What are the benefits of glucosamine?

Glucosamine is a natural chemical compound found in the body where it helps keep the cartilage in joints healthy. As we age, the glucosamine levels we naturally produce decrease. Good glucosamine levels are important for joint health and ongoing low levels can lead to gradual deterioration of the joint, often resulting in pain and stiffness. There are no edible sources of glucosamine – bound forms do occur in cartilage, but in meat this is gristle, and we tend not to eat it.

Glucosamine supplements bear a strong resemblance to the closely related materials naturally occurring in the body. If you are experiencing joint pain, whether it is a result of age, exertion, or injury, then a glucosamine supplement to maximise your natural levels may help.

Those engaged in regular physical exercise of a demanding nature on the joints such as athletes, joggers or those engaged in physical games such as rugby, hockey or tennis may benefit from supplementing with glucosamine. Excess ‘wear’ on the joints means a greater need for amino sugars such as glucosamine to repair the joints and surrounding structures.

So, what are amino sugars and how does this relate to glucosamine? The extra-cellular connective tissue matrix is a mesh of microfibres that give your skin firmness and supports muscles, ligaments, blood vessels and other organs. Although it is constantly being broken down, it is also constantly being repaired. A problem arises if the rate of breakdown exceeds the rate of repair. Then skin and other connective tissues such as cartilage lose their structure. This shows up as ageing skin and thinning cartilage, as seen in osteoarthritis. To prevent this deterioration, you must increase the rate at which the matrix is repaired, and that largely depends on the rate at which your body can produce the amino sugar, glucosamine.

The entire human skeleton is renewed every 10 years or so. This means we all need good tissue regeneration rates to keep us healthy. Glucosamine supports joint regeneration and as long as your rate of repair keeps up with the rate of tissue loss, your bones and tissues will stay healthy.

Can we be short of Glucosamine? When there is excess wear, more raw ‘material’ is needed for repair of the joints and surrounding structures. Similarly, if body chemistry is unbalanced, it may be that insufficient glucosamine is formed, which limits our ability to repair wear and damage. Equally, as we age, the enzyme glucosamine synthetase becomes less effective, which slows the rate of matrix repair. This is why healing is slower in the elderly.

Cytoplan provides glucosamine supplements as ‘Glucosamine Hydrochloride’ (the chloride form of N-acetyl Glucosamine). Many professionals consider that this is the purest form of glucosamine, and the form now preferred by many in the medical profession for long-term use. Cytoplan also produce a glucosamine supplement suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans.