More specifically, it’s a structural protein made of amino acids, which the body uses to form keratin, a protein that creates hair’s structure.
Collagen production peaks in early adulthood (remember how your skin looked when you were 20?) and then decreases by roughly one to 1.5 percent each year. And with this decline, you may see changes in your skin and hair. Fortunately, it’s easy to supplement with collagen.
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5 Potential Benefits of Collagen for Hair Growth
“Here’s the thing — there just isn’t much evidence supporting the idea that taking a collagen supplement or consuming a collagen-rich diet helps with hair growth specifically. If there were, collagen would be all the rage for people experiencing male pattern hair loss (aka androgenetic alopecia). But taking collagen certainly won’t harm your hair health,” says Knox Beasley, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and one of our medical reviewers.
Lots of folks consume or apply collagen products because it might:
Help build hair protein
Fight free radical damage
Prevent graying
Promote skin elasticity
Increase the number of hair follicles
Below, we’ll discuss these potential benefits of collagen for hair growth in more detail.
1. Collagen Helps Build Protein
Collagen is rich in proline. This amino acid is critical for healthy hair, especially for the development of keratin.
Hair is primarily made of keratin, and the protein gives it strength and structure — without keratin, hair wouldn’t exist.
If you don’t have enough proline, your body will struggle to make keratin, which will weaken your hair. However, we don’t have much data exploring this specific link.
2. Collagen Helps Fight Free Radical Damage
Collagen is known to fight free radical damage (sometimes called oxidative stress), which comes from pollution, UV rays (sunlight), inflammation, and ageing.
Research shows that exposure to free radicals can cause hair to age or become grey. This type of damage can also potentially cause androgenetic alopecia.
As for collagen, research shows collagen derived from fish scales (a type of marine collagen) is a particularly powerful antioxidant in the battle against free radicals.
3. Collagen Might Prevent Greying
Collagen’s ability to tamper free radicals could, theoretically, help fight premature graying, but more research is needed there.
Grey hair is a natural part of ageing, but a 2014 study found that grey hair follicles have less antioxidant activity than pigmented follicles. The thought is that because collagen can fight free radicals, it could increase antioxidant activity in the follicles, thereby decreasing or delaying greying.
4. Collagen Promotes Skin Elasticity
One of collagen’s greatest claims to fame is that it promotes skin elasticity, keeping skin bouncy.
A 2019 meta-analysis found that people taking oral collagen supplements had increased skin elasticity, hydration, and dermal collagen density (how much collagen is present in the skin).
This is good for the skin, but it may also be beneficial for hair and scalp health.
5. Collagen May Increase the Number of Hair Follicles
Recent studies suggest that collagen derived from fish promotes hair growth and increases the number of hair follicles in mice. This research suggested that oral administration of collagen peptides (i.e., eating or drinking it) “could induce the anagen phase and delay the telogen phase, promoting hair-growth factors and regulating hair cycles.”
The anagen phase is when hair grows, and the telogen phase is when it rests.
This is an exciting find. But these results have yet to be replicated in humans, and there’s currently no conclusive evidence connecting collagen to hair growth in people.
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Is Topical or Oral Collagen Better?
Collagen doesn’t actually exist on the surface of the skin — instead, it’s found in the deeper layers. So, despite being marketed as an ingredient in many skin and haircare products, there’s not a lot of evidence that topical collagen does much.
Plus, collagen molecules are actually too large to be absorbed by the skin.
If you want to supplement with collagen, an oral formulation is a better bet. Collagen is available in powder, pill, liquid, or chewable form.
Your body makes collagen naturally and can also get it from food sources, but those are limited.
Foods that contain collagen include:
Certain bone broths
Gelatin (a cooked form of collagen)
Organ meats
Skin-on chicken or fish
Sardines
Collagen-infused beverages
Collagen chews or gummies
Research shows vitamin C can also help support and increase your body’s natural collagen production. Foods rich in vitamin C include:
Fruits, including oranges, apples, bananas, grapefruit, and strawberries
Vegetables, including peppers, broccoli, and cauliflower
Potential collagen benefits aside, eating more fresh fruits and veggies is never a bad idea.
Alternatives to Collagen for Hair Growth
Collagen has many benefits for skin and joint health, but it’s probably not your single ticket to noticeably fuller hair or less shedding. The good news is that there are other hair loss treatments to choose from.
Topical Minoxidil
Topical minoxidil is the active ingredient in Rogaine®. It is FDA-approved for treating male pattern baldness, acting as a vasodilator, making blood vessels wider so more blood flow and oxygen can get to the scalp.
It also makes hair follicles larger (which typically results in thicker hair) and extends the anagen phase of the hair growth cycle.
Minoxidil helps with hair regrowth while slowing thinning hair and hair loss.
We offer topical minoxidil in either a minoxidil foam or minoxidil liquid solution. You don’t need a prescription for the topical version.
Oral Minoxidil
Oral minoxidil isn’t FDA-approved specifically for hair loss (but it is approved for high blood pressure). Still, healthcare providers may prescribe it off-label to treat several types of hair loss, including androgenic alopecia and telogen effluvium (a form of temporary stress-induced hair loss).
You’ll need a prescription for oral minoxidil. Following a virtual consultation with one of our providers, minoxidil tablets may also be an option for you.
Finasteride
Finasteride is another FDA-approved prescription medication used to treat hair loss, specifically male pattern baldness. It works by blocking the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a male hormone that causes hair loss.
The idea is that when you have less DHT floating around in your hair follicles, you keep more of your hair.
You can also pair minoxidil and finasteride — our topical minoxidil & finasteride spray is an easy way to use both products at once.
For more information on at-home remedies for hair loss, check out our guide to the best oils for hair growth.
Saw Palmetto
Saw palmetto is a plant-based ingredient with some promise in treating hair loss. Research shows it works similarly to finasteride (though it’s not quite as effective).
In a clinical trial with 100 male patients, one group received 320 milligrams (mg) of saw palmetto, and the other group was given 1 mg of finasteride. (A significant limitation of the study was that it lacked a control group.)
After 24 months, 38% of those treated with saw palmetto and 68% of those who used finasteride experienced increased hair growth. Our thickening shampoo contains saw palmetto if you want to give it a try.
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Collagen and Hair Loss: The Takeaway
Is collagen good for hair? Yes, collagen is beneficial for hair (and most parts of your body).
Okay, but does collagen help with hair growth? Unfortunately, it’s not a reliable treatment for male pattern baldness or other types of hair loss.
Here’s what to remember about collagen for hair growth:
Collagen is a vital protein that supports skin elasticity, muscle structure, and hair health by helping form keratin. Its production decreases with age, leading to reduced skin elasticity and potentially duller, thinner hair.
Collagen might support hair health by providing proline for keratin formation and combating free radical damage, which could help with issues like greying and androgenetic alopecia. But, high-quality research specifically linking collagen to hair growth in humans is limited.
Oral collagen supplements are more effective than topical products because it’s hard for skin to absorb collagen molecules.
Other proven hair loss treatments include minoxidil and finasteride, with additional natural options like saw palmetto showing promise.
If you’re wondering what hair loss treatment is right for you or are interested in affordable prescription products, do a quick online hair loss consultation with a licensed healthcare provider at Hims.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. The information contained herein is not a substitute for and should never be relied upon for professional medical advice. Always talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of any treatment or medication.