John Arts                   Abundant Living                   www.johnarts.co.nz

A quick review of NZ made joint supplements found none with the recommended levels of Chondroitin Sulphate. I did find two quality US made supplements for sale in NZ that do meet this standard, as does my joint supplement.

The International research and recommendation of CS for osteoarthritis (OA) is not in dispute. It has been available on prescription in Europe at doses of 800mg+ (daily) for over a decade. There are numerous overseas companies that manufacture supplements that have therapeutic levels of CS.

This begs the question as to why not in NZ? What could be the reason NZ companies exclude therapeutic amounts of CS? A quick check on the most extensive online supplement store found that most NZ made joint supplements, including the biggest selling products, had on average of only 200mg of CS when research recommends 800mg. Typically these are marketed as a ‘1 a day’ products that are mostly glucosamine with little or no chondroitin. The only reason I can conclude is the cost of chondroitin. I have just purchased a new batch of high grade avian-sourced CS and the cost is about 9 times that of glucosamine.

I have no doubt that most of the benefits people get from my joint supplement are from the chondroitin. Scientists have identified about 30 therapeutic benefits of chondroitin has on the chemistry and function of joints and the joint capsule. Whilst some of these are complex, the benefits are mostly to improve the function of cartilage-secreting chondrocyte cells and by regulating destructive enzymes and joint capsule inflammation.

The bottom line is usually less pain and more mobility. By way of example, I have been helping someone with osteoarthritis in his feet which restricted his ability to exercise. He noticed improvements after two months and now has significant improvements.

 John Arts (B.Soc.Sci, Dip Tch, Adv.Dip.Nut.Med) is a nutritional medicine practitioner and founder of Abundant Health Ltd. For questions or advice contact John on 0800 423559 or email john@abundant.co.nz.  Join his newsletter at www.abundant.co.nz.