Glucosamine Sulfate - How it Works

Background

Because joints are involved in movement, most often in a “weight bearing” situation, extremely powerful cushioning and strength are required to handle the pressure placed on bones at the joints. This is accomplished with articular cartilage, special tissue which covers the ends of bones at the site of a joint or, in the case of the spine, the presence of intervertebral discs between the bones of the spine. These and other connective tissue structures, including tendons and ligaments, owe their flexibility, resilience and powerful shock absorbing abilities to cartilage.

Cartilage is a combination of water (to provide lubrication), glycosaminoglycans (complex biomolecular aggregates which attract and hold water), the tough flexible protein collagen, plus other proteins and cellular material. These substances combine to give cartilage its incredible shock absorbing and cushioning qualities. Even in this era of advanced material science, the amazing properties of cartilage cannot be synthetically duplicated.

With age, cartilage can begin to deteriorate as its metabolism, maintenance and regeneration processes decrease. This can be even more pronounced in patients with prior joint injuries, excess weight or those consuming a poor diet.

Recent scientific studies have confirmed that supplementing the diet with glucosamine sulfate can help maintain and promote the health of joints and other connective tissues. A proposed mechanism which may help explain the effectiveness of dietary glucosamine sulfate suggests that, although the body can make glucosamine sulfate from other starting materials, there are steps along the way which may be rate limiting and/or which may decrease with increasing age.*

References

1. Double-blind clinical evaluation of oral glucosamine sulfate in the basic treatment of osteoarthritis, MJ Pujalte, et al, Curr Med Res Opin, 7:110 (1980).
2. Glucosamine sulfate compared to ibuprofen in osteoarthritis of the knee, H Muller-Fassbender, et al, Osteoarthritis and Cart, 2:61 (1994).
3. Nutrition Applied to Injury Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine, LR Bucci, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1994.
4. Biochemistry, PC Champe, RA Harvey, JB Lippincott, Philadelphia (1994).

Supplement Facts - Glucosamine Sulfate

Contains no sugar, starch, artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, corn, yeast, wheat, grain, egg, or milk products.

Quality Assurance Statement - Anabolic Laboratories

Founded in 1924, Anabolic Laboratories formulates and manufactures clinical nutrition products. Our expertise in pharmaceutical manufacturing, patient programs, and clinician training sets the standard for health care professionals.

At Biossential Nutrition, we pride ourselves in offering the best products available to our customers. Offering the highest quality products & individual ingredients, as well as ensuring our products are effective & work as advertised, are the mains goals we strive to achieve with our product offerings.

Why We Recommend Anabolic Laboratories Nutritional Supplements

History

Anabolic Laboratories was founded as a nutritional products company in 1924 and became a pharmaceutical manufacturer in 1940. Anabolic Laboratories is one of the oldest manufacturers of nutritional products in the world.

Standards

As a pharmaceutical manufacturing operation, the standards used for raw materials, production and finished product testing exceed the new requirements for nutritional product manufacturing.

Quality

Pharmaceutical standards of manufacturing provide nutritional products with label accuracy, potency and purity as dictated by the USFDA (United States Food & Drug Administration).

Formulas

A nutritional program and clinical formulas that are based on the specifications used in the scientific research.

The Need To Consider Quality:

Of the magnesium supplements tested by ConsumerLab.com, 25% failed to meet quality standards. One magnesium supplement contained only 45.4% of labeled amount, despite boasting a "GMP" (Good Manufacturing Practices) seal on its label, and another supplement provided only 28.8% of the labeled amount.
Reference: ConsumerLab.com, Magnesium Supplement Reviews and Quality Ratings, Posted 5/19/09

Tests by ConsumerLab.com have found multivitamins that were short on ingredients, failed to dissolve properly, or were contaminated with heavy metals.
ConsumerLab.com, New Product Review: Multivitamin and Multimineral Supplements, Posted 4/1/09

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found that manufacturing problems have been associated with dietary supplements. Products been recalled because of microbiological, pesticide, and heavy metal contamination, and because they do not contain the dietary ingredients they are represented to contain, or they contain more or less than the amount of dietary ingredient claimed on the label.
Reference: June 22, 2007, FDA @ http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dscgmps7.html