Collagen, dietary supplements & joint pain

The structure of aging joints is degraded by decades of oxidative stress and daily wear and tear. Innovative new compounds can rapidly relieve joint pain, while complementing the tissue-building effects of traditional joint health supplements such as glucosamine and collagen.

In recent years, adults seeking relief from the pain of arthritis have had to choose between expensive, potentially dangerous pain relievers and safer but slower-acting supplements that support joint health. While supplements such as glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate have been repeatedly shown to improve both arthritis symptoms and joint functionality, it can take weeks or even months for the benefits to be felt.

Fortunately, several new compounds have been identified that work quickly to relieve pain and promote rapid healing. These new generation compounds not only offer fast-acting pain relief, but also work over time - either alone or in combination with traditional joint supplements - to provide comprehensive support for joint repair and tissue regeneration.

Can keratin and hyaluronic acid counteract joint pain?

Health-conscious adults interested in maintaining healthy joints have long relied on supplements such as glucosamine chondroitin sulfate and methylsulfonylmethane (MSM). While years of rigorous scientific studies attest to the effectiveness of these supplements in relieving pain and supporting long-term joint health, with one downside: high doses are required to achieve maximum benefit.

The good news is that researchers have made great strides in developing supplements for joint health. These remarkable compounds—which naturally nourish joint fluids and tissues—represent impressive new weapons in the pain relief arsenal. They include:

· Keratin, which stimulates healthy new joint tissue and provides powerful antioxidant protection

· Hyaluronic acid, an important component of connective tissue

These substances work through multiple mechanisms to restore healthy joint function and structure and relieve inflammation. They also complement traditional joint health supplements such as glucosamine and MSM. Combining keratin with a food supplement containing hyaluronic acid, collagen peptides, silicon and vitamin C - is a good combination of food supplements for healthier and stronger joints. Although the dietary supplement benefits the skin and hair, it also has a very positive effect on the joints with its ingredients.

What is arthritis?

Although arthritis can occur at any age, arthritis is often seen as an all-too-familiar feature of aging. Arthritis most often manifests itself in the knees, hips, spine and hands. Also called degenerative joint disease, osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis.

Osteoarthritis primarily affects articular cartilage, the hard but "slippery" form of connective tissue that covers the ends of bones wherever they meet to form a joint. Healthy cartilage allows the bones to slide smoothly over each other and absorb energy from the impact that occurs during physical movement. In osteoarthritis, the surface layer of cartilage begins to degenerate, eventually causing the bones beneath the cartilage to meet, causing pain, swelling, and loss of joint mobility. If not addressed in time, this degenerative process can cause the joint to lose its normal shape. Small bone deposits, often called bone spurs, can appear at the edges of the joint. Pieces of bone or cartilage can also break off and float inside the fluid-filled synovial membrane that surrounds the joint, causing even more discomfort and injury.

Osteoarthritis-induced pain and disability can cause feelings of anxiety and helplessness, while also limiting daily activities or work tasks. In advanced cases, the person may find it difficult to carry out personal chores and family activities. Traditional treatments often begin with aspirin or prescription drugs and eventually progress to more drastic measures such as corticosteroid (or hyaluronic acid) injections and joint replacement surgery.

Rheumatoid arthritis, the second most common form of the disease, is characterized by painful swelling and inflammation of the joints. A chronic, progressive disease that can destroy joints and result in disability, rheumatoid arthritis is considered an autoimmune disease, in which the immune system generates aberrant antibodies that attack the body's own cells and tissues.

What is the difference between arthritis and arthrosis?

What unites them is that both cause pain and disability from the joints. The main difference between rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis is that RA affects the whole body and many joints. Osteoarthritis usually affects a specific joint. Rheumatoid arthritis, RA, is the same as rheumatoid arthritis.

Can Keratin Repair Joints?

Human joints are extremely vulnerable to the effects that occur with age, due to both everyday wear and tear and the presence of oxidative stress factors. Researchers have now formulated a new compound consisting of keratin to counteract the various forces that deteriorate joint health over time.

Keratin benefits joint health by:

· supply essential building blocks to repair joints

· stimulate potent enzymatic antioxidants

· have an inherent natural antioxidant activity

Keratin is abundant in the body's connective tissue (including skin, hair, nails and teeth) and is actually a class of basic proteins that contain an exceptionally high content of the amino acid cysteine. Cysteine ​​is a rich source of sulfur molecules, which are an important component of joint tissue. When sulfur molecules bind to each other, they form an extraordinarily strong bond. These "cysteine ​​bridges" provide much of keratin's structural rigidity.

Such stiffness is highly desirable for our weight-bearing joints, which require both flexibility and resilience to function as effective shock absorbers.

Sulfur plays an important, multifaceted role in healthy joint tissue. Joints consist in part of biological polymers or compounds made up of smaller, identical molecules linked together. Sulfation is the incorporation of sulfur molecules into these polymers, a process that occurs naturally when joints are healthy. Proteoglycans, which are protein-sugar polymers, derive much of their flexibility and resilience from these sulfur-to-sulfur bonds. Diseased joints, on the other hand, are characterized by reduced sulfur metabolism. When the joints can no longer incorporate sulfur efficiently, their structure deteriorates, leading to pain and stiffness. By supplying a source of sulphur-rich cysteine, keratin can contribute to the synthesis of proteoglycans in the cartilage responsible for cushioning the joints.

In addition to supporting a healthy joint structure, keratin offers important antioxidant support to joint tissues. It not only acts as an antioxidant by itself, but also delivers cysteine ​​to the joints, which acts as an intracellular antioxidant to fight harmful reactive oxygen radicals. In addition, the body uses cysteine ​​derived from keratin to help manufacture glutathione, one of its most important and multifunctional antioxidant molecules. Glutathione plays a central role in detoxification reactions in the liver. It is also an important component of glutathione peroxidase, an enzyme that provides direct antioxidant protection for cells and is particularly important for healthy joint tissues.

Keratin thus supports joint health via two critical mechanisms: by stimulating the synthesis of essential joint-supporting proteoglycans and by promoting the production of joint-protective antioxidants in the body. In an effort to capture these beneficial effects, researchers in New Zealand have formulated a soluble form of the keratin protein that is bioactive in the body, found in our KERATIN SKIN & HAIR BOOSTER dietary supplement. As effective and good as this keratin supplement is for hair, skin and nails, it is just as good and effective for promoting joint health.

Why is hyaluronic acid important for joint health?

Comfortable joint movement depends on the presence of synovial fluid in the joint cavity. Hyaluronic acid is the primary natural polymer compound found in the synovial fluid of synovial joints. Hyaluronic acid is produced by specialized cells that line the fluid-filled sac that surrounds the joints and creates a viscous, cushioning environment for articular cartilage, preventing friction from damaging these hard-working tissues. However, in the presence of osteoarthritis, hyaluronic acid in the synovial fluid becomes less viscous and loses elasticity, while its concentration decreases. Ensuring optimal levels of hyaluronic acid is therefore essential for healthy joint function.

The American College of Rheumatology saw the importance of hyaluronic acid in ensuring joint comfort and issued guidelines recommending the use of hyaluronic acid preparations for injection directly into the synovial spaces of joints affected by arthritis. While hyaluronic acid was once thought to offer only symptomatic relief from arthritis, in recent years doctors have noted that it can actually treat fundamental aspects of the disease. In addition to improving joint lubrication, dietary supplements with hyaluronic acid appear to stimulate the body's generation of new hyaluronic acid, while relieving pain and inflammation.

Joint pain

Older adults are increasingly susceptible to joint pain and stiffness. This has led to more and more people looking for safe and fast-acting solutions to joint pain and discomfort.

· Conventional prescription and over-the-counter pain relievers can have dangerous side effects, including gastrointestinal bleeding and increased risk of heart attack. While natural joint supplements have a higher margin of safety, they may require weeks of use before providing significant pain relief.

· Bioactive keratin protein benefits joint health via several mechanisms. Keratin is a rich source of sulphur, a necessary component of connective tissue that gives joints resilience. It also acts as a powerful antioxidant in itself and supports the production of joint-protective antioxidant enzymes.

· Hyaluronic acid in the synovial fluid of the joints provides cushioning and reduces friction between the bones.

A number of studies support the value of glucosamine, MSM, and other slow-acting joint supplements in promoting long-term joint improvement and maintenance of joint function.

For those who are looking for faster relief of their joint problems, keratin and hyaluronic acid can be very good complementary food supplements for healthy joints, preferably in a combination with collagen. When joint pain and stiffness affect your everyday life too much, these products can promote faster pain relief through improved joint lubrication as well as healing and regeneration of joint tissue.

Because of the many different ways joints can break down, it's good to combine these nutrients with traditional joint supplements, which can provide the most comprehensive support for healthier joints.