With hundreds of thousands of knee replacements performed in 2014, there’s plenty of emerging research on various treatment approaches for those aching knees.

How do you know what you should do or take? What works best?

One of the discussions you may have researched would be taking glucosamine sulfate vs glucosamine HCL (hydrochloride).

You want maximum relief from knee pain, so it’s important to be doing all the right things that give you the most benefit.

To add to the confusion, not all products on the market contain the amount of glucosamine shown on the label. In other situations, some actually had glucosamine HCL when glucosamine sulfate was listed on the label! So it’s important going with a brand you can trust.

Glucosamine Hydrochloride: Facts & Hype

When glucosamine HCL gets made into a supplement, some claim it has more organic glucosamine than glucosamine sulfate. Some researchers also claim the dosage or quality of glucosamine HCL affects its performance in studies. However, glucosamine sulfate consistently outperforms glucosamine HCL in studies. Most of the recent studies that have questioned the effectiveness of glucosamine were looking at glucosamine hydrochloride.

How Do You Know Glucosamine Sulfate Works Better for Treating Knee Arthritis?

Enough research has been performed to reasonably conclude this. The Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database rates the effectiveness of substances based on scientific evidence.

The highest possible rating you can get is “Effective,” and according to discussion of its ratings by the National Institutes of Health, it’s “likely effective for osteoarthritis.” And osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis that causes knee pain.

It also continues to discuss that “some research suggests that glucosamine reduces pain of osteoarthritis in the knee” specifically. It may keep osteoarthritis from causing as much harm as it possibly could.

So based on our research and recommendations (and the many clinical studies reviewed) glucosamine Sulfate is preferred because:

• It’s been clinically proven to work better
• Glucosamine sulfate has been studied much more
• Many of the studies that question the effectiveness of glucosamine were done with Glucosamine HCL, NOT Glucosamine sulfate

To get the maximum benefit, S4K recommends:

• Taking glucosamine sulfate at least 6 to 12 weeks to begin supporting you knees’ health (it’s not immediately effective and some say it should be taken as long as 6 months before judging weather or not it has helped)
• Continuing to take it on an ongoing basis to keep the benefits, even if you notice your knees feel well
• Taking an appropriate dose of 1500mg daily. 

Why Might Glucosamine Sulfate Work Better?

Medical experts aren’t yet 100% positive. But what they do know is:

• You find glucosamine sulfate naturally in your body, and it can be found in places in nature like the shells of shellfish
• Your body uses it to build the cartilage and fluids that surround your joints
• Osteoarthritis slowly breaks down joint fluid and cartilage, and you can experience joint pain and stiffness as a result of this degeneration.
• Although it’s mechanism is not known, taking glucosamine sulfate may somehow interfere with this process

Some researchers believe the sulfate is very important compliment (not just the glucosamine by itself)and may be responsible for beneficial effects.

Glucosamine hydrochloride does not contain sulfate. Furthermore, a lot of products that contain Glucosamine HCL also contain Chondroitan sulfate. Do not confuse these with Glucosamine sulfate.

 Safety

According to the National Institutes of Health, glucosamine sulfate is “likely safe” when you use it appropriately. Although side effects can occur with any substance, the incidence of side effects in most studies is equal to placebo.

Don’t Worry, Knee Happy!

Premium gluocosamine sulfate supplements developed by an M.D.