Doctor Amir Khan appeared on Good Morning Britain
Fiona Callingham Lifestyle writer and Kate Lally Content Editor
09:44, 29 Mar 2026
Kate was taken aback(Image: ITV)
Good Morning Britain host Kate Garraway was taken aback by what Dr Amir Khan had to say to her in the latest instalment of the ITV show. Dr Amir is known for his appearances on GMB and other programmes, as well as being a full-time NHS GP.
Dr Amir offered some surprising guidance about a widely-used supplement, suggesting it may not be delivering what we think. Speaking on GMB on Friday, March 27, Dr Amir left host Kate Garraway in “shock” after revealing what we ought to be focusing on instead of collagen supplements.
Collagen is a protein present in the human body, which gives strength, elasticity, and structure to skin, bones, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. Over recent years, it has become a fixture on high street pharmacy shelves, pledging to enhance skin health and even minimise the look of wrinkles.
But Dr Amir cautioned that there is no reliable evidence to support these claims. He said: “What’s happening is big marketing PR campaigns are selling people, mainly women, collagen as something that helps with anti-ageing, wrinkles, all of that kind of thing.
“But the evidence does not support that.” He continued: “So, when you take a collagen supplement, your body will break it down, your gut will break it down into its component parts, which are amino acids, they’re the building blocks for any protein.”
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“What doesn’t happen is your body doesn’t build that collagen to your skin or your hair. It will take those amino acids and do whatever it feels like your body needs most.
“So it could be a hormone, it could be an enzyme, it could be anything.” He pointed to a meta-analysis released in 2025, which revealed that when studies financed by the collagen industry were excluded, “there was no benefit” to skin or hair. Nevertheless, he did recognise that collagen has been proven to support joint health and is crucial for women following menopause.
Yet he stressed it’s better to obtain collagen “naturally” through what you eat. Dr Amir suggested getting this from foods like beans, lentils, chicken skin, and bone broth.
These should be consumed alongside foods high in vitamin C to achieve the best results, according to Dr Amir. And while he stated that taking collagen supplements was “not harmful,” he cautioned that it might become problematic if someone took them while believing they didn’t need to maintain a healthy, balanced diet.
Collagen depleting factors
GMB host Kate Garraway then questioned whether there’s a scenario where taking something like collagen alongside a nutritious diet proves worthwhile. His answer prompted the GMB Instagram page to post a clip from the programme, described as “Kate has a shock after chatting to Dr Amir!”
Dr Amir stated: “But if you do want to support your collagen, the biggest depleter of collagen alongside ageing is sun – sunlight, so being protected in the sun with SPF, smoking depletes your collagen, alcohol does, stress, sleep deprivation, and sugar.”
In reply, Kate remarked: “Hard to cut all of those out of our lives isn’t it?” She jokingly added: “You’ve just described my entire lifestyle.” Dr Amir continued: “There’s no point taking this because you’re doing the best things for yourself anyway and getting your diet right with protein.”