Collagen Deficiency: The overlooked link to artery health

What if one of the most important factors for artery health has been hiding in plain sight? We obsess over cholesterol and blood pressure, yet we almost never talk about collagen.

Here’s why that matters: up to 80% of older adults show signs of small vessel disease, a condition closely tied to stroke and dementia (McNeilly et al., 2024). And collagen loss may be one overlooked reason why.

Collagen isn’t just for skin and joints. It’s the structural protein that gives arteries their strength and flexibility (Holwerda & van Loon, 2021). The catch? Collagen levels decline by about 1% every year after your 20s(Holwerda & van Loon, 2021). By midlife, that steady drop leaves blood vessels stiffer, weaker, and far more vulnerable to damage.

This makes collagen deficiency more than a cosmetic concern, it may be one of the most underestimated drivers of artery disease (McNeilly et al., 2024).

Collagen often gets branded as a “beauty protein,” but its role in the body goes far beyond skin and nails (Pu et al., 2023). Think of it as the scaffolding that holds everything together, from your bones and joints to the walls of your blood vessels.

There are more than 20 different types of collagen, but a few stand out when it comes to artery health:

• Type IV forms a supportive mesh in artery walls, keeping vessels strong yet flexible (McNeilly et al., 2024).
  
  

• Type I and III are the heavy lifters in connective tissue and wound repair (Gardeazabal & Izeta, 2024).
  
  

• Type VIII shows up when arteries are under stress — it can help stabilise plaques but may also stiffen vessels if too much builds up (Li et al., 2024).
  
  

In simple terms: collagen is what keeps your arteries from behaving like worn-out pipes. Without it, blood vessels lose their give, thicken, or even weaken to the point of rupture. It’s a critical part of vascular health, yet it’s rarely part of the conversation (Li et al., 2024).

As collagen slowly declines, your arteries don’t work the way they used to. Here’s what that really means:

Arteries become stiff

Collagen is what makes artery walls stretchy yet strong. When there’s less of it, arteries turn rigid. Think of the difference between a new, flexible garden hose and one that’s old and stiff; the stiffer it is, the harder it is to push water through. The same goes for blood. This extra strain can push blood pressure higher (Jalili et al., 2022).

Arteries become fragile

Collagen also acts like reinforcement in concrete. When levels drop, vessels lose that reinforcement and are more likely to crack or leak. In the brain, this can show up as tiny bleeds, which over time add up to real problems (McNeilly et al., 2024).

Arteries repair more slowly

Your blood vessels are constantly patching up small bits of wear and tear. But when collagen is in short supply, those repairs are weaker and slower. That makes it easier for damage to grow into something more serious (Gardeazabal & Izeta, 2024).

The brain is hit hardest

The brain relies on thousands of tiny blood vessels. When these weaken, it’s called small vessel disease, something seen in up to 80% of older adults. It’s strongly linked to strokes and thought to be behind nearly half of dementia cases (McNeilly et al., 2024).

So while collagen loss might show on the outside as wrinkles or weaker joints, inside it’s silently reshaping your arteries, making them stiffer, weaker, and slower to repair when it matters most (Pu et al., 2023). 

If collagen is so vital, why do we lose it in the first place? Unfortunately, some decline is natural but lifestyle and health factors can speed up the process.

Aging

Collagen naturally drops by about 1% every year after your 20s (Holwerda & van Loon, 2021). It’s gradual at first, but over decades the loss adds up. By midlife, arteries are already working with far less support than they once had.

Menopause

For women, estrogen plays a key role in collagen maintenance. As levels fall during menopause, collagen loss accelerates, which helps explain the sharper rise in artery stiffness seen at this stage of life (Holwerda & van Loon, 2021).

Lifestyle damage

Habits like smoking, a high-sugar diet, and chronic stress all break down collagen. Excess sugar in particular binds to collagen in a process called glycation, leaving artery walls brittle; like caramel hardening (Holwerda & van Loon, 2021).

Chronic conditions

Diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and long-term inflammation don’t just strain the arteries, they also disrupt collagen, leaving blood vessels weaker (McNeilly et al., 2024).

These risks don’t always make the headlines, but they quietly chip away at your arteries. Over time, the result is a slow but steady decline in the scaffolding your cardiovascular system relies on.

Collagen decline isn’t just about stiffer arteries, it has ripple effects across the whole body.

• In the heart and brain, low collagen contributes to heart disease, strokes, and vascular dementia; with small vessel disease alone linked to around half of dementia cases (McNeilly et al., 2024).
  
  

• In the  kidneys, weak blood vessels reduce filtration efficiency, raising the risk of kidney disease (Li et al., 2024).
  
  

• In the eyes, collagen breakdown can weaken delicate retinal and corneal vessels, impairing vision (Li et al., 2024).
  
  

Put simply, collagen touches every organ that relies on healthy blood flow, which means all of them.

This is why it deserves a place in the conversation alongside cholesterol, blood pressure, and lifestyle. Ignoring it leaves out a key piece of the cardiovascular puzzle.

Collagen isn’t just another wellness trend; science is showing it plays a real role in cardiovascular health.

In fact, a review of 12 clinical trials found that collagen peptides did more than help with skin. Participants saw a drop in blood pressure of about 5 mmHg, a reduction in “bad” LDL cholesterol, and positive changes in body composition, less fat and more lean muscle (Jalili et al., 2022). Those might sound like small shifts, but even a 5 mmHg drop in blood pressure can cut the risk of stroke and heart disease deaths by up to 6%.

Beyond the heart, collagen has been shown to support wound healing (Gardeazabal & Izeta, 2024) and strengthen joints and connective tissue when paired with exercise (Holwerda & van Loon, 2021). Together, this evidence makes it clear: collagen isn’t just about beauty; it’s a whole-body ally, and your arteries may benefit just as much as your skin or joints.

The good news: while collagen naturally declines, there’s plenty you can do to support it.

Nutrition

Collagen production relies on certain nutrients, including vitamin C, zinc, copper, and amino acids like glycine and proline (Holwerda & van Loon, 2021). Antioxidant-rich foods like berries, citrus, and leafy greens also help protect collagen from breakdown.

Lifestyle

Choices matter. Exercise stimulates collagen turnover, while smoking, high stress, and excess sugar accelerate its decline (McNeilly et al., 2024). Managing blood sugar is especially important, as glycation makes collagen brittle over time.

Supplements

Collagen peptides are showing real promise. Doses of 2.5–15 g per day, especially when paired with vitamin C and taken before exercise, appear to be most effective (Jalili et al., 2022; AIS, 2018). This combination provides the building blocks and the stimulus your body needs to put collagen where it matters most.

Collagen may be overlooked, but it’s also actionable and supporting it now can pay dividends for your arteries later.

It’s important to note that collagen isn’t about “the more, the better.” The goal is balance.

Too much collagen cross-linking, especially when driven by excess sugar, actually makes arteries stiffer (Holwerda & van Loon, 2021). And while collagen VIII plays a protective role in artery repair, too much of it has been linked to artery thickening and stiffness (Li et al., 2024).

The aim is not to overload the body with collagen, but to support healthy collagen turnover through smart nutrition, lifestyle, and supplementation.

Collagen may be one of the most overlooked factors in artery health but it doesn’t have to stay that way. By supporting your body’s natural collagen, you’re not only caring for your skin and joints, you’re also protecting the very foundation of your cardiovascular system.

At Australian Sports Nutrition (ASN), we’re here to make that support simple and accessible. From our curated collagen collection, our top 10 collagen products, to our in-depth Education Hub, you’ll find the products and expert advice you need to make informed choices. Whether you prefer shopping online, using Click & Collect, or dropping into your local ASN store, we’re ready to help you take action today.

Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). (2018). Collagen support. Ausport.gov.au; Australian Sport Commission . https://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition/supplements/group_b/other/collagen-support

Gardeazabal, L., & Izeta, A. (2024). Elastin and collagen fibres in cutaneous wound healing. Experimental Dermatology, 33(3), e15052. https://doi.org/10.1111/exd.15052

Holwerda, A. M., & van Loon, L. J. C. (2021). The impact of collagen protein ingestion on musculoskeletal connective tissue remodeling: a narrative review. Nutrition Reviews, 80(6). https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuab083

Jalili, Z., Jalili, F., Moradi, S., Bagheri, R., Moosavian, S. P., Naeini, F., Mohammadi, H., Mojtaba Ghoreishy, S., Wong, A., Travica, N., Hojjati Kermani, M. ali, & Jalili, C. (2022). Effects of Collagen Peptide Supplementation on Cardiovascular Markers: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trials. British Journal of Nutrition, 1–43. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007114522001301

Li, Q., Tintut, Y., Demer, L. L., Vazquez-Padron, R. I., Bendeck, M. P., & Hsu, J. J. (2024). Collagen VIII in vascular diseases. Matrix Biology, 133, 64–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matbio.2024.08.006

McNeilly, S., Thomson, C. R., Gonzalez-Trueba, L., Yan Sin, Y., Granata, A., Hamilton, G., Lee, M., Boland, E., McClure, J. D., Lumbreras-Perales, C., Aman, A., Kumar, A. A., Cantini, M., Gök, C., Graham, D., Tomono, Y., Anderson, C. D., Lu, Y., Smith, C., & Markus, H. S. (2024). Collagen IV deficiency causes hypertrophic remodeling and endothelium-dependent hyperpolarization in small vessel disease with intracerebral hemorrhage. EBioMedicine, 107, 105315–105315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2024.105315

Pu, S.-Y., Huang, Y.-L., Pu, C.-M., Kang, Y.-N., Hoang, K. D., Chen, K.-H., & Chen, C. (2023). Effects of Oral Collagen for Skin Anti-Aging: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients, 15(9), 2080. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15092080