Nutritional Supplements for Joint Pain

Most of the Joint Supplements on the market today will contain some of all of the following ingredients: Glucosamine, Chondroitin, Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin C, Manganese, Silicon and sometimes a “proprietary blend” of the manufacturers design. The following is a short description of each, except the proprietary blend cause it wouldn't be a proprietary blend if the Companies told us what it consisted off.

Glucosamine is an amino acid that the body produces naturally and is an ingredient used in the building and repair of cartilage.

Chondroitin is found in the cartilage, helpful for a healthy cartilage and is thought to help prevent or slow the deterioration of cartilage.

Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) is sometimes thought to be a pain reliever but it really is an anti-inflammatory agent.

Hyaluronic acid is thought to be related to the production or retention of the natural fluid found in the joints.

Vitamin C, Manganese, and Silicon are thought by some to provide additional nutrients necessary for optimal joint health.

So do Joint Supplements actually work? I believe the answer is yes, but it is all in the quality of the product. I have taken many different versions of Off-The-Shelf Food Grade Joint Supplements over the years. Not just testing each for short periods of time, but taking a particular product for years – all with no positive results that I could feel.

I took Osteo BiFlex in it’s many different formulations. I took Flex-A-Min and I took Puritan’s Pride in a couple different formulations. I tried different brands and in separate bottles of Glucosamine HCI and Sulfate; Chondroitin; MSM, etc. No results I could feel, meaning I still had knee pain.

I started to believe that I had a mechanical injury type problem that could only be resolved with surgery.

Enter Dennis, who I talked about in an earlier post. He pushed me to try the Joint Supplement from the Pharmaceutical Grade Nutritional Products manufacturer that I was taking daily products from already.

Here’s the story again as I think it is worth repeating: Dennis tells me to try the Pharmaceutical Grade Glucosamine based product and I tell him I have been on various versions of that stuff for over a decade without a positive result. Dennis then asks me if I haven’t learned my lesson on the quality different between Food Grade supplements and Pharmaceutical Grade supplements. A light goes on in my dense brain and I promise to try them for a couple months. It wasn’t the cost that had me concerned. The costs was either comparable to Off-The-Shelf Food Grade Joint products or it was cheaper in many cases.

So I try this product which contains: 1,500 mgs of Glucosamine Sulfate, 150 mgs of Vitamin C, 250 mgs of Tumeric Extract, 2.5 mgs of Manganese and 1.5 mgs of Silicon in an Amino Acid complex. All ingredients in this product being Pharmaceutical Grade, and the product being actually listed in the Physician’s Desk Reference for Pharmaceutical Grade products. Not the Nutritional Supplements version which manufacturers can pay to have their products advertised.




After just weeks on the product, I was in a kneeling position (like a Baseball Catcher) fixing a leaking water spigot. I was kneeling so that my knees wouldn’t touch the mud around the spigot on the ground.

After several minutes of this my house phone rings, so I jump up and ran off to answer it. It took me several seconds to realize that as I jumped up and ran off, that I did so without the pain that normally accompanied knee joint stress. I spent the next several days testing this new found freedom from knee joint pain. Amazing!

Yes, I did call Dennis back and thanked him a second time for his referral to these products. I think I probably took him to Popeyes for a Fried Chicken dinner which was his favorite.

So my belief based on my experiences and my specific knee problems, which had produced years and decades of knee pain in the past, is that Nutritional Products for joint pain and specifically knee joint pain can have a significant effect on your joint pain, but the product you take must be a high quality product – otherwise you’ll not only waste your money but you walk away, maybe hobble or limp away, thinking that Nutritional Supplements just don’t work.