Can You Take Collagen and Creatine Together?

Yes. Collagen and creatine can be taken together, in the same drink if you like: no interaction between them has been documented in a trial or a case report, and they do different things. Creatine tops up a store of quick energy in muscle; 3 g a day raises muscle creatine by about 20% over four weeks.¹ Collagen peptides are a protein, and their training evidence comes from trials that gave 15 g a day alongside resistance training.² Creatine's own evidence is in what does creatine do; collagen's is in the Wellgard collagen guide.

Do collagen and creatine do the same thing?

No, and that is why people take both. Creatine is a small molecule your body makes and stores in muscle as phosphocreatine, the energy reserve for the first seconds of a hard effort; a fuller store is what improves repeated high-intensity efforts.³ Supplementing fills it: in the 1996 loading study, 20 g a day for six days or 3 g a day for 28 days raised muscle creatine by about 20%.¹ In Great Britain the authorised wording is that creatine increases physical performance in successive bursts of short-term, high intensity exercise, at a daily intake of 3 g.¹²

Collagen is a protein, and a collagen supplement is that protein broken into short peptides. It has no authorised health claim in Great Britain, a fact about the register rather than a result from a trial. Its training trials measured fat-free mass, strength and tendon structure.

What do the collagen and resistance training trials show?

A 2024 meta-analysis pooled 19 randomised trials in 768 healthy adults who trained for at least eight weeks while taking collagen peptides. Fat-free mass rose more than with training alone (standardised mean difference 0.48, moderate certainty), as did maximal strength (0.19, low certainty) and tendon size on imaging (0.67, very low certainty).² A 2026 network meta-analysis compared 13 protein supplements across 78 trials in 4,755 adults doing strength training: against placebo, collagen ranked first for strength (SMD 0.41) and fat-free mass (0.94), whey second (0.15 and 0.16), and no other protein supplement differed from placebo.⁴ As proteins, the two are compared in collagen vs whey protein.

The individual trials give the dose. In 53 men aged about 72 with low muscle mass, 15 g of collagen peptides a day through twelve weeks of training three times a week added 4.2 kg of fat-free mass against 2.9 kg on placebo.⁵ In 97 untrained middle-aged men on the same programme, 15 g a day added 3.42 kg against 1.83 kg; a third group on whey gained 2.27 kg, an exploratory comparison that was not statistically significant.⁶ In 77 premenopausal women, 15 g a day with twelve weeks of training raised the proportion of fat-free mass and hand-grip strength more than training alone.⁷ The null result sits beside them: in a UK trial, 39 young men on 15 g a day through 15 weeks of lower-body training gained no more patellar tendon size or stiffness than on placebo.⁸ What we do not know is whether the gains are muscle or connective tissue, and whether a dose below 15 g reproduces them. The men's trials are gathered in collagen for men.

Has any trial tested collagen and creatine together?

No. No randomised trial has given collagen peptides and creatine as a combined intervention, so nothing shows the two add up or cancel out. Each is well studied alone,^{2, 3} and "no documented interaction" means exactly that: no interaction report, and no study that has looked for one.

How do the two compare?

Can you mix collagen and creatine in the same drink?

Yes; the practical points belong to creatine. Creatine monohydrate dissolves slowly and never completely in cold water, so grains settle; the method in how to take creatine is at least 250 ml of cool liquid, stir, drink straight away, then swirl and finish the sediment. Collagen peptides dissolve in hot or cold liquid. Heat is the one thing to watch: creatine left standing in a hot drink converts to creatinine, which does nothing for you, so a hot coffee with both stirred in is drunk now, not later.

A blended product containing both lists the grams of creatine and of collagen per serving on its label; read both, because each is dosed on its own scale. Types of creatine compared explains why creatine monohydrate is the form to look for.

When should you take collagen and creatine?

Creatine works by keeping a store full, so the hour barely registers and skipped days matter a great deal; when to take creatine weighs the small, uncertain post-workout edge against the clear case for every day, rest days included, with a meal. Collagen's training trials gave the 15 g after the session or daily, training days and rest days alike.^{5, 6, 7} The simplest schedule for both: a shaker after training, the same drink with a meal on other days. Collagen's doses for skin, joints and bone differ from the training dose; how much collagen to take a day sets them out by outcome.

Do you need to drink more water?

Not beyond what the NHS advises everyone. The NHS says "most people should aim to drink enough during the day so their pee is a clear pale yellow colour", that the Eatwell Guide recommends "6 to 8 cups or glasses of fluid a day", and that you may need more if you are "in a hot environment" or "physically active for long periods".⁹ Creatine draws water into muscle cells rather than out of the body; the creatine pages say drink to thirst and keep your urine pale.

Are collagen and creatine safe for your kidneys?

The NHS explains that the kidney-function test "measures the levels of a waste product called creatinine in your blood", and that a doctor uses the result "plus your age, size, and gender" to work out an estimated glomerular filtration rate, or eGFR.¹⁰ Creatine is turned over into creatinine, so taking it nudges that marker. A 2025 meta-analysis of 12 studies found a small rise in serum creatinine with creatine, significant in the first week and again beyond twelve weeks, and no significant change in glomerular filtration rate; the authors read the rise as turnover rather than kidney harm.¹¹ So tell your GP you take creatine before any blood test. Collagen counts as protein: anyone on a protein-restricted diet for a kidney condition should count the grams, and no collagen trial has recruited people with kidney disease, a gap in the evidence rather than a finding.

Who should ask a GP first?

The creatine pages name four groups, and they apply to the pair: anyone with a kidney condition, anyone pregnant or breastfeeding, anyone under 18, and anyone on regular medication. Collagen adds two: anyone on a protein-restricted diet, and anyone with a fish allergy, for whom marine collagen is ruled out because fish collagen is itself one of the fish allergens. Neither supplement has a trial in pregnancy, so a midwife or GP conversation comes first. Creatine by life stage, for women: creatine for women.

Frequently asked questions

Is collagen better than creatine?

They are not competing for the same job, so there is no ranking to make. Creatine fills a muscle energy store and carries an authorised performance claim at 3 g a day.¹² Collagen peptides are a protein whose training trials, at 15 g a day, measured fat-free mass, strength and tendon structure.² Taking both covers both jobs.

Can I mix collagen and creatine in one shake?

Yes. Use at least 250 ml of cool liquid, shake, drink straight away and finish the sediment, which is the creatine. Do not leave the mix standing in a hot drink, because creatine breaks down to creatinine in heat.

Is taking creatine and collagen together right for women?

Women take the two together for the same reasons as men, and no interaction has been reported for either. Collagen's largest training trial in women gave 77 premenopausal women 15 g a day with twelve weeks of resistance training and found a greater rise in the proportion of fat-free mass and in grip strength than training alone.⁷

Will collagen and creatine make me gain weight?

Creatine adds water inside muscle in the first weeks, not fat; the creatine pages give the figures. In the collagen training trials the extra weight was fat-free mass, 4.2 kg against 2.9 kg in the older men and 3.42 kg against 1.83 kg in the middle-aged men, after twelve weeks of supervised training.^{5, 6} The training did the work.

Sources

1. Hultman E, Söderlund K, Timmons JA, Cederblad G, Greenhaff PL. Muscle creatine loading in men. Journal of Applied Physiology, 1996. PubMed 8828669.
2. Bischof K, et al. Impact of collagen peptide supplementation in combination with long-term physical training on strength, musculotendinous remodeling, functional recovery, and body composition in healthy adults: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 2024. PubMed 39060741.
3. Kreider RB, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2017. PubMed 28615996.
4. Drummond MDM, et al. Which protein-based dietary supplements most effectively enhance fat-free mass and strength gains in healthy adults undergoing resistance training? A network meta-analysis. Translational Sports Medicine, 2026. PubMed 41635649.
5. Zdzieblik D, et al. Collagen peptide supplementation in combination with resistance training improves body composition and increases muscle strength in elderly sarcopenic men: a randomised controlled trial. British Journal of Nutrition, 2015. PubMed 26353786.
6. Zdzieblik D, et al. The influence of specific bioactive collagen peptides on body composition and muscle strength in middle-aged, untrained men: a randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021. PubMed 33946565.
7. Jendricke P, et al. Specific collagen peptides in combination with resistance training improve body composition and regional muscle strength in premenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial. Nutrients, 2019. PubMed 31010031.
8. Balshaw TG, et al. The effect of specific bioactive collagen peptides on tendon remodeling during 15 wk of lower body resistance training. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 2023. PubMed 37436929.
9. NHS. Water, drinks and hydration. nhs.uk, accessed 10 October 2026.
10. NHS. Chronic kidney disease: diagnosis. nhs.uk, accessed 10 October 2026.
11. Naeini EK, Eskandari M, Mortazavi M, Gholaminejad A, Karevan N. Effect of creatine supplementation on kidney function: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Nephrology, 2025. PubMed 41199218.
12. Commission Regulation (EU) No 432/2012, Annex (assimilated GB law): authorised health claim for creatine. legislation.gov.uk/eur/2012/432/annex.