Glucosamine Complex For Joint Health
A client asked a question about which supplement formula might be helpful for joint pain. The short answer is that supplements can often help joints and a number of them have dedicated followers.
The assumption of this type of question is that joint pain must be coming from basic osteoarthritis that might be the result of joint trauma some time past and now the joint is degenerating from injury-related improper biomechanics. This is a very common type of joint pain. If this is your type of pain it should involve only the joint or joints that were physically damaged and not be a general condition like rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis.
Glucosamine is an aminosaccharide, that is a combination of sugar and protein that is part of your body’s production of cartilage. In the body, N-acetyl glucosamine combines with glucuronic acid to form hyaluronan, a major protective polymer found in joints and is responsible for cushioning of one bone against another. So we then have shock absorption and maintenance of joint health and reduced inflammation and hopefully decreased pain.
Glucosamine might also be helpful for leaky gut syndrome and intestinal permeability. Some researchers have found encouraging evidence to recommend glucosamine for helping with inflammatory bowel disease problems like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis.
For that local type of issue, we would certainly recommend something like Pure Encapsulations Glucosamine Chondroitin with MSM. We noticed over 30+ years ago that taking just glucosamine or chondroitin seemed to help for a year or two but then didn’t seem to do much. If MSM is added, the beneficial effects seem to last years.
What if you are feeling joint pain that is more general such as multiple joints in the hands, an entire region of the spine etc. This becomes more difficult to diagnose and probably won’t respond to just a magic supplement although the glucosamine chondroitin MSM formula might still be helpful. We just don’t want you to stop there when you should be looking at the big picture.
We are probably talking about a general inflammatory response. For these cases we like to do some antibody testing to get an idea of which antibodies might be involved and also if any foods are likely to contributing. Cyrex Labs is our go-to lab for this type of testing. This lab specializes in just such testing. For example I had a particular patient that comes to mind who had general joint pain and had actually had back surgery already even though she was only in her 40’s. Testing showed that she was indeed gluten sensitive according to the Cyrex antibody tests. She told me a couple of months later with tears in her eyes that her joints are so much better since she quit gluten. The fact is that normal foods can cause quite an array of issues if you have food sensitivities and joint pain is one of them.
If you are dealing with autoimmune joint problems, you will certainly want an inventory of foods that could contribute to that reaction and also keep your glutathione and vitamin D levels up. We recommend DaVinci D3 5000 IU. For Glutathione consider BetterGenix NAC 500mg. Of course, neither of these will be a cure but you should be able to modulate your condition in many cases.
2017
DS