Better than glucosamine for joint pain....

Today's Post: Tuesday, 3-6-2012

1. A family member asked if I had heard or knew if glucosamine helped for joint pain.

He also asked if MSM helped and if so, if it caused liver problems as he had heard that it might.

One study I saw did find that glucosamine was helpful for moderate joint pain but not much help for severe joint pain.

And, though the studies for MSM are less, many users report it as effective. MSM tested as not lowering inflammation in two tests; but it likely does provide sulfur used as a building block in your joints and increase blood flow. And, it may reduce pain a bit too.

High doses of MSM, above 750 mg a day or above 1,000 mg a day, may cause extra blood thinning and temporarily boost a test for liver distress or overload.

So, if you are taking a blood thinner or multiple supplements for preventing heart disease or blood thinning, keeping MSM at or below 1,000 mg a day may be wise.

And, if you are taking niacin or statins or drink alcohol more than 7 drinks a week most weeks, all of which tax the liver a bit, keeping MSM at or below 1,000 mg a day may be wise.

MSM apparently does not cause liver damage because the test drops back to normal if you stop taking MSM 4 days before the test. But it might cause your liver to overwork somewhat if those other things are also going on.

(Note: Because that liver test when I’ve taken it is usually on the borderline between high normal and a bit too high and I do take niacin and drink wine daily, I decided to drop my own MSM intake from 1750 mg a day to 750mg. I’ll keep taking my glucosamine + MSM combination supplement but have stopped my 1,000 mg of extra MSM that I was taking.)

2. But that's the secondary issue. You can do a lot more for your joints in another way!

In the first part of this post, I list the 4 supplements I do take to avoid joint pain and damage. They may help.

Then in the second part of this post, I describe the far more effective method which not only DOES work, it also helps prevent heart disease, many cancers, and one part of it helps prevent Alzheimer’s disease!

1. I take a glucosamine and MSM combination supplement from the NOW company. I think the product actually contains these things. You can buy many supplements at Trader Joe's at lower cost of their own label (& may also be able to at Walmart or Sam's Club). Walmart may be able to sell the real thing for less; but to be sure I'm actually getting the supplements I intend to take, I only by supplements from real supplement companies.

Glucosamine, MSM, a supplement called hyaluronic acid, and a shea oil supplement, FlexNow, all have proponents who say they reduce joint pain or even help avoid joint breakdown.

I take each of the four since I'm active and do NOT want to get the hip pain or the hip replacements my Dad had.

I take them in hopes they actually do work. Hopefully the study was right about glucosamine and one or more of the other 3 actually work.

I think each one works a bit but the effect is not robust. Hopefully the combination will do a bit more than that.

2. But those supplements are the secondary issue. You can do a lot more for your joints in another way!

Chronic inflammation actually causes joint breakdown and makes any problems in your joints painful or more painful. (The discovery that chronic inflammation actually causes the damage is new.)

First, People who eat vegetables, fruit, and fish and meats that are from critters that ate their natural diet have a balance of omega 3 and omega 6 oils and tend to have close to no chronic inflammation unless they have gum disease or some other infection.

But grains are quite high in omega 6 oils as are oils such as soy, corn, canola, and safflower oils. People who eat treats and snacks made from refined grains and these oils and hydrogenated versions of these oils AND who eat meat and fish and poultry fed grains that are high in omega 6, have 16 to 20 times as much omega 6 as omega 3 and have quite high levels of chronic inflammation, they have more heart disease, cancer, joint damage and pain from joint damage.

(One doctor, Russell Blaylock, MD also stated that these oils high in omega 6 increase inflammation directly: “They are rapidly oxidized within foods before they are eaten, and this generates inflammation within blood vessels, which leads to rapidly advancing atherosclerosis." This would also affect your joints and the blood flow to them if this is accurate -- as it may be.)

The solution is to eat a combination of the DASH diet that eliminates to cuts way back on the bad stuff and by aiming to use lowfat proteins such as lowfat milk, very lean beef, and skinless white meat and lots of vegetables -- and the Mediterranean diet that also has extra virgin olive oil and nuts which are omega 9 oils and neutral to the omega 3 and 6 balance and then add extra vegetables.

The second part of this diet solution is to take omega 3 oil supplements and eat fatty, wild caught fish. (I take DHA, an omega 3 supplement that benefits the brain extra; and an omega 3 oil supplement; and I eat a large serving of canned wild caught salmon 3 times a week.)

Otherwise I eat beans and lentils and oatmeal and olive oil and only rarely eat chicken. I eat ham on occasion or turkey at Thanksgiving. On those very rare occasions I eat beef or lamb, I ONLY eat it if it was 100 % grass fed.

I get at least double or triple the omega 3 of most people and half or a third or even less of the omega 6 oils of most people.

Unlike the first set of supplements that 4 to one to over 10 to one advantage is a HUGE and guaranteed effect.

But that's not all! I at least double that effect by eating foods three to five times a week that have curry containing turmeric and black pepper AND taking curcumin supplements, the active ingredient in turmeric, also along with some black pepper -- which I do every day.

There's beginning to be good evidence the turmeric black pepper combo lowers chronic inflammation significantly.

This helps prevent heart disease because the build up of plaque or blockages in your blood vessels is triggered by inflammation of your blood vessel walls.

AND, turmeric plus black pepper prevents Alzheimer's diease and many cancers TOO!

Oh, and it also lowers LDL cholesterol about 30 points in addition.

2. Part B:

The other way to avoid high chronic inflammation is to brush your teeth at the gumline at least once every day and floss at least once every day and to get your teeth cleaned and checked every 6 months at the Dentist’s office.

This not only saves more money over time than it costs, it improves your breath and appearance by avoiding gum disease, losing teeth, and having to get false teeth.

But the health effect is massive. Doing this removes one of the worst causes of high chronic inflammation to such an extent your chances of getting heart disease or a heart attack or dying of any cause all drop significantly!

The side benefit is that your joints will be less damaged and hurt less. But the effect IS robust!

Conclusion: As you can see, I do hope glucosamine and the other supplements like it work and take them.

But the really huge effect is in part two. And each part of it DOES work!