eli5: Do supplements really help the advertised body part. i.e. do minerals… in a supplement advertised helping knee and joint pain really go to the joints or are they just digested and expelled? Seems to me they’re just eliminated and don’t go to the joints.
In: 4
Most people don’t need supplements, however for the few that do need them they do help the required parts of the body.
If you have knee and joint pain because you are lacking a certain mineral, supplements can help. However if you already have a normal amount of that mineral, the extra you take will indeed be expelled (in the best case).
Basicly only take supplements if a doctor checked your blood and said you need to take them
There’s some evidence that curcumin, avocado-soya bean unsaponifiables, and Boswellia help alleviate pain for the short term. As to whether they have long-term effects, such as actually helping repair joint tissue, there is no evidence of that. There is evidence that Collagen supplements do improve joint function, but not a great deal of evidence, and there’s little understanding of how they work as ingested collagen is broken down into various proteins during digestion. One inexpensive form of collagen is plain old Jello.
Hard data on supplements is difficult to find and decipher; adding NIH at the end of a google search will garner results from the National Institutes of Health at the top of the results page. Not all the data you will find that way is 100% legit; supplement manufacturers can also do medical studies that get included there. But usually at the end of those, there will be some kind of notice of who sponsored/paid for the studies. With just general google searches for supplements, you will get a great deal of “articles” which are actually just paid advertisements, but you’ll have no way of knowing that.
Of course, google has arranged it so that these days, almost all the top results of any search are, more or less, paid advertisements. But the supplements industry is huge; estimates range between $35.6 billion and $151.9 billion per year currently. And supplement search results seem to be particularly heavy in sketchy data. Caveat emptor.
For specific diseases or people with genetic deficiencies they are needed but for most people, most suplements are just a way to burn money and make your poop expensive.
Medicines have very strict restrictions on how they are made and what they can be sold for. In the US/UK the supplement industry is notoriously unregulated and is akin to a disclaimer that says “for entertainment purposes only.”
Studies have shown that supplements often dont match their labels (they say they have 10,000mg of Vitamin C but on average the pills only have 2,000mg), the human body cant even process that much at one time so 90% goes to waste, and in some cases can actually trigger medical complications due to vitamin/mineral overdose or poor quality controls leading to toxic materials like lead being found in the pills.
Unless prescribed by a doctor for a specific reason, its best to just avoid supplements.
It really depends if you have a dietary or other deficiency. Since menopause, I’ve found that dietary supplements are useful because my body either isn’t making stuff now, or my lifestyle (coffee and alcohol) really strips these away – the process accelerates with menopause it seems.
So, while I don’t take mineral supplements, because I’ve found they don’t help, I am taking other things that really make a difference (arthritis began when menopause did – fun!).
Recently, and with a bit of research reminder, I started taking collagen (for connective tissue repair – ligaments and tendons) and it’s made an immediate improvement – no pain, reduced swelling, better grip strength, no pain in my feet.
I also take fish oil, mega B vitamin, and glucosamine. Glucosamine and fish oil weren’t helping with arthritis but now with collagen, it’s brilliant.
My eyesight (reading glasses) is better, thinking is quicker, memory and reflexes are better. Ageing is less painful.
But you’ll notice – no mineral supplements.
Latest Answers