When we're young, we often experience a feeling of invincibility and rarely think about the aches and pains that may come later in life. We hate to break it to you, but it's not just older people that experience this.
While aging is a major cause of joint problems, many other factors deteriorate joint health. Pretty much any repetitive activity puts a strain on your joints, even the use of mobile phones!
Joint health supplements can help prevent the breakdown of connective tissues that make up our joints and allow them to move smoothly and painlessly.
They can also help treat current joint problems, such as arthritis. This article explains the causes of a decline in joint health and discusses the latest powerful ingredients that support better joint health.
Let's dive in!
What Exactly Are Joints?
Joints are the point at which two bones meet. They enable us to bend and move our skeleton, which would otherwise be a rigid structure. All joints have different functions, with some moving and flexing more than others.
Nearly every bone in the body is connected by a joint, but those involved in greater movement are at greater risk of injury and wear and tear. To understand how joint health can suffer, first, it's important to understand the structure and components of a joint.
- Ligaments: strong, flexible bands of tissue that hold joints together.
- Cartilage: a rubbery tissue that acts as a cushion and minimizes friction, allowing bones to move freely and painlessly across one another.
- Synovial fluid: surrounds freely moveable joints, such as fingers, knees, hips, and neck, and provides extra lubrication and cushioning to limit damage from impact.
- Tendons: thick, tough bands of connective tissue that attach muscles to joints.
What Affects Joint Health?
Looking after your joint health is important to maintain your flexibility and mobility. As we age, our joint health gradually deteriorates. But injuries, carrying excess weight, and many aspects of our lives that require repetitive movements, also contribute to wear and tear on cartilage and the deterioration of joint health.
Taking a joint health supplement like Performance Lab Flex can help maintain your flexibility, reduce stiffness and aches, and improve joint lubrication.
How? By combining nature's most potent joint-supporting botanicals with scientifically proven ingredients to improve joint health. Find out more about the powerful ingredients in Performance Lab Flex below.
Best Nutrients for Better Joint Health
Glucosamine
Glucosamine is a natural chemical compound found in the body that is essential for synthesizing several important molecules, including glycoproteins, glycolipids and glycosaminoglycans. These are essential building blocks for many parts of your joints, primarily cartilage.
As a result of age, your body produces less glucosamine, and cartilage begins to break down. This can cause bones to rub together, leading to joint pain, inflammation, and stiffness.
Inflammation underpins most joint-related disorders, including arthritis. Evidence suggests glucosamine supplements may help reduce inflammation by inhibiting inflammatory pathways in synovial cells 1.
Scientists have also found that glucosamine supplements can help reduce the breakdown of cartilage. In one study, glucosamine proved to be an effective treatment for osteoarthritis, helping to reduce pain, improve joint function, and slow disease progression 2.
Chondroitin
Chondroitin is another essential building block of cartilage, helping it retain water to give it elasticity and shock-absorbing properties. Like glucosamine, chondroitin can also help slow the breakdown of cartilage. It works by reducing the activity of enzymes and substances that cause it to degrade while also reducing inflammation 3.
Chondroitin is commonly taken alongside glucosamine as a combined treatment for treating osteoarthritis pain, stiffness, and swelling, as both work in synergy together for enhanced effects 4.
Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM)
Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) is a natural sulfur-containing compound found in plant-based and animal foods, such as meat, dairy, and vegetables. It is involved in a number of bodily processes and is required for the production and maintenance of proteins that make up connective tissues in joints.
MSM also provides powerful anti-inflammatory effects by suppressing the production of substances involved in the inflammatory response 5. While also increasing the release of natural antioxidants in the body that help prevent cell damage caused by oxidative stress - a state that contributes to disease and aging.
Boswellia Serrata
Boswellia Serrata is a natural gum that comes from a desert tree. It produces compounds to help block enzymes that cause cartilage and connective tissues to deteriorate, protecting joints from damage.
It also helps calm inflammation soothe aches and pains, and increase mobility. Studies have found that supplements containing both Boswellia Serrata and curcumin can help treat symptoms of osteoarthritis 6.
Curcumin
Curcumin is a compound found in the spice turmeric and is well known for its strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Because of this, it has been used for years in traditional Indian medicine but is rapidly gaining popularity in the west as more research emerges about its medicinal properties.
By reducing damage caused by oxidative stress and blocking inflammatory pathways, curcumin can help reduce joint stiffness and aches associated with arthritis 7. It can also help improve joint health by supporting the production of critical joint proteins such as collagen.
Conclusion
Joints form the connection between two bones and allow us to move our bodies. When joint health declines, our mobility and flexibility suffer, and joint-related problems such as arthritis may arise.
Several aspects of our lives can cause joint health to worsen, including intense strength training, injury, and endurance activities. Not just age!
Taking a supplement like Performance Lab Flex, which combines the latest scientifically proven ingredients for better joint health, can help keep you limber and active for longer.
References
- Yamagishi, Yoshie, et al. "Evaluation of the anti-inflammatory actions of various functional food materials including glucosamine on synovial cells." Molecular Medicine Reports2 (2017): 1353-1359.
- Beaudart, Charlotte, et al. "Symptomatic efficacy of pharmacological treatments for knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and a network meta-analysis with a 6-month time horizon." Drugs18 (2020): 1947-1959.
- Navarro, Sandi L., et al. "Randomized trial of glucosamine and chondroitin supplementation on inflammation and oxidative stress biomarkers and plasma proteomics profiles in healthy humans." PloS one2 (2015): e0117534.
- Hochberg, Marc C., et al. "Combined chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine for painful knee osteoarthritis: a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, non-inferiority trial versus celecoxib." Annals of the rheumatic diseases1 (2016): 37-44.
- Ahn, Huijeong, et al. "Methylsulfonylmethane inhibits NLRP3 inflammasome activation." Cytokine2 (2015): 223-231.
- Pinzon, Rizaldy Taslim, and Vincent Ongko Wijaya. "Curcuma longa and Boswellia Serrata for improving functional status in osteoarthritis patients: From bench to bedside evidences." Asian Journal of Medical Sciences5 (2019): 1-5.
- Daily, James W., Mini Yang, and Sunmin Park. "Efficacy of turmeric extracts and curcumin for alleviating the symptoms of joint arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials." Journal of medicinal food 19.8 (2016): 717-729.
