Joint Solution with Glucosamine – Joint Structure & Comfort | 60 Capsules

Joint Solution is a daily joint supplement that pairs glucosamine with botanicals. Each 4-capsule serving has 750 mg glucosamine HCl, 250 mg glucosamine sulfate, 300 mg Boswellia serrata extract, 200 mg bromelain, 200 mg quercetin and 100 mg Curcumin C3 Complex®, plus devil's claw, alfalfa, collagen type II and yucca. Each bottle holds 60 capsules. It supports joint structure and joint comfort.†

Joint Solution is for people whose joints do a lot of work: runners, lifters, hikers, gardeners, and anyone who wants their knees and hips in good working order for the long haul. Glucosamine and collagen type II cover structure; boswellia, turmeric, bromelain and quercetin cover comfort.†

You don't have to wait for your 60s to look after your joints. If you're in your 30s or 40s and already training like you plan to stay busy for decades, this is an easy habit to add now. Aging isn't optional. Getting old is.

Why people take Joint Solution

• Supports joint structure and joint comfort, the job printed right on the label.†
• Supplies glucosamine (750 mg HCl plus 250 mg sulfate per serving), a building block your body uses to make the cushioning molecules in cartilage.†
• Supports a healthy inflammatory response with Boswellia serrata, Curcumin C3 Complex®, bromelain and quercetin.†
• Provides antioxidant support from quercetin and turmeric curcuminoids.†
• Adds collagen type II, the main collagen in cartilage, with 20% chondroitin sulfate.†

What's in each serving

Serving size: 4 capsules. Servings per container: 15. Other ingredients: Gelatin (100% natural, preservative-free, from capsule shell), organic rice extract, and organic rice concentrate. The label states: "NO corn, soy, salt, yeast, gluten, milk & egg products, sugar, starch, or preservatives." It also states: "Contains Glucosamine, isolated from crab shell."

How Joint Solution works

Glucosamine: 750 mg HCl plus 250 mg sulfate

Cartilage, the smooth tissue capping the ends of your bones, gets its cushion from long sugar chains called glycosaminoglycans, and glucosamine is one of their building blocks. Your body makes its own; a supplement supplies it ready-made.† The glucosamine here comes from crab shell in two forms: glucosamine HCl, and glucosamine sulfate supplied as glucosamine sulfate KCl (bound with potassium chloride), which is why the label lists 332 mg of glucosamine sulfate KCl to deliver 250 mg of glucosamine sulfate.

For healthy, active people, the closest research is a pair of studies in soccer players. In a 16-week randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 43 college soccer players, a supplement providing 2 g of glucosamine a day brought a urine marker of type II collagen breakdown below the placebo group's, while a collagen-building marker held steady, with no supplement-related side effects. An earlier 3-month study of soccer players taking 1.5 or 3 g a day saw the same drop, and saw it fade after they stopped. Two honest notes: these are lab markers in young athletes, not a measure of how joints feel, and the doses were higher than the 750 mg of glucosamine HCl plus 250 mg of glucosamine sulfate in a 4-capsule serving here.

Boswellia serrata extract: 300 mg

Boswellia serrata is the tree behind Indian frankincense, and its gum resin is a traditional Ayurvedic botanical. Its boswellic acids were long thought to work by blocking 5-lipoxygenase, an enzyme that makes signaling molecules in the body's inflammatory response.† A review of the lab, animal and human data on boswellia complicates that: the two most studied boswellic acids reach the blood at levels far below what blocks the enzyme in a test tube, while beta-boswellic acid reaches about 100 times higher levels and acts on other inflammation-related enzymes. Straight talk: exactly how boswellia works in people is still being sorted out.

Curcumin C3 Complex®: 100 mg

Curcumin C3 Complex® is a standardized turmeric root extract. The label specifies a minimum of 95% curcumin, bisdemethoxy curcumin and demethoxy curcumin (the curcuminoids), so each serving carries at least 95 mg. A review of curcumin's effects on human health credits most of its studied effects to antioxidant activity and its role in the body's inflammatory response, including research in active people after hard exercise.† The same review names the catch: curcumin on its own is poorly absorbed and quickly cleared, and pairing it with piperine from black pepper raised absorption. Joint Solution doesn't include piperine, so turmeric is one contributor here, not the headline act.

Quercetin: 200 mg

Quercetin is a flavonoid, a plant pigment in onions, apples and tea, and in lab tests it acts as an antioxidant.† It does get absorbed. In a 2-week randomized trial in 35 healthy adults, 50 to 150 mg a day raised blood quercetin in step with the dose, by 178% to 570% over baseline. What it didn't show: any change in blood antioxidant capacity or an inflammation marker in those 2 weeks. Our 200 mg is above the trial's top dose, so its numbers don't map one-to-one.

Bromelain: 200 mg (240 GDU)

Bromelain is a group of protein-digesting enzymes from pineapple, measured by activity: the label lists 1200 GDU (gelatin digesting units) per gram, or 240 GDU per 4-capsule serving. We didn't find human research in healthy adults at this amount that we'd stand behind, so we don't cite any.

Collagen type II, devil's claw, alfalfa and yucca

Type II collagen is the main collagen in cartilage, and chondroitin sulfate helps cartilage hold water.† The 50 mg here contains 20% chondroitin sulfate, or 10 mg. Devil's claw (Harpagophytum procumbens) is a southern African root and a traditional herb for joint comfort.† Alfalfa herb (Medicago sativa) is the leafy plant farmers grow for hay. Yucca root 4:1 extract is concentrated about 4 to 1, so its 25 mg stands in for roughly 100 mg of root. These four are supporting players, and we don't claim more for them.

How to take Joint Solution

The label directions: "One to two capsules twice daily, as a dietary supplement."

The amounts in the table are per serving, and the label's serving size is 4 capsules. The label doesn't mention food, so that part is up to you. Steady daily use is the idea, so tie your two daily doses to something you already do.

If you avoid shellfish, note the label statement: "Contains Glucosamine, isolated from crab shell." Ask your healthcare practitioner before use if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition.

Don't take our word for it

We've been making supplements in Oregon since 1974. And we're not getting old either. Here's what stands behind every lot of Joint Solution.

• Verified by independent labs. ISO 17025-accredited labs check our test results.
• Every ingredient lot tested before use. Federal rules only require an identity test on incoming dietary ingredients. We test every incoming lot for identity, potency, heavy metals and microbes.
• If it misses spec, it doesn't go in a bottle. More than 99% of our tests pass, and the lots that don't are turned away.
• A certificate of analysis for every lot. Every lot of Joint Solution has its own.

Made in the USA. Made and tested in Mt. Angel, Oregon. Mt. Angel is a farm town of about 3,500 people in the Willamette Valley. Our UL-certified cGMP facility there keeps formulators, makers and testers under one roof, and the owners work in the building too.

Frequently asked questions

How much glucosamine is in Joint Solution?

Each 4-capsule serving has 750 mg of glucosamine HCl and 250 mg of glucosamine sulfate, both from crab shell. The label directions are one to two capsules twice daily.

How long until I notice a difference?

Give it a few months of steady daily use. The glucosamine studies above ran 3 to 4 months and measured lab markers, not how joints feel, so judge Joint Solution over months, not days.†

What's the difference between Joint Solution and Joint Solution Advanced?

Joint Solution Advanced adds MSM and hyaluronic acid. Both have 750 mg of glucosamine HCl and 250 mg of glucosamine sulfate per 4 capsules. Joint Solution Advanced adds 700 mg of MSM and 70 mg of hyaluronic acid, with 400 mg of Boswellia serrata extract instead of 300 mg, no yucca, and a vegetable cellulose capsule. Pick one, not both, since the glucosamine and botanicals overlap.

Can I take Joint Solution with Inflameze or MSM 2000?

MSM 2000 pairs without overlap; Inflameze doubles up. MSM 2000 is 2,000 mg of MSM in one tablet a day, an ingredient Joint Solution doesn't contain. Inflameze has no glucosamine but repeats most of Joint Solution's botanicals, from boswellia to devil's claw, so we suggest choosing one. If you take medication, run any stack by your practitioner first.

Is it safe to take with medication?

Ask your healthcare practitioner first, especially if you take a blood thinner. A review of FDA and World Health Organization adverse-event reports found cases where glucosamine taken with warfarin was linked to a higher INR, the blood test that tracks clotting time. Bring the label so they can check every ingredient.

Is Joint Solution vegetarian?

No. The capsule shell is gelatin, the glucosamine comes from crab shell, and collagen type II is an animal protein.

References

1. Tsuruta A et al. Evaluation of the effect of the administration of a glucosamine-containing supplement on biomarkers for cartilage metabolism in soccer players: A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study. Mol Med Rep. 2018. PubMed
2. Yoshimura M et al. Evaluation of the effect of glucosamine administration on biomarkers for cartilage and bone metabolism in soccer players. Int J Mol Med. 2009. PubMed
3. Abdel-Tawab M et al. Boswellia serrata: an overall assessment of in vitro, preclinical, pharmacokinetic and clinical data. Clin Pharmacokinet. 2011. PubMed
4. Hewlings SJ, Kalman DS. Curcumin: A Review of Its Effects on Human Health. Foods. 2017. PubMed
5. Egert S et al. Daily quercetin supplementation dose-dependently increases plasma quercetin concentrations in healthy humans. J Nutr. 2008. PubMed
6. Knudsen JF, Sokol GH. Potential glucosamine-warfarin interaction resulting in increased international normalized ratio: case report and review of the literature and MedWatch database. Pharmacotherapy. 2008. PubMed

†These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.