02
Supplements
25 entriesEverything swallowed in capsule or powder form with a plausible claim on cartilage — what the trials used, at what dose, and how strong the evidence actually is.
Collagen & building blocks
- Collagen peptidesThe branded preparations, the doses trialled, and the absorption questionStrong
- Undenatured type II collagen (UC-II)Undenatured type II collagen at 40 mg, proposed to work through oral tolerancePromising
- Does collagen reach cartilage?The chain from a collagen peptide in the blood to an effect on cartilage, link by linkPreclinical
- Oral tolerance: the rise and fallA 1993 Science paper on oral tolerance, and the thirty years of replication after itPreclinical
- How good are the collagen trials?The funding, blinding and reporting behind the collagen osteoarthritis trialsPromising
- Collagen for tendon (not cartilage)Collagen peptides tested on tendon rather than on cartilagePromising
- Collagen and boneThe bone-density trial of collagen peptides, and whether it reaches cartilagePromising
Vitamins & cofactors
- Vitamin DThe vitamin tested in two large knee trials with structural endpointsPromising
- Vitamin K2 (MK-7)The long-chain menaquinone that carboxylates matrix Gla protein, cartilage's calcification brakePromising
- CreatineHelps the muscle around the joint — when you train, not instead of itPromising
- Vitamin CThe cofactor collagen synthesis cannot run without, and the one trial that gave it for a jointPromising
- TMG (Betaine)The methyl donor that remethylates homocysteine, with a measured human dose-response and rodent cartilage workPreclinical
- NMN / NAD+ precursorsA direct NAD+ precursor with a large human healthspan literature and rodent cartilage dataPreclinical
- SAMe (S-adenosylmethionine)The body's universal methyl donor, tested against anti-inflammatories for four decades and against placebo four timesPromising
Anti-inflammatories
- Curcumin / turmeric extractThe most-trialled botanical in knee OA, where the formulation sets the dosePromising
- Boswellia serrataA frankincense resin extract standardised to its boswellic acidsPromising
- MSM (methylsulfonylmethane)An organosulfur compound and sulfate donor, in three small knee trialsPromising
- ResveratrolA sirtuin-pathway stilbene with a wide human trial record and one large knee studyNot supported
- Ginger extractA standardised ginger rhizome extract, in a 261-person knee trial and two meta-analysesPromising
- Rosehip powderA powdered rosehip preparation, in three trials from a single sponsorPromising
- Avocado-soybean unsaponifiables (ASU)An avocado and soybean lipid extract, tested for structure in the hip over three yearsPromising
Minerals & other
- Glucosamine ± chondroitinAn amino sugar and a sulfated glycosaminoglycan, both matrix constituents, taken orallyPromising
- Oral hyaluronic acidHyaluronan taken by mouth rather than injected, across thirteen trialsPromising
- Eggshell membrane (NEM)The membrane from inside an eggshell, carrying collagen and glycosaminoglycansPromising
- ZincA cofactor across the matrix enzymes, with a cartilage pathway that runs toward breakdownNot supported