Dear Living Well Daily Reader,
Knee pain is one of those agonizing problems that often come with aging.
Each year, it gets a little harder to climb the stairs… and even taking a short walk to get the mail can leave you writhing in pain.
And when you go to your doctor for help, you’re told you only have two options — drugs or painful knee replacement surgery.
Well, that’s simply not true.
Because there’s an all-natural supplement that can help soothe away your pain and keep your joints in tiptop shape throughout your golden years.
And believe it or not, it may work a lot better than whatever is sitting in your medicine cabinet right now.
This powerful joint saver is chondroitin sulfate.
It’s a natural compound found in human tissue, and it can save your knees by preserving the cartilage cushioning between your joints.
In this latest study, 194 patients with osteoarthritis and inflammation of the knee were split into two groups — one took 1,200 mg of pharmaceutical-grade chondroitin and the other group took 200 mg of Celebrex daily for a 24-month period.
Yes, I’m talking about the same prescription drug Celebrex that’s been linked to an increased risk of blood clots, heart attacks and strokes.
At the end of the trial, both the chondroitin and Celebrex groups saw similar reductions in swelling and fluid in the knee. So chondroitin worked just as well as a drug that comes with some pretty nasty side effects.
But the news gets even better…
The participants taking chondroitin experienced less cartilage loss in the knee than those taking the Celebrex.
This means the chondroitin not only reduced knee inflammation, pain and swelling as well as its prescription counterpart — it outperformed it when it came to preserving cartilage.
And really, this shouldn’t surprise anyone. Chondroitin has been used as an effective joint supplement for decades, and alternative doctors recommend it all the time.
You can purchase chondroitin though health retailers and online stores. To replicate dosing from the study, take 400 mg three times a day.
Live well,
Natalie Moore
Managing editor, Living Well Daily
Ed. Note: Please send your feedback: nmoore@lfb.org – and click here to like us on Facebook.
Sources
[1] New Study Shows Chondroitin Beats Celecoxib in Treating Knee OA
[3] Curcumin may relieve pain, inflammation for osteoarthritis patients
[4] Celebrex
