Even with daily exercise, collagen protein shakes didn’t help older women’s muscles build new protein over a week—whey did, but collagen didn’t.

Scientific Claim

In healthy older women, the anabolic response to collagen peptides is minimal and insufficient to elevate muscle protein synthesis above baseline levels over a 6-day period, even when combined with resistance exercise.

Original Statement

“Longer-term MPS was not significantly elevated above baseline in Rest (0.011 ± 0.042%/d) or Exercise (0.020 ± 0.034%/d) with CP. Longer-term MPS was greater in WP than in CP in both Rest and Exercise (P < 0.001).”

From study:Whey protein but not collagen peptides stimulate acute and longer-term muscle protein synthesis with and without resistance exercise in healthy older women: a randomized controlled trial.

Evidence Quality Assessment

Claim Status

appropriately stated

Study Design Support

Design supports claim

Appropriate Language Strength

definitive

Can make definitive causal claims

Assessment Explanation

The RCT design with direct measurement of integrated MPS over time provides strong evidence for the absence of effect. The claim accurately reflects the data without overstatement.

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (0)

No supporting evidence found

Contradicting (1)

Whey protein but not collagen peptides stimulate acute and longer-term muscle protein synthesis with and without resistance exercise in healthy older women: a randomized controlled trial.

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2020 Mar 1

The study found that collagen peptides didn’t help older women build muscle over 6 days, even with exercise, but whey protein did — so the claim that collagen doesn’t work well is mostly right, but it did have a tiny effect during workouts.

Source Study

Whey protein but not collagen peptides stimulate acute and longer-term muscle protein synthesis with and without resistance exercise in healthy older women: a randomized controlled trial.

Score: 66

DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz332

Similar Assertions

Even though collagen protein is made of collagen, drinking it didn’t make the connective tissue inside muscles grow faster—even when combined with exercise.

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With collagen protein, the muscle-building effect was almost identical in the exercised and non-exercised leg—unlike whey, which responded more strongly where exercise happened.

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Even though whey protein made muscles build faster, it didn’t change the usual ‘on/off’ switches in muscle cells that are supposed to control growth—suggesting other mechanisms are at play.

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After drinking whey protein shakes every day for a week, older women’s muscles kept building up new protein even on days they didn’t exercise—collagen protein didn’t do this at all.

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Doing leg exercises helps whey protein build muscle even more—but even with exercise, collagen protein still can’t match whey’s muscle-building power.

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