Collagen for Women: Your Cycle, Menopause and Beyond

Whether you're training through your monthly cycle, on the pill, heading into perimenopause or well past menopause, your body's relationship with collagen keeps changing. Maybe you've noticed your skin changing, your joints niggling or your recovery slowing. This guide is for every stage, and there are no silly questions here. Here's what the research shows and how to make collagen work for you.

Jump to: Your cycle · Muscle and strength · Menopause · After menopause · How much · FAQ

Why estrogen and collagen are linked

Collagen is the main structural protein in your skin, tendons, ligaments and bones. Estrogen, the hormone that rises and falls across your monthly cycle and drops at menopause, influences how much collagen your body builds and breaks down. [1] [3]

That means your collagen needs aren't fixed. They shift with your cycle, with hormonal contraception, and most dramatically around menopause.

Through your monthly cycle

When estrogen is high, your body builds less collagen in response to training.

Your body is constantly breaking down and rebuilding collagen, and your monthly cycle changes how well it rebuilds.

Through your monthly cycle

Your cycle changes how you rebuild collagen

Estrogen

Higher estrogen: lower collagen-building response to training

Illustrative 28-day cycle

PeriodFollicular phaseOvulationLuteal phase

Daily collagen, every phaseKeeps the building blocks topped up, whatever phase you're in

Including on the pill. Tendons build less collagen in response to exercise when estrogen is high.

30 g before training boosted collagen building at both the low- and high-estrogen points of the cycle (one case study).

• Tendons respond differently when estrogen is high. Research on women's tendons shows the collagen-building response to exercise is lower when estrogen is elevated, including in women taking the oral contraceptive pill. [1]
• Collagen before training may help. In a 2024 case study of a naturally menstruating CrossFit athlete, estrogen was around five times higher in the late follicular phase than at the start of her period. Collagen building after training was lower when estrogen peaked, and taking 30 g of hydrolysed collagen before training boosted the response at both points in her cycle. [2]

It's early research, but it points to something simple: a daily collagen habit keeps the building blocks topped up, whatever phase you're in.

Muscle and strength from your training

Collagen supports extra gains in lean muscle and strength when you train.

• In 77 premenopausal women doing three resistance sessions a week, 15 g of collagen peptides a day for 12 weeks lifted fat-free mass from 62.6% to 64.4% of body weight, a significantly bigger gain than training alone, along with better grip strength. [4]

Pair collagen with whey for the full muscle-building picture. Our collagen vs whey guide explains why.

Perimenopause and menopause

As estrogen falls, collagen loss speeds up.

As estrogen falls

Collagen loss speeds up after menopause

1. Cycle yearsEstrogen rises and falls each month
2. PerimenopauseEstrogen becomes less predictable
3. Menopause
4. First 5 years afterUp to 30% of skin collagen (types I and III) can be lost

This drop is driven by falling estrogen. Collagen, protein and strength training all help support bone, skin and muscle through this stage.

Start supporting it early

See the full numbers

Up to 30% of skin collagen (types I and III) can be lost in the first five years after menopause. [3] That's why skin often changes quickly in these years, and why bone and muscle need extra support too.

After menopause: bone, skin and hair

This is where collagen has some of its strongest research.

After menopause

Bone, skin and hair

Bone, spine

+3%

bone density, while the placebo group lost 1.3%

102 postmenopausal women, 5 g a day for 12 months

Bone, hip

+6.7%

bone density, while the placebo group lost 1.0%

Same study

Skin

About 12%

better skin elasticity after six months

Menopausal women taking collagen

Hair

Less shedding

than placebo, within three months

Same study

Results from the studies cited in the article. Averages from the women studied.

See the full numbers

• Supports bone density. In 102 postmenopausal women with lower bone density, 5 g of collagen peptides a day for 12 months raised bone density by about 3% in the spine and 6.7% in the hip, while the placebo group lost bone (1.3% and 1.0%). Bone-building markers rose too. [5]
• Supports skin. After six months, menopausal women taking collagen saw skin elasticity improve by about 12%, and those taking it with calcium and vitamin D saw skin hydration rise by 23%. [6]
• Supports hair. In the same study, women taking collagen had significantly less hair shedding than those on placebo within three months. [6]

• Supports muscle and strength. Paired with resistance training, collagen supports extra gains in lean muscle and strength at any age. [4]

For more on protein and creatine through this stage, read protein and creatine during menopause.

Gut comfort

Collagen may support a happier stomach too. In a 2022 study, 13 of 14 healthy women taking 20 g of bovine collagen peptides a day for eight weeks reported fewer digestive symptoms, including less bloating. [7]

Many of our customers who found whey hard on their stomach do well on a whey and collagen blend. See protein powder and a sensitive stomach.

How much and when

Consistency matters more than timing. Make it a daily habit, in a shake, coffee or smoothie.

Our picks

Inception Labs Collagen Whey Protein. NZ whey protein concentrate from grass-fed cows with NZ bovine collagen types I, II and III, giving you up to 27 g of protein per scoop. [8] Supports muscle, skin and connective tissue in one scoop.

Wondering about bovine vs marine? Read bovine vs marine collagen.