Osteoarthritis, or OA, is a rising and incredibly difficult condition characterized by degradation of the articular cartilage in our joints. What’s that mean? In our joints, where the bones meet and glide one another, they’re coated in a shiny, polished, pain free surface that can roll and glide over one another with ease. OA occurs when this cartilage is worn down or damaged, revealing the sensitive bone underneath! And instead of gliding smoothly, the sensitive bone is exposed, driving pain and discomfort throughout the range of motion.
Articular cartilage is a glassy, polished surface, kind of like a smooth coating like a marble over the ends of our joints in our hips, knees, and shoulders. On a micro level, articular cartilage is composed of a matrix of numerous proteins that hold fluid. It’s kind of like a sponge that’s try, or full of water. The sponge full of water is more cushy, and resists being squished more than the dry one, right? Same principle applies to our bones; articular cartilage that maintains its fluid content maintains that polished, and cushy surface, reducing any load that gets pushed through our joints.
Glucosamine is one of the building blocks of this matrix; it helps build the sponge, and helps it absorb and hold onto water, maintaining its integrity.
Oral supplementation of glucosamine has been found to reduce articular degradation, and reduce Osteoarthritis symptoms in adults.
Now, why does this make sense? If we eat something, it doesn’t necessarily mean it ends up in our joints, right? That’s true, and there isn’t a 100% conversion of the supplement into your bones. But, the same way we eat protein to build muscle mass, we should eat the building blocks of our bones to support our joints.
What’s the dosage here? An important thing to monitor with supplements is to consider dosage, and frequency. It’s not just “this thing helps your knees,” it’s: “This specific thing in a specific dosage and frequency can impact your pain and function.” Let’s be specific, let’s be clear.
There’s a variety, but the range was from 400-1500 mg per day of Glucosamine, with the average being around 1000 mg per day.
Now, included in these studies are Glucosamine supplementation, and Chondroitin. Chondroitin is another component. However, Chondroitin is suspected to reduce pain by working through inflammatory mediators, rather than changing the quality of the cartilage itself (pg 1422). And anecdotally, most people I know find less relief with Chondroitin compared to Glucosamine, so it’s typically why I steer people to Glucosamine over Chondroitin, and there’s also more research supporting Glucosamine.
Secondly, I want to emphasize there are different types of Glucosamine (eww, I know). So what types are there, and why?
There’s glucosamine sulfate, which is the most common one. However, recent research has expanded to glucosamine hydrochloride, and also found positive benefits across the board when consumed in conjunction with another compound, curcumagalactomannosides (We’ll call those, err, CGMs). So again, it’s important to think about things in combination. It’s not just “This one thing,” but “This one thing at the right dosage, in the right combination with other things at the right dosage.” I’d also say that Glucosamine Hydrochloride is less researched, and these positive benefits were likely due to the CGMs. If you’re going to go with a Glucosamine, pick Glucosamine Sulfate because there’s more research, and it’s of better quality.
Interestingly, CGMs may be the most beneficial of what we’ve talked about so far; a 2021 research study of just 6 weeks found significant improvements in clinical outcome measures. So where can you get these, and what are they?
Curcumagalctomannosides is a fancy way of saying a “Curcumin complex with a few other things mixed in.” The pills were composed of “126.2 mg curcumin, 23.6 mg demethoxycurcumin, and 4.3 mg bisdemethoxycurcumin) encapsulated in fenugreek
galactomannans (35:65 w/w ratio )” Hence, the galacto part of the name. The study does emphasize that dosing for over 300 mg of curcumins is more appropriate to change blood serum values.
Patients taking only the glucosamine combo had a 26% decrease in symptoms, but the CGM group had an 85% decrease! So, glucosamine continues to be significant and impactful, but the CGMs have an even more significant impact.
What does it actually look like in consuming this in the real world? You’re not going to find that big CGM label on the bottle; you will find something called CurQFen, which stands for the Curcumin Complex (Q) in Fenagreek. The most consistent place I’ve found it is here. Keep in mind, this research study while great, and has a foundation of separately funded research, was conveniently supported by one of the main pharmaceutical companies providing CurQFen.
Thorne is one of the supplementation companies I trust the most for their quality of ingredients, and they have a slightly different option, backed by different research! Different technology, essentially trying to deliver the same thing (the curcumin) in a more available form.
Curcumin is the compound that gives turmeric it’s yellow color, and that’s why you might have heard someone say “Take turmeric for your arthritis.” Please don’t chug turmeric straight; it probably won’t taste great, but you do you if that makes you happy.
Lastly, there’s a difference between the pharmaceutical grade samples out there, and the food supplements. Many supplements contain insoluble and indigestible fractions of what’s on the label, so you get a lower dosage than what’s actually advertised. That’s why it’s important to make sure that your supplements are being assessed by 3rd parties (which is why I love Thorne).
