Throughout your fitness journey, you may have come across collagen supplements. And, despite the numerous benefits, does collagen make you gain weight?

Collagen is the most abundant protein in our body that helps supports our skin, muscles, and connective tissues. While you can use collagen supplements, a balanced diet will allow the body to produce collagen naturally.

However, many people do supplement collagen because of specific health reasons for example joint pain or skin health. So, will adding more collagen to your diet increase unwanted pounds on the scale?

Well, there are a lot of misconceptions about collagen. Some people claim that it causes weight gain while others say it helps with weight loss. So, what’s the truth?

In this article, we look at the relationship between collagen and weight gain with evidence backed by science. Let’s see what the current research has to say!

But first, we will go through what collagen is and its important role in the human body.

What is Collagen?

Collagen is a type of protein that is naturally produced by our body. It provides strength, structure, and elasticity to our skin, connective tissues, bones, tendons, and cartilage There are many different known types of collagens in our body, however type I covers 90% of collagen.

What is collagen made of? Well, proteins are made from amino acids. The main amino acids that make collagen are proline, glycine and hydroxyproline.

Collagen is also responsible for the firmness of the skin. Unfortunately, as we get older our body’s naturally produces less collagen. As a result, we experience signs of aging like wrinkles and joint pain.

This is one reason why people take collagen supplements to improve their overall wellbeing and appearance.

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The Role of Collagen

Apart from providing strength, structure, and elasticity within the body, collagen has many other significant roles:

• Helps replace dead skin cells.
• Provides protection of the kidneys and other organs.
• Allows for tissue repair, encouraging muscle growth.
• Improves gut health and reduces inflammation.
• Helps your blood to clot.

Now that we know what collagen is and what it does, let’s answer the topic of discussion today: does collagen make you gain weight?

Does Collagen Make You Gain Weight?

There is no evidence that states that collagen itself will make you gain weight. Collagen is a protein, and all proteins have calories. Hence, consuming collagen will NOT make you gain weight unless you get yourself into a calorie surplus.

In fact, many studies and research articles states that collagen can help with weight loss or weight control.

A study conducted in 2023 concluded that collagen “can be used to prevent and treat obesity caused by a high-calorie diet”.

However, if you consume collagen with your regular diet, it can increase you daily calorie intake, hence leading to weight gain. To prevent this, track your macros to make sure you’re getting the right number of calories. Here is a calorie calculator to find out how many calories you need.

But there are a few points about collagen that can SLIGHTLY make you gain weight.

How Does Collagen Make You Gain Weight?

Although there is no study that demonstrates the relationship between collagen and weight gain, there are some ways that collagen may make you gain weight. Please note that this weight gain, in most cases, is unnoticeable and very minor.

Muscle Mass

Collagen is a key component of the skeletal muscle and muscle tissues. It helps with the repair and growth of these tissues which builds muscle over time.   

In fact, research has shown that it helps build muscle for people with sarcopenia which is loss of muscle as we age.

Now, since you’re increasing lean muscle mass, it is possible to see a slight increase on the weight scale. But it’s not fat, it’s muscle. So, it’s a positive increase of weight.

Also note that although collagen does contain amino acids, it is NOT a complete protein. This means that it doesn’t contain all the essential amino acids that is required for building muscle. Hence, collagen alone should not be used as a primary protein source.

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Skin Hydration

Collagen has a significant role in maintaining skin hydration. It’s an integral part of the extracellular matrix which retains water and supports a smooth, firm, and strong skin.

The collagen fibres hold moisture within the skin and helps support, structure, and elasticity of the skin.

The water retention in the skin may cause body weight to slightly fluctuate throughout the day because of the hydration levels. However, these changes in body weight will not cause significant weight gain. And it definitely won’t cause noticeable weight gain.

Again, eating more calories is how you gain weight and fat. With collagen having the least calories compared to other protein sources, it will not directly contribute towards weight gain.

Bone Health

A study conducted in 2018 concluded that specific collagen peptides contributed to a shift in bone markers, resulting in bone formation and reduction in bone degradation.

Collagen keeps minerals in place which provides bones with strength and density. This is so important especially when we age, and our bone mineral density naturally decreases. In fact, studies have proven that fracture and osteoarthritis is most common in older adults.

So, to keep your bones strong, you might want to start taking collagen supplements.

Additives

Many collagens supplement contain sugar and additives to improve the taste and texture. These sugars and additives not only have excess calories but also have other negative side effects.

In fact, studies have shown that a high dose of artificial sweeteners and preservatives can lead to obesity and even cancer.

It’s best to try to avoid these as much as possible not only for weight control, but also to prevent other serious health conditions.

Cartilage & Connective Tissues

Cartilage is a strong connective tissue that helps support and protect the joints and bones. Studies indicate that collagen can promote the synthesis of connective tissues and cartilage.

It helps repair existing cartilage and relive joint inflammation.

So, the growth and repair of connective tissues because of collagen may make you gain weight slightly. Again, it is not noticeable weight gain.

In fact, collagen has more weight loss possibilities then weight gain. That right! Collagen can help significantly with weight loss.

Collagen Calories Compared to Other Protein Supplements

It’s also important to note that the calories found in collagen supplement is considerably lower than calories found in other protein supplements, like whey protein.

Collagen supplements contain roughly around 50 calories compared to whey or even vegan protein that contains 100 plus calories depending on the flavour.

One reason could be that collagen supplements have no carbohydrate.

Hence, it is very unlikely to gain weight by consuming collagen. If fact, collagen helps lose weight instead.

Collagen Calories Compared to Other Protein Supplements

It’s also important to note that the calories found in collagen supplement is considerably lower than calories found in other protein supplements, like whey protein.

Collagen supplements contain roughly around 50 calories compared to whey or even vegan protein that contains 100 plus calories depending on the flavour.

One reason could be that collagen supplements have no carbohydrate.

Hence, it is very unlikely to gain weight by consuming collagen. If fact, collagen helps lose weight instead.

How Does Collagen Helps with Weight Loss?

Yes, collagen may help, indirectly, support weight loss. However, please note that consuming collagen isn’t the only thing you need for weight loss. Collagen must be taken simultaneously with a proper fitness and nutritional plan.

I’d strongly recommend consulting professional advice before jumping into your weight loss journey.

But for now, let’s take a deeper look into the relationship between collagen and weight loss.

Keeps You Full

Consuming high protein foods keeps you feeling full for a very long time. Think about a protein shake or the morning eggs on toast with a glass of milk breakfast you had. I doubt you felt hungry until lunch.

Including collagen into your diet is no different. It is a type of protein that will keep you feeling full for a long time. Hence, it avoids those little snacks craving you have every half an hour, reducing the number of calories you consume.

Collagen also helps reduce your appetite by increasing leptin levels. Leptin sends signals to the brain and tells it if the body needs food to control energy balance. High leptin levels reduce appetite which decreases calorie consumption.

Improved Gut Health

Recent studies shows that collagen supports healthy digestion, better stomach, and less bloating. This is because collagen is made from glycine and proline amino acids that both support and repair the gut lining.

Another study showed that increasing weight loss is correlated to an increase gut microbiota.

Collagen also promotes healthy gut bacteria which produces chemicals and hormones that reduce your appetite. This leads to less intake of excess food that contains calories, resulting in weight loss.

Boost Metabolism

A high protein diet, including collagen, can boost your metabolism since it requires more energy to digest.

Protein digesting exceeds the metabolic rate by 20-35% compared to carbs with only 5-15%. Hence protein have a much high thermic effect.

In fact, a study experimented showed 10 healthy women who had a high-protein, low fat diet and compared that to high-carbs, low fat diet. It concluded that a high-protein diets showed greater weight loss benefits compared to high-carbs diet.

This is simply because protein keeps you full and allows to burn more calories at rest since your body works harder to digest it.

Key Takeaway

So, collagen will not directly make you gain weight, and it does NOT make you fat. For our body to gain weight, we must go into a calorie surplus. That means eating more calories than our body needs to maintain.

In fact, collagen is more likely to help you lose weight then gain.

We hope this article helped you understand the relationship between collagen and weight gain.

As always, stay Fit & Healthy and I will see you guys’ next time.