Collagen supplements have some legitimate benefits, improving skin health and reducing pain from wear-and-tear arthritis, a new evidence review has concluded.

Skin elasticity and hydration improve while taking collagen supplements, and arthritis pain and stiffness eases, researchers reported in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal Open Forum.

And taking the supplements longer leads to greater benefits, researchers found.

“Collagen is not a cure all, but it does have credible benefits when used consistently over time, particularly for skin and osteoarthritis,” senior researcher Lee Smith said in a news release. He’s a professor of public health at Anglia Ruskin University in the U.K.

Collagen is a protein found in human connective tissues, including skin, tendons, cartilage and bones, researchers said in background notes. It makes up as much as 30% of all proteins in the human body.

There’s been a boom in collagen supplements, with the market valued at nearly $2 billion in 2021 and expected to grow by nearly 6% in coming years, researchers said.

Along with this boom has come a wave of research into the health benefits of collagen, but this is the first umbrella review aimed at collecting all this data and sorting out the facts from the myths, researchers said.

For the new review, researchers analyzed data from 16 prior reviews of 113 clinical trials involving nearly 8,000 patients total.

Along with skin and arthritis benefits, the review also found modest improvements in muscle mass and muscle and tendon health – evidence that collagen could serve a role in healthy aging.

However, collagen did not improve exercise or sports performance. There were no meaningful improvements in muscle recovery or less soreness after exercise, indicating that collagen shouldn’t be considered a fast-acting sports supplement, researchers said.

There also was little evidence that collagen can improve gum disease or metabolic factors like cholesterol, blood pressure or blood sugar, researchers said.

“Our findings show clear benefits in key areas of healthy aging, while also dispelling some of the myths surrounding its use,” Smith said.

“This study marks an important step towards more informed public guidance and better designed future research,” he said. “We need more high-quality clinical trials, including research examining long-term health outcomes, optimal dosing and differences between collagen sources.”