Glucosamine Sulfate – Salts for Stabilization

27 million Americans suffer from osteoarthritis. It’s probably fair to say that the majority of these people have tried some sort of glucosamine product for their arthritis symptoms at some point in their lives. Most glucosamine products require some sort of stabilizer in them, since glucosamine is extremely hygroscopic, meaning that it has a tendency to attract and bond with water. So, most of the time, when you’re getting glucosamine, you’re actually getting glucosamine sulfate, or some form of glucosamine with an added salt. Glucosamine sulfate stabilizes the glucosamine. Glucosamine Sulfate makes sure that your joints get as much of the glucosamine as possible.

There’s moisture everywhere. If you leave your glucosamine sulfate pills out in the open, you’ll see this in action. Your pills will grow darker and darker as they absorb more moisture in from the air. Anyone who’s ever left a glass of ice water out on a cold day will get a quick lesson in how much moisture there is in the air. As the moisture hits the cold glass, it will condensate into drops of water. This is the moisture that glucosamine sulfate has to contend with when exposed to air. It’s best to keep Glucosamine Sulfate in an airtight container to minimize exposure to moisture.

While your glucosamine sulfate pills will still have plenty of glucosamine in them even after they’ve absorbed all that moisture from the air, they won’t be quite as effective when you take them. Since the sulfates have absorbed all of the water, there will still be plenty of glucosamine left in pill, but not enough to fight all the water that the Glucosamine Sulfate pill will encounter as it passes through your digestive tract. As the glucosamine sulfate bonds with water, the sulfates will eventually run out, and the glucosamine will start to bond with water, too. By the time the glucosamine reaches your joints, there might not be much left.

This is why it’s best to keep Glucosamine Sulfate in an airtight container and, if you can, try not to take it with too much water. This will make sure that the glucosamine sulfate gets through your digestive tract without losing too much glucosamine so that your joints can get as much of the good stuff as possible. Glucosamine Sulfate is an excellent way to keep your glucosamine pills from degrading due to moisture in the air or in your body.