Can collagen powder improve your sleep?

If you’re one of the countless people struggling to get a decent night’s rest, you’ll know how desperate you can be to try anything. Our resident insomniac GTG beauty editors – including myself – have had some success with the Sensate ‘power nap pebble’, cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia and even saffron, hailed as the new chill pill. But we’re always looking for new suggestions.

When we heard anecdotal reports of collagen powder to help with sleep at bedtime (one fellow health journalist told us she’d noticed the difference since taking her collagen sachet at night) we decided to dig deeper. We know the benefits of collagen supplements for skin and joints but can they also help with sleep? The outlook is promising.

We asked BANT-registered nutritionist Charlotte Faure Green to sift through the evidence.

How does collagen powder improve sleep, exactly?

Collagen contains the amino acid and neurotransmitter glycine. One 2007 study on 30 American men (the studies in this field are usually on men) “demonstrated that glycine could improve overall sleep quality, with the participants reporting feeling more rested in the morning,” says Faure Green. Glycine appears to also reduce sleep onset and the number of times you wake up during the night, she adds.

Glycine supports sleep by boosting serotonin; this converts to melatonin (our sleep hormone responsible for regulating the sleep-wake cycle) in the brain, sending signals to our body to initiate sleep.

At the same time, glycine acts as an inhibitory neurotransmitter (like GABA) helping the body relax and, says Faure Green, helping turn off the “monkey chatter” in busy brains. It’s a combined action that can help you sleep deeper and faster.

What is the evidence that collagen powder and other supplements improve sleep?

“There is no significant research that directly connects collagen supplementation with sleep improvements,” says Faure Green. One small 2023 study on 13 athletic men with self-reported sleep complaints concluded that taking 15mg of collagen peptides a night helped them wake up less. But that one piece of research doesn’t amount to a body of clinical evidence.

However, that doesn’t mean collagen supps can’t help you sleep better thanks to their glycine content.

Faure Green too has seen some anecdotal evidence of it in her nutrition therapy practice: “I often recommend Ancient+Brave Cacao+Collagen, £24 to clients as a nighttime drink. The idea is to replace a habit [such as snacking or drinking alcohol late at night] that might be hampering their health goals,” she says. “Many, however, report more restful sleep, and it’s fair to say the collagen content of this drink may be playing a part in this.”

How much collagen should you take to affect sleep?

The collagen study was done with 15mg of bovine collagen peptides daily, which is more than most collagen supplements provide, given that benefits for the skin require 10mg per day. The 15mg of collagen roughly provides 3g of glycine, and this is the clinically backed dose for aiding sleep that should work for most people, says Faure Green.

“Taken as a single 3g dose, 30-60 minutes before bed, glycine can improve sleep,” she says, adding that regular use could potentially enhance these benefits over time because glycine helps support your balance of neurotransmitters. This may make you feel more chilled overall, which should help you be a better sleeper.

Collagen supplements typically provide about 2g of glycine per average 10g serving, with bovine (cow) collagen thought to be somewhat richer in glycine than marine (fish) – the sleep/glycine study mentioned above used bovine collagen. But consuming less than three grams, says Faure Green, can still provide some benefits. “Many people, me included, experience improved sleep with one or two-gram doses of glycine. If you want sure-fire sleep benefits, however, a pure glycine supplement remains a more efficient choice than relying on collagen alone.” Thorne Glycine, £18.69 has 1g glycine per dose and can be taken up to three times per day.

As glycine primarily improves the quality of your sleep rather than making you drowsy, you won’t have to worry about sleepwalking through your day if you take a collagen supplement in the morning.

It is, however, advisable to check the added ingredients in your favourite collagen supp if you’re hoping it will improve your nighttime slumber; many are blended with things like B vitamins, and vitamin B12, in particular, is energising, possibly off-setting the glycine’s calming properties.

Have collagen and glycine been proven to aid sleep in women?

The research on glycine and sleep and even collagen and sleep mainly uses male participants, which, says Faure Green, is common in so many early studies. She says glycine’s calming and sleep-supporting effects likely extend to women, but we should keep in mind that women’s hormonal fluctuations might influence this impact. So more studies on women are certainly welcome!

Can vegan collagen improve sleep?

Don’t bet on it. While vegan collagen supplements, which are actually vegan collagen building complexes, do contain amino acids, they do not contain glycine at the levels found in animal-derived collagen, says Faure Green. They can support other health aspects, she says, but it’s not likely they’ll enhance sleep.

How does collagen compare to other natural sleep aids?

As you will have twigged by now, the right question would be to ask how glycine compares to other natural sleep aids. For Faure Green, glycine works best as part of a comprehensive nutrient-based toolkit for sleep support. Most sleep boosters have their own mechanisms; what works best for the individual very much depends on your biochemistry and the root cause of your sleep dysfunction.

She is a big fan of saffron as a serotonin balancer to aid relaxation and sleep. Glycine mainly improves sleep, she says, by calming the central nervous system; if forced to choose between the two, she “would be inclined to reach for glycine as a standalone supplement over either collagen or saffron for sleep specifically.” Nature’s Selection Glycine Capsules, £15.99, provide a 30-day supply of 3mg glycine.

Other favourite ‘sleep’ nutrients of Faure Green’s include:

• Magnesium glycinate – this is essentially calming magnesium that has a glycine component, so you kill two birds with one stone if you are trying to release physical and psychological tension.
• L-theanine (also found in matcha) for calming the mind
• Taurine for soothing the nervous system. Faure Green likes theanine and taurine together for well-rounded sleep support Elan City Survivor Night Support, £22.95 for a 30-day supply, has both.
• Montmorency cherry in Cherry Active, £15.29she rates for providing natural melatonin.
• Lemon balm is known for reducing stress. Viridian L-Theanine and Lemon Balm, £24.83
• Valerian as in Kalms £5.22 works as a natural sedative on some people

Which is the best collagen powder for sleep?

If you want to use a collagen supplement to aid sleep, Faure Green recommends focusing more on the glycine content than on the type of collagen. “A high-quality collagen that provides a sufficient sizeable dose of glycine could offer some benefit to sleep,” she says. We’ve got a few to recommend.