Glucosamine and its benefits for health and joints
Glucosamine plays a crucial role in maintaining healthy joints and cartilage. The substance occurs naturally, primarily in and around articular cartilage, but also in connective tissue and synovial fluid.
What is glucosamine and what are its benefits?
Glucosamine belongs to the group of amino sugars and is produced naturally by the human body. While it is usually present in sufficient quantities in younger years, the production of sufficient glucosamine decreases with advancing age. Glucosamine is therefore often taken as a dietary supplement, especially for osteoarthritis and other joint diseases.
How does glucosamine work in the body?
It is believed that taking glucosamine provides the body with the raw materials it needs to repair and maintain cartilage. It also stimulates the production of synovial fluid, which lubricates the joints and ensures smooth movement. Some studies suggest that glucosamine has anti-inflammatory properties and may therefore be able to relieve joint pain and arthritic inflammation.
Can glucosamine extend life expectancy?
Interestingly, glucosamine also appears to have an impact on longevity (extended healthy lifespan). An experiment with mice fed glucosamine at 100 weeks of age showed that they lived almost 10% longer than their counterparts in the group that did not receive glucosamine (Weimer 2014). Converted into human years, this would – purely hypothetically – mean that supplementation from age 65 onwards would extend life by about 8 years. Several other epidemiological studies in humans (Pocobelli 2010, Bell 2012, Zhi-Hao 2020, King 2020) with a total of more than 500,000 subjects further indicate that (almost) daily intake of glucosamine supplements is associated with reduced overall mortality.
Conclusion: Glucosamine has a proven positive effect on joint health
In summary, the positive effects of glucosamine on joint health have been extensively studied and repeatedly confirmed, while no negative side effects have been observed at the recommended dosages. SPONSER® recommends taking four GLUCOSAMINE CHONDROITIN tablets daily, which corresponds to the maximum permissible daily dose of glucosamine and chondroitin.
literature
Bell et al. (2012) : Use of glucosamine and chondroitin in relation to mortality, in: Eur J Epidemiol. 2012 Aug;27(8):593-603.
King et al. (2020): Glucosamine/Chondroitin and Mortality in a US NHANES Cohort, in: J Am Board Fam Med. 2020 Nov-Dec;33(6):842-847. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33219063/
Pocobelli et al. (2019): Total mortality risk in relation to use of less-common dietary supplements, in: Am J Clin Nutr, 2010. 91(6): p. 1791-800. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20410091/
Weimer et al. (2014): D-Glucosamine supplementation extends life span of nematodes and of aging mice, in: Nat Commun. 2014 Apr 8;5:3563. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24714520/
Zhi-Hao et al. (2020): Associations of regular glucosamine use with all-cause and cause-specific mortality: a large prospective cohort study, in: Ann Rheum Dis. 2020 Jun;79(6):829-836. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32253185/
