ChondroItin Sulfate: The key Ingredient in JoInt Supplements
Chondroitin Sulfate: What You Need to Know
Chondroitin sulfate (CS) is a natural compound found in the cartilage around joints in the body. It's commonly sourced from animal cartilage, particularly sharks and bovines.¹ Various companies use different source materials, including shark, bovine, or avian cartilage, which affects the quality of CS products. Osteosyn, a leader in CS production, primarily manufactures CS from bovine cartilage. The company sets itself apart by adhering to the highest industry standards and playing a leading role in improving CS quality practices.
What is Chondroitin Sulfate Used For?
CS is most commonly used to treat osteoarthritis (OA), but it has been explored for other uses, such as cataracts and various other conditions, though with mixed results. CS is often formulated with other ingredients like glucosamine, collagen peptides, and manganese ascorbate, and these combinations can influence its effectiveness. The quality of CS plays a significant role in how well it works, so it’s important to seek high-quality sources.
How Effective is Chondroitin Sulfate?
Chondroitin sulfate is a topic of ongoing debate among doctors and researchers—whether it works, what doses are effective, and what combinations of ingredients enhance its efficacy. Despite this, clinical evidence shows that CS can have a favorable, slow-acting effect on moderate OA.² Another benefit is that CS has a strong safety profile, meaning it doesn't interact with other medications and is generally safe for aging patients.²
Quality Matters
One of the biggest issues with CS in the United States is that it is classified as a dietary supplement. This regulatory classification means CS products must only meet food-grade standards, not pharmaceutical-grade standards, which are much stricter. As a result, the actual amount and purity of CS in supplements can vary significantly. In many other countries, CS is considered a prescription drug and must meet rigorous pharmaceutical standards for purity and dosage.
In the U.S., some companies may produce low-quality CS supplements with little actual chondroitin or questionable purity, leaving consumers at risk of buying ineffective products. This is why it’s essential to choose CS supplements that meet pharmaceutical-grade standards, as they offer higher quality and better results.³ Osteosyn products, for instance, are manufactured to meet the strict pharmaceutical standards set by the European Union, ensuring a safer, more reliable product for consumers.
OSTEOSYN’s Commitment to Quality
Osteosyn’s team has spent years working toward raising the standard of CS products. Several members of the team have served on expert panels for the AOAC (Association of Official Analytical Collaboration) working group on chondroitin sulfate, contributing to improving the detection of common adulterants in CS supplies. These efforts aim to make CS products safer and more effective for the general public.
Jana Hildreth, a key team member at Osteosyn and former chair of the expert panel, explains the issue: "Most countries consider chondroitin to be a slow-acting drug for osteoarthritis and require it to meet strict pharmaceutical standards for safety and efficacy. In the U.S., however, chondroitin is only recognized as a dietary supplement, so manufacturers aren’t held to those same standards. As a result, many products on the U.S. market contain little to no actual chondroitin, and consumers aren’t getting the benefit they expect."
Why Pharmaceutical-Grade CS is Important
It’s crucial to select pharmaceutical-grade CS products, especially for osteoarthritis treatment. Clinical evidence supports the effectiveness of CS for moderate OA when taken in the right amounts and at a high enough quality. Choosing food-grade CS can lead to subpar results due to inconsistent purity or dosage, so always look for pharmaceutical-grade products for the best results.³
Osteosyn products meet European Union Pharmaceutical Standards, one of the most premier and rigorous standards. You can learn more here.
Once you do, we are confident you will surely give us a try!
References:
Chondroitin Sulfate. WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-744/chondroitin-sulfate
Henrotin, Y., Mathy, M., Sanchez, C., Lambert, C. Chondroitin Sulfate in the Treatment of Osteoarthritis: From in Vitro Studies to Clinical Recommendations, 2010. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3383492/
Volpi, N. Quality of Different Chondroitin Sulfate Preparations in Relation to Their Therapeutic Activity, 2009. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19814858
