As a physician, I have seen and treated countless people over the past decade for various issues arising from almost every joint in the human body. They can have injuries that lead to acute and chronic problems or they can accumulate wear and tear slowly over time. The end result is that given enough time, their quality of life slowly degrades. Typically, the symptoms eventually lead to various interventions ranging from taking otc pain relievers more than they would like, to seeing a physical therapist or chiropractor, to seeing their local physician or orthopedist, and even more invasive things such as injections and surgeries.
Most people do everything thing they can to avoid the doctor, so they typically turn to friends for advice, they search their local grocery store shelves for a supplement that looks like it would work for them, or they search the internet and scour Amazon for the most reviewed supplements. If you have ever done this, you head will quickly spin at the various options out there, as the different solutions are too numerous to count and can leave even the most discerning person overwhelmed. I found that this was an issue, even for me as a physician. Furthermore, of the few promising supplements, they were often sold individually. Why had no one combined the most effective supplements into one? I often have patients wishing to avoid prescriptions (due to side effect concerns) and asking me if I had any recommendations regarding supplements. As most people view prescriptions nowadays like my golden retriever when I get ready to take him to the vet. I tell him we are going for a good reason (upside which may be true), but his experience (downside that no one told him about) tells him otherwise. For most, I would typically answer their question with a generic and generalized answer stating that most supplements do not have good trials establishing efficacy, and even the ones that work, likely only had mild benefit so for those with moderate or greater discomfort, supplements would be like using a tiny ball peen hammer when a heavy sledge hammer was needed. Even if/when I felt a supplement was appropriate, one ingredient supplements by themselves are often not enough to have noticeable effects.
How many pills does a person want to take, prescription or not? I could not find a good comprehensive formulation to recommend. I wanted to point my patients toward a supplement that was more of an all-in-one solution. Since one did not exist, after 3 years of mulling it over, I finally decided to create the solution to the problem.
After spending numerous days looking at published research, I was able to compile a list of ingredients to create two supplements. JointLife, an comprehensive one-of-a-kind supplement to promote and support joints and StemLife an all-inclusive and unique approach to support and promote stem cells and cellular repair, function, and proliferation. I will talk about StemLife in another blog post. JointLife has combined
Turmeric, MSM, Quercetin, Boswellia, and Bromelain, along with Bioperine.
Turmeric has numerous high quality studies showing that it can reduce inflammation and the pain associated with arthritis.
Wang, Z., Singh, A., Jones, G. et al. Efficacy and Safety of Turmeric Extracts for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials. Curr Rheumatol Rep23, 11 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11926-020-00975-8
Paultre K, Cade W, Hernandez D, et al. Therapeutic effects of turmeric or curcumin extract on pain and function for individuals with knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine 2021;7:e000935. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2020-000935 .
MSM: Data for pain and inflammation for osteoarthritis
Notarnicola A, Maccagnano G, Moretti L, et al. Methylsulfonylmethane and boswellic acids versus glucosamine sulfate in the treatment of knee arthritis: Randomized trial. International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology. March 2016:140-146. doi:10.1177/0394632015622215
Debbi, E.M., Agar, G., Fichman, G. et al. Efficacy of methylsulfonylmethane supplementation on osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized controlled study. BMC Complement Altern Med11, 50 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-11-50
Lubis, Andri MT, et al. "Comparison of glucosamine-chondroitin sulfate with and without methylsulfonylmethane in grade I-II knee osteoarthritis: a double blind randomized controlled trial." Acta Med Indones 49.2 (2017): 105-111.
Kim, Linda S., et al. "Efficacy of methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) in osteoarthritis pain of the knee: a pilot clinical trial." Osteoarthritis and cartilage 14.3 (2006): 286-294.
Quercetin: studies to support its use in arthritis
Hu, Yue, et al. "Quercetin alleviates rat osteoarthritis by inhibiting inflammation and apoptosis of chondrocytes, modulating synovial macrophages polarization to M2 macrophages." Free Radical Biology and Medicine 145 (2019): 146-160.
Yue Hu, Zhipeng Gui, Yuning Zhou, Lunguo Xia, Kaili Lin, Yuanjin Xu, Quercetin alleviates rat osteoarthritis by inhibiting inflammation and apoptosis of chondrocytes, modulating synovial macrophages polarization to M2 macrophages, Free Radical Biology and Medicine, Volume 145, 2019, Pages 146-160. ISSN 0891-5849, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2019.09.024.(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0891584919312420)
Bromelain: data
Kasemsuk, T., Saengpetch, N., Sibmooh, N. et al. Improved WOMAC score following 16-week treatment with bromelain for knee osteoarthritis. Clin Rheumatol35, 2531–2540 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-016-3363-1
Brien, Sarah, et al. "Bromelain as a treatment for osteoarthritis: a review of clinical studies." Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine 1.3 (2004): 251-257.
Boswellia
N. Kimmatkar, V. Thawani, L. Hingorani, R. Khiyani, Efficacy and tolerability of Boswellia serrata extract in treatment of osteoarthritis of knee – A randomized double blind placebo controlled trial, Phytomedicine, Volume 10, Issue 1, 2003, Pages 3-7, ISSN 0944-7113, https://doi.org/10.1078/094471103321648593. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0944711304701890)
Yu, G., Xiang, W., Zhang, T. et al. Effectiveness of Boswellia and Boswellia extract for osteoarthritis patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Complement Med Ther20, 225 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-020-02985-6
Bioperine
Javaid, Nadia. "BioPerine, Absorption & Bioavailability."
Gohil, Priyanshee, and Anita Mehta. "Molecular targets of pepper as bioavailability enhancer." Oriental pharmacy and experimental medicine 9.4 (2009): 269-276.
I believe that JointLife will be the most comprehensive joint supplement on the market. It will be available February or March 2022 at the latest. Go to bluefiresupplements.com and joint the email list to be notified when its available. We will also be sending out discount codes to those on our email list. Don't worry though. We hate spam, so we will practice the golden rule: Do unto others....
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