Chondroitin Sulfate
For: Arthritis Remedies,
Old and New, December 2003
Q: You
do not recommend chondroitin sulfate, according to your article on
glucosamine in May. Why not? My arthritis supplement contains glucosamine
and chondroitin.
L.R., VIA THE INTERNET
A: Many people take both of these supplements, separately or in multi-ingredient "arthritis formulas," largely because of a bestselling book called the Arthritis Cure. These two substances, produced naturally in the body, are involved in cartilage repair and maintenance. Few studies, none of them good, have looked at the combination of these two supplements. The well-designed study we reported on in May looked only at glucosamine, and found that it did help many arthritis sufferers. There is no such convincing evidence for chondroitin.
Moreover, there are many questions about what happens to the chondroitin you swallow. Is this large molecule absorbed? How much of it, if any, attaches to cartilage? There are different kinds of chondroitin sulfate—does it matter which kind you take? Though some research has been done, no one knows the answers to these questions.
We'll know more about the effects of chondroitin in two years or so, when the National Institutes of Health completes its large study on the two supplements (used separately and in combination).
Chondroitin costs a lot more than glucosamine. If you're going to try a supplement, we suggest trying glucosamine by itself.
UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, July 2001
