How to Maintain Healthy Joints
Every day of your life, the cartilage in your joints undergoes erosion. That is, it is constantly being degraded and broken down due to normal wear and tear (The Erosion Cycle).
At the same time, every day of your life, new cartilage is being produced to replace the old cartilage that has been eroded away (The Repair Cycle).
As long as the repair cycle keeps up to or equals the erosion cycle, your joints remain healthy and degenerative arthritis is held at bay. Genetics can also come into play, but it is now believed that deficiency in the repair cycle is what triggers the onset and progression of osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease).
The human body’s main energy source is glucose. Glucose plays a major role in the repair cycle of joints and is used by the body to make a molecule called glucosamine. The body then converts the glucosamine into another molecule called chondroitin and the chondroitin combines with a third molecule called hyaluronic acid to make cartilage. The newly minted cartilage replaces the eroded cartilage so that your joints remain healthy.
Production of glucosamine in the body starts to decline slowly after age 20 but drops off dramatically after age 40. By the time one reaches eighty years of age, very little glucosamine is being produced (only about 10% of the glucosamine that was produced at age 20). This results in the repair cycle not being able to keep up to the erosion cycle and is believed to be the main reason why 80% of the general population is arthritic in old age.
The good news is that taking a glucosamine nutritional supplement has been proven to slow down this degenerative process. There are many forms of glucosamine in the marketplace but the only one proven to stop the arthritic process is glucosamine sulphate.
Glucosamine is often sold in combination with chondroitin sulphate. However, I don’t recommend chondroitin as it is a very large molecule and research shows that only 13% of chondroitin taken orally is absorbed. The rest (87%) is passed on through your body with your bowel movements and is really a waste (no pun intended) of your money. You are literally flushing your money down the toilet!
Not to worry though – remember that your body will make the chondroitin it needs if there is enough glucosamine available. The important thing is to take in adequate glucosamine and your body will take care of the rest.
The only other consideration is to buy glucosamine sulphate in combination with another molecule called methylsulphonylmethane (MSM). This natural product has anti-inflammatory properties and helps with pain management. The combination of these two nutrients provides the best of both worlds – ongoing cartilage synthesis and repair as well as inflammation and pain control.
The therapeutic dose for glucosamine sulphate is 1500 mg/day for anyone weighing less than 200 lbs. If you weigh more than 200 lbs, you need to take 2000 mg/day.
The MSM dosage is 400 mg/day if your weight is less than 200 lbs and 500 mg/day if your weight is greater than 200 lbs.
Ingesting the correct dosage is crucial! If you are only taking 500 mg/day, for example, you will not get the results you are hoping for. Also, always take glucosamine supplements with food to enhance absorption.
We keep two different glucosamine products in our clinic. Most glucosamine produced commercially is made from the exoskeleton of shellfish. However, some people have an allergy to shellfish and cannot use the product. For those people, we also bring in a glucosamine product made from vegetable sources.
It is now recommended that everyone should use a glucosamine supplement starting at age 40 to slow down or prevent the onset of degenerative arthritis. And you should use it on an ongoing basis for the rest of your life.
