What You Need to Know Before You Buy Glucosamine
Glucosamine is a very beneficial in the treatment of arthritis and is backed by numerous double-blind, placebo-controlled studies. In these studies, glucosamine has been shown to aid in the rehabilitation of damaged cartilage and reduce the progression of osteoarthritis, and significantly lessen pain from arthritis. However, one glucosamine product can be very different from another.
When your pain relief and health is at stake, you need to know how to choose between competing products and see through the marketing hype. There are five factors that you need to take into consideration before purchasing any glucosamine product. These are:
- Amount of glucosamine per daily dose
- Quality of Ingredients
- Delivery System
- Synergistic Ingredients
- Price Per Day
The method of delivery can make the difference between no pain relief and complete pain relief. Most products on store shelves today are in capsule and pill form. However, the latest research has shown that glucosamine in liquid form is much more effective. Glucosamine provided in liquid form is absorbed more quickly, much more fully, and provides greater and longer lasting relief.
Simply put, the higher quality of glucosamine you use, the greater your relief will be. Many companies use medium grade glucosamine so you must be careful to look for the highest quality available. You need to look for pharmaceutical quality, if you want the fastest and fullest relief and healing.
As far as dosage, if taking glucosamine in capsule form, you will need at least 1500mg per day. However, if taking glucosamine in liquid form, because of the very high absorption rate, you will not need a full 1500mg. 1000-1250mg per day of high quality glucosamine in liquid form is optimal.
It is important to compare price per day and not price per product, as many companies try to fool you by providing 60 capsules or 32 oz. and not telling you until after you purchased that you must use 6 capsules or 2 oz. per day. Be careful to always compare price per day.
Also crucial to the effectiveness of the product is the other ingredients that are included in the product. Glucosamine alone, for most people, is not a cure all. There is simply no cure for osteoarthritis. To receive truly complete relief, you need to look for products that combine a number of arthritis fighting ingredients. You should look for a product that besides glucosamine sulfate and glucosamine HCL, also contains arthritis-fighting ingredients such as chondroitin, boswellin, bromelain, omega 3 & 6 essential fatty acids (fish oils), yucca, manganese, and vitamins A, C, and E.
As a review, when buying glucosamine, look for a product that:
1. is a liquid
2. uses pharmaceutical quality liquid glucosamine
3. has a number of other synergistic ingredients besides glucosamine
After a review of the leading glucosamine products on the market today, our current recommendation is Syn-flex, a 98% pure liquid glucosamine formula that contains both glucosamine sulfate and glucosamine HCL, chondroitin and ten other synergistic ingredients.
© Copyright 2004 The Arthritis & Glucosamine Resource Center.
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