NeoCell is one of the most popular collagen brands. Their products are available for sale online, but are also in stores at major retailers like Target and Walmart.
In this article we’ll review the ingredients in NeoCell Super Collagen capsules as well as NeoCell’s collagen liquid to give our take on whether the products are effectively dosed and worth your money, or if there are better options on the market.
We’ll first overview whether collagen is effective generally for improving skin and joints, because there is a significant amount of misinformation about this supplement.
Does Collagen Improve Skin and Joint Health?
Collagen is the structural protein in skin, and it’s one of the most well-studied supplements for reducing wrinkles. As we age, our body’s collagen production slows down, and medical research proves that supplemental collagen can help replenish collagen levels in the body and improve skin.
An extensive medical review published in the International Journal of Dermatology analyzed data from 18 clinical trials on oral collagen supplementation and skin parameters. Data from over 1,000 trial participants was examined. The researchers concluded that oral collagen supplementation provided significant improvements to skin:
“Based on results, ingestion of hydrolyzed collagen for 90 days is effective in reducing skin aging, as it reduces wrinkles and improves skin elasticity and hydration.”
Another meta-study that we frequently cite on Illuminate Health concluded similarly, and found the effective dosing range of collagen for skin care to be 2.5 grams (g) to 10 g per day. We typically recommend 10 g since collagen is a safe food product without observed side effects, and this appears to be the maximally-effective dose.
Collagen can also improve joint health. A medical review from 2019 evaluated whether orally-administered collagen could reduce osteoarthritis (OA) symptoms. The researchers concluded that collagen reduced OA symptoms overall, and was particularly effective for reducing stiffness.
We consider collagen to be one of the most promising therapeutic supplements for improving skin quality and reducing wrinkles, and to also have significant research backing for improvements to joint health.
NeoCell Super Collagen + Vitamin C and Biotin Review
One of NeoCell’s most popular products is a collagen capsule product called NeoCell Super Collagen. This is a unique formulation because all of the other collagen products we’ve reviewed on Illuminate Health have been powder formulations rather than capsule formulations.
Each serving provides 3 g of collagen from grass-fed animals. If there were no other ingredients, we would recommend this supplement, but it also contains two other active ingredients: Vitamin C and biotin.
We recommend avoiding supplements containing added vitamins and minerals. Earlier this year, a wellness brand had to recall several products from the market because the added vitamins and minerals caused toxicity in some consumers, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
It seems illogical to take random blends of vitamins and minerals without evidence of deficiency. NeoCell Super Collagen contains 8,333% of the Daily Value (DV) of biotin.
It’s also worth noting that it takes 10 capsules to provide a maximally-effective collagen dose with NeoCell Super Collagen, since each capsule only contains 1 g of collagen. It doesn’t sound particularly appealing to consume ten separate capsules in one sitting. For this reason, powder formulations seem superior for collagen supplements.
We do believe that this supplement is likely to improve skin and joint health because it provides an effective dose of collagen, but we cannot recommend it due to the additive ingredients.
NeoCell Real User Review
One of the most popular reviews of NeoCell on YouTube is published by a channel called “Lauren O’Connell” and has achieved over 45,000 views at the time of writing this article.
The review appears unsponsored and the creator shares her experience after using NeoCell for 6 weeks:
Real Customers Review NeoCell Collagen
The top positive review of this supplement from a verified purchaser on Amazon is written by a user named “Stacey” who claims NeoCell has caused her hair and nails to grow significantly:
“I am 44 y/o and lately I typically have brittle nails and hair that grows slowly but since taking these, in just a couple weeks, my nails are thick and strong and both my nails and hair are growing so much! I even have new baby hair growth around my hairline”
The top negative review from a verified purchaser on Amazon comes from a user named “Judy rosenthal” who claims the pills caused side effects:
“These are so big to swallow, cause constipation, does nothing for pain, swollen stomach.”
NeoCell Collagen Liquid Review
NeoCell sells a liquid collagen supplement called “Collagen + C.” Like the previous supplement, this one also contains added Vitamin C.
This formulation contains an active ingredient we recommend avoiding called green tea leaf extract. This is typically included in weight loss supplements, so we find it to be a strange addition to a collagen supplement given that collagen isn’t typically used for weight loss.
As we documented in our Truvy reviews article, there is medical research suggesting that green tea leaf extract can cause liver injury in some patients. Health Canada even reports such, and we recommend avoiding this ingredient entirely.
This liquid collagen supplement also contains added sugar, which we know from extensive medical research is associated with an increased risk of various medical conditions such as obesity and diabetes. The 2 g of added sugar in this product is relatively low, but we recommend avoiding added sugar entirely.
Citric acid is a preservative and flavor enhancer that may cause whole-body inflammation in a small subset of patients. A series of case reports published in the Toxicology Reports journal documented such, and noted that over 90% of citric acid used in manufacturing is not actually derived from citrus fruits but from a fungus called Aspergillus niger.
NeoCell Collagen + C also contains the preservative potassium sorbate, and we recommend avoiding preservatives entirely.
Overall we find this to be one of the worst formulations of a collagen product we’ve reviewed on Illuminate Health and would recommend avoiding it. We consider NeoCell’s collagen capsules to have a much healthier formulation than this collagen liquid.
Our Clean Collagen Picks
Bulletproof Collagen Powder is our top overall collagen pick because its only ingredient is hydrolyzed collagen sourced from grass-fed animals.
Interested consumers can check out Bulletproof Collagen powder at this link to the product page on the brand's official website.
Super Youth Unflavored is our top premium collagen supplement, as it not only provides an effective collagen dose, but also contains sodium ascorbate which was described as a "potent stimulator of collagen and elastin production in the treatment of wrinkled and stretch-marked skin" in a clinical trial published in the Journal of Dermatological Science.
Interested consumers can check out Super Youth Unflavored at this link to the product page on the brand's official website.
Bulletproof Chocolate Collagen is our top flavored collagen powder pick.
This collagen powder is naturally flavored with organic cocoa powder and coconut creamer powder, and is the healthiest flavored collagen we've reviewed to-date.
Interested consumers can check out Bulletproof Chocolate Collagen at this link to the product page on the brand's official website.
