Special edition: Bone & Joint Health
Glucosamine
The big ingredients in joint health are glucosamine & chondroitin sulfate. Amongst the most important studies supporting the apparent benefits of the ingredients was the $14 million Glucosamine/chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT), sponsored by the National Institute of Health, which studied the effects of the supplements in 1,583 people with osteoarthritis
The results, published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine (2006, Vol. 354, pp. 795-808), indicated that the combination of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate “significantly decreased” knee pain for people suffering from moderate-to-severe osteoarthritis.
The market overall for glucosamine in the US has been in decline, according to Euromonitor International, which valued the global retail sales glucosamine products at $2.041 billion in 2011. This then declined to $1.823 billion in 2013, and 2015 forecasts pegged the market at $1.770 billion.
Recent studies from Japan have evaluated the efficacy of glucosamine in healthy populations and biomarkers which allow marketers to move towards a ‘helps maintain cartilage health’ type claim.
To read more about glucosamine, please click HERE.