Glucosamine

What is glucosamine?

Although its manufacture is concentrated in cartilage, glucosamine is made in many cells of the body.

As the name suggests, it’s a mixture of glucose and an amine. The amine is the amino acid, glutamine.

glucose + glutamine = glucosamine

Inside us, glucosamine is used to make glycosaminoglycans (GAG), which themselves make up very large chain-like structures called proteoglycans.

The cells that carry out this conversion are known as chondrocytes, and they’re found only in cartilage.

What’s cartilage?

Cartilage is the slippery tissue that covers the ends of bones in a joint. Healthy cartilage allows the bones to smoothly glide over one another, without pain or discomfort.

Cartilage also absorbs energy from the shock of physical movement.

Amazingly, cartilage is between 65 and 80% water.

Strands of proteoglycans and collagen weave together and form a water-holding, mesh-like matrix with a consistency much like very firm jelly. This allows the cartilage to flex and absorb shock.

Obviously, the integrity of the collagen-proteoglycan mesh is crucial for proper joint function and stability, as it provides the flexibility and resistance to compression to withstand physical stress.

Without glucosamine, chondrocytes can’t make proteoglycans, and without proteoglycans, cartilage manufacture would shut down. Each is dependent on the other.

Glucosamine makes up about 50% of one of the most important GAG’s, called hyaluronic acid.

Hyaluronic acid acts as a kind of glue to hold the cartilage matrix together. It’s also a critical component of synovial fluid, the liquid that lubricates joints, and keeps cartilage smooth and healthy.

How does glucosamine work?

Studies have shown that glucosamine stimulates chondrocytes to assemble more proteoglycans, the molecules responsible for establishing cartilage matrix. And if the matrix is well-formed, the cartilage has a healthy, pain-free resilience.

Scientists believe that the amount of glucosamine at the joint determines the amount of proteoglycans and collagen produced. If there’s an abundance of glucosamine, the end result is healthier cartilage.

In this way, glucosamine can help the body repair damaged or worn-out cartilage, working at the cellular level to reinforce our natural repair ability.

Also, glucosamine has been shown to inhibit the proteolytic enzymes responsible for cartilage break-down. And also to have an anti-inflammatory effect in osteoarthritis.

Where can I get glucosamine?

As already mentioned, glucosamine is manufactured by specific cells that have the ability to combine the amino acid glutamine with the carbohydrate glucose.

The amino acid glutamine is found in many plants and meats, but cooking easily destroys it. Spinach and parsley are good sources, if eaten raw.

We also get some glucosamine when we eat meat and fish.

Glucosamine requirements

While we’re growing, the body is at its most efficient at producing glucosamine for cartilage creation, maintenance, and repair.

Scientists believe that as the body ages, its efficiency or capacity for producing glucosamine declines, resulting in prolonged periods where demand for glucosamine for cartilage regeneration or repair exceeds supply.

When demand exceeds supply

Throughout our lives there is a constant demand on the body to create, maintain, repair, and regenerate cartilage in our joints. And therefore a constant demand for the glucosamine from which it’s made.

The process of biological combining of glucose and glutamine is very complex, and as we age the body’s efficiency and capacity to produce glucosamine and thus cartilage can be dramatically reduced.

This loss of glucosamine production, combined with an increase in demand due to physical activity or age-related cartilage degeneration, can result in a situation where demand for glucosamine exceeds supply.

The result is the pain, stiffness, and loss of mobility known as osteoarthritis.

Does supplementation work?

Because the body’s complex process of cellular manufacture or biosynthesis results in a circulating pool of stable glucosamine in the body, many scientists believe that providing the body with increased amounts of pre-formed glucosamine will help keep supply ahead of demand, and thus stop or even reverse degenerative cartilage loss.

Several studies have explored the effects of glucosamine supplementation.

Studies documenting the effects of giving volunteers a dose of 1500 mg of glucosamine followed the participants over a three-year period and found that glucosamine can slow the breakdown of joint cartilage.

Results from double blind, placebo-controlled clinical studies consistently illustrate glucosamine’s role in joint cartilage production.

Also, glucosamine has been shown to slow down or stop the progression of arthritis of the knee, finger joints, hip, and spinal disks.

And studies have shown glucosamine is effective in addressing the symptoms of osteoarthritis, particularly joint stiffness, pain, and decreased range of motion.

If you’re looking for a glucosamine supplement, you won’t find a better one than GNLD’s Full Motion Glucosamine Complex. If you’d like to read about it, please visit our product blog.

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