A doctor has shared some surprising advice about a popular supplement, claiming it might not be doing what we expect. Doctor Amir Khangave a detailed breakdown on collagen and whether it can help reduce the appearance of ageing.

Appearing onGood Morning Britain (GMB) on March 27, Dr Amir gave host Kate Garraway a “shock” after explaining what we should be prioritising. Collagen is a protein found in the human body, which provides strength, elasticity, and support to skin, bones, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage.

In recent years, it has become a staple in high street pharmacies, promising to improve skin health and even reduce the appearance of wrinkles. However, Dr Amir warned that there is no accurate data to back this up.

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He said: “What’s happening is big marketing PR campaigns are selling people, mainly women, collagen as something that helps with anti-ageing, wrinkles, all of that kind of thing.

“But the evidence does not support that.” He continued: “So, when you take a collagen supplement, your body will break it down, your gut will break it down into its component parts, which are amino acids, they're the building blocks for any protein.

“What doesn't happen is your body doesn't build that collagen to your skin or your hair. It will take those amino acids and do whatever it feels like your body needs most.

“So it could be a hormone, it could be an enzyme, it could be anything.”

He referenced a meta-analysis published in 2025. This found that once research funded by the collagen industry was removed, “there was no benefit” to skin or hair. However, he did acknowledge that collagen has been shown to aid joint health and is important for women after menopause.

But he explained it’s good to get collagen “naturally” through your diet. Dr Amir recommended getting this from:

• Chicken skin


• Bone broth


• Lentils


• Beans

You should eat these alongside vitamin C-rich foods to get the best benefits, according to Dr Amir. And although he said that taking collagen supplements was “not harmful,” he warned that it could be a problem if someone took them and thought they didn’t need to eat a healthy, balanced diet.

GMB presenter Kate Garraway then asked whether there is a situation where taking something like collagen with a good diet is beneficial. His response led the GMB Instagram page to share a clip from the show, described as “Kate has a shock after chatting to Dr Amir!”

Dr Amir said: “But if you do want to support your collagen, the biggest depleter of collagen alongside ageing is sun - sunlight, so being protected in the sun with SPF, smoking depletes your collagen, alcohol does, stress, sleep deprivation, and sugar.”

In response, Kate said: “Hard to cut all of those out of our lives isn’t it?” She jokingly added: “You’ve just described my entire lifestyle.”

Dr Amir added: “There's no point taking this because you're doing the best things for yourself anyway and getting your diet right with protein.”