What is Glucosamine?
Glucosamine is a naturally occurring amino sugar in our bodies that assists in the synthesis of proteins that form joint cartilage. Glucosamine sulfate is also a naturally occurring constituent of our bodies, and is part of these proteins that form the cartilage matrix. Glucosamine sulfate supplements have become popular and readily available on the health food market, and you might be wondering if it’s available in any other form, or if you even need to add it to your diet.
Where Can I Source Glucosamine?
It’s important that, given a range of options for sourcing a nutrient or other substance for your body you choose it in naturally occurring forms (i.e., food) wherever possible, since these are normally much easier for your body to process. Glucosamine is an exception to this rule, however, since it does not naturally occur in any commonly eaten food items! You’ll need to grab some glucosamine supplements from your local health store if you would like to add glucosamine to your diet.
Glucosamine sulfate supplements are derived from chitin - the hard, crusty and completely inedible shells of lobsters and crabs. You can see why you’ve never seen signs in the vegetable isle touting goods as being ‘high in glucosamine!’ Obviously vegetarians, vegans, those living the kosher way and people allergic to shellfish will be steering well clear of this supplement.
What Will Glucosamine Do For Me?
If glucosamine is of any benefit to anyone, it’s for people suffering from osteoarthritis and other debilitation conditions affecting the joints and cartilage. The idea is that the ingested glucosamine assists the body in synthesizing proteins required in cartilage formation and repair. Empirical research to date looking at the effects of glucosamine consumption in osteoarthritic populations has yielded some conflicting results, however.
There have been a large (and growing) number of well controlled studies, using large participant groups and control measures, which have found a marked improvement in mobility, joint function and pain reduction in people with osteoarthritis who regularly consumed glucosamine sulfate supplements. Some of these studies even showed the narrowing of joint spaces in participants with osteoarthritis of the knee, suggesting that glucosamine sulfate supplements may repair damaged cartilage tissue.
On the other hand, there have been a number of studies (albeit some of them used glucosamine hydrochloride rather than glucosamine sulfate) that have found no significant effects of glucosamine supplements on osteoarthritic participants. As with most things in life it’s probably best to collect what information you can and then try it for yourself or decide otherwise.
If you don’t suffer from a painful joint condition, there’s really no reason you’d need to use glucosamine supplements. Eating a healthy diet, getting regular exercise and regular sleep should be enough to ensure that all the necessary chemical reactions and protein synthesis processes in your body are occurring as needed. For the ageing population and people suffering from osteoarthritis however, glucosamine sulfate supplements may be the answer you’ve been looking for.
You’re Joking Right? This Stuff Looks Gross!
Okay it looks a bit like those lo-fat milks everyone’s drinking these days, all watery and translucent and not in the slightest bit appetizing to the connoisseur’s eye. And if you were to ask me what it tasted like, you’d get a similar response. Personally I find the chalky, slightly sweet flavour extremely difficult to ingest. With that said I know of people who find the flavour quite agreeable. So let’s say it has an acquired taste to be fair.
What Does Coral Calcium Powder Contain?
In a nutshell, coral calcium powder is calcium carbonate with traces of magnesium and other minerals. Calcium, magnesium and other trace elements present in coral calcium powder are all important in a balanced diet. If a sufficient intake of minerals is not met in the diet, the body leeches these minerals from stores in the bone tissues of the body. Say hello to osteoporosis. If your diet is deficient in calcium, magnesium or other minerals then you may be considering coral calcium powder as a dietary supplement option.
False Advertising and Unsubstantiated Claims…
Unfortunately, a lot of claims made about coral calcium powder by the promoters of the product have been flat out false. You may have heard that coral calcium powder alkalizes the body’s pH level, for example. The only thing that supplements can alkalize in the body is the urine, since excess doses of these kind of supplements are excreted in urine. Therefore ingesting larger quantities of coral calcium powder will only result in more of the stuff being flushed down the toilet with your pee.
Another claim made by promoters of coral calcium powder is that problems like high cholesterol and colon cancer will correct themselves out if you are getting your sufficient intake of minerals. Again this claim is not backed up with any kind of rigorous scientific research, and therefore these claims must be critically interpreted. Of course, a healthy diet with sufficient mineral intake does great things in the way of normalizing bowel function as well as other bodily functions. It’s another thing entirely to claim that major bowel disorders like colon cancer can be reversed simply by ingesting minerals.
To Buy or Not to Buy
If you are looking for a calcium supplement that contains a whole host of other trace minerals as a bonus, then coral calcium powder is indeed one of the options available to you. Due to the exorbitant claims made by promoters of coral calcium powder, however, the price of the powder is far higher than you would pay for any other calcium supplement. It’s not any more absorbable than other calcium products, being about 30% absorbable despite claims made by its promoters that it is 100% absorbable by the body. Overall coral calcium appears to be overpriced for what it is, so consider other options.
