By Jesse Martin, M.S.

Published July 9, 2026

You have probably seen the word "collagen" in any supplement store or on social media, but what really is it? Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body, and helps provide strength, support, and flexibility to many tissues throughout the body. It helps give structure to your skin, bones, joints, tendons, and connective tissue.

When you are young, your body produces collagen steadily. Over time, however, that production begins to slow. For many people, this natural decline starts around age 30 and continues in the years that follow. As collagen production slows, people often begin to notice the difference in areas like the skin, joints, and hair.

The good news is that daily habits can help. Eating protein-rich foods that provide the amino acids your body uses to make collagen, such as bone broth, chicken skin, and skin-on fish (e.g., sardines and salmon), along with nutrients like vitamin C, can help give the body what it needs to counteract this process.* A quality supplement offering collagen for healthy aging can also help fill in the gaps.

What Is Collagen?

Collagen is a structural protein that makes up as much as 30% of the body's total protein. It acts as a kind of scaffolding to help make your body's foundation stay strong and flexible, and holds together the tissues that the body relies on every day.

You will find collagen throughout your body, in areas like the skin, bones, joints, tendons, muscles, and teeth.

• In the skin, collagen supports firmness and a smooth, healthy look.
• In the bones, it makes up about 90% of the organic material, which helps keep bones strong instead of brittle.
• In the joints, it is a key part of cartilage, the tissue that helps joints move with ease.
• In hair and nails, collagen adds strength and support.

Why Collagen Production Slows With Age

Under normal conditions, the body is always breaking down old collagen and building new collagen. In your younger years, the amount you build keeps pace with the amount you lose. Typically beginning in your 30s, that balance begins to tip, and the body starts producing less than it breaks down. Collagen production then declines steadily, by roughly 1% each year, so that by age 80 the body makes far less than it did in early adulthood. Several changes happening at once can help explain why.

The biggest reason comes down to the cells that make collagen, called fibroblasts. As you age, fibroblasts become fewer and less active. In one study, older skin cells made much less collagen than young ones. At the same time, the enzymes that break collagen down become more active. As this occurs, less collagen comes in while more goes out, and that shift is thought to be the main reason collagen slowly drops over the years.

The collagen you already have plays a role, too. It acts like a frame that fibroblasts hold onto, and as the frame thins with age, those cells lose some of the support they need to keep producing. Over time, the loss can build on itself: the less collagen you have, the harder it becomes to make more.

In addition, hormonal changes can affect collagen as well. For women, collagen loss can speed up throughout peri- and postmenopause, when estrogen levels drop. This is one reason some women notice faster changes in their skin and joints during midlife.

What Speeds Up Collagen Loss

While aging is the biggest driver, daily habits can also accelerate collagen loss, especially in the skin. Sun damage is one of the biggest factors, as excessive sun exposure harms collagen in multiple ways. It wears down the collagen you already have and slows the making of new collagen, so over time sun-damaged skin ends up with less of it. Smoking works in a similar manner, both lowering how much collagen you make and breaking it down faster.

Diet and stress matter as well. A high sugar intake can damage collagen, making it stiff and harder to replace, while ongoing stress may contribute to lower collagen production. The encouraging part is that these are the factors you have the most control over. Protecting your skin from the sun, not smoking, keeping added sugar in check, managing stress, and eating a nutrient-rich diet can all help slow the breakdown of collagen.

How Diet and Vitamin C Support Collagen Production

Like all proteins, collagen is made from amino acids. Your body uses these amino acids, along with nutrients like vitamin C, zinc, and copper, to build new collagen.

Building collagen starts with the right raw materials, and much of that comes from food.

One of the most important is vitamin C, as the body can't build collagen without it. This vitamin plays a key role in how collagen is made, and can be obtained from foods like oranges, bell peppers, strawberries, broccoli, kiwi, and tomatoes. Because vitamin C and collagen work so closely together, some people also add a vitamin C supplement to their routine to help support the body's natural collagen production.*

Other foods supply the rest of the raw materials. Protein-rich foods like chicken, fish, eggs, beans, and soy provide the amino acids your body uses to make collagen, while bone broth, animal skins, and connective-tissue-rich cuts of meat, such as brisket or oxtail, provide collagen that your body breaks down and uses. Nuts, seeds, and shellfish add important nutrients like zinc and copper. Many modern diets lack collagen-rich foods, which is one reason some people turn to a collagen supplement to help fill the gap.

Collagen Peptides and Healthy Aging

As collagen production slows, many individuals turn to a daily collagen supplement for support. One option would be a good hydrolyzed collagen peptides supplement; these peptides are small, broken-down pieces of collagen that the body can absorb and use. The research appears promising, as studies suggest they may help support smoother, more elastic skin, help keep joints comfortable, and help support strong bones.*

Most commonly used collagen peptide powders have almost no taste, so they mix easily into coffee, smoothies, water, overnight oats, soups, etc. That makes a multi-benefit collagen supplement easy to add to your day, and single-use packets make a collagen peptides for daily use routine simple to keep up while traveling.

A supplement works best alongside healthy habits. A good diet, plenty of vitamin C, sun protection, and regular exercise all help support collagen and healthy aging, and a well-made collagen powder for joints and skin fits easily into this kind of routine.* Being consistent matters more than any single dose, because collagen support is slow and builds up over weeks and months. Because everyone's needs are different, talk with a health-care professional before starting a supplement, as they can help you build a collagen routine for overall wellness support that fits your own health goals.

Key Takeaways

• Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body and gives structure to the skin, bones, joints, and connective tissue.
• Collagen production naturally slows beginning around age 30, mainly because the cells that make collagen become fewer and less active, while the body breaks collagen down faster.
• Hormonal changes, sun exposure, smoking, high-sugar diets, and stress can all speed up collagen loss.
• Vitamin C is an important cofactor the body uses to support collagen production.*
• Collagen-rich foods like bone broth, chicken skin, fish skin, and connective-tissue-rich cuts of meat, along with vitamin C, zinc, and copper, provide the building blocks the body uses to make collagen.
• Hydrolyzed collagen peptides are small, easily absorbed pieces of collagen that may help support skin, joints, and bones.*

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.