Help! Collagen - snake oil or worthwhile investment?

[EnjoythemoneyJane]

Being an auld gimmer, my insta is constantly flooded with glowy post-menopausal women banging on about collagen.

I know I’m very late to the party, but I finally clicked through on an Elavate ad this morning (because I quite trust Janet Street Porter) and it took me to a site that batters you with ‘facts’ and before & after photos which you have to scroll for pages before it reveals the price of the stuff. The whole thing looks and feels like some telemarketing scam, and that’s before you get to the ingredients blurb which vaguely mentions sources as being ‘European facilities’ (presumably abattoirs without uk regulations?!).

Been down a google rabbit hole and every other 40+ celeb seems to be endorsing a different brand of capsules or liquids or powders, the price range spans hundreds of pounds, and the science seems, at best, tentatively positive.

So please educate me, wise women of Style & Beauty! Is it worth it? Does it make any difference? Is there a brand that everyone swears by, or it all basically the same stuff? Is marine or bovine best, or a combination of both? TIA

Yes, I buy mine in shops - no MLM. I started taking it for knee pain, and there has been an improvement in my knee. I can confirm that it's made not a blind bit of difference to my hair or my skin, though.

I’m always cautious around supplements when i discovered on a recent blood test that I was taking too much vitamin D. It wasn’t even a high dose one! I get it through food now. And take HRT. A lot of women I know take a variety of supplements like collagen, lions mane, ashwaganda etc instead of HRT, because they’re worried to take HRT. The risks are tiny and the benefits are huge.