Glucosamine

sulfate 2KCl · hydrochloride

An amino sugar taken for joints for thirty years. The joint evidence is a mess of industry-positive and public-negative trials; meanwhile a huge cohort keeps finding users die less often — an association nobody has tested in a trial.

last reviewed 2026-08-30

by draft — unverified

GRADE

CLAIM

SPECIES

EFFECT

STUDIES

knee osteoarthritis pain — grade C, small effect (human-rct)

Clegg et al. (GAIT) (2006)

species humandesign RCT, double-blind, 5-armn 1583duration 24 weeksdose 1500 mg HCl/day ± chondroitinfunding publicregistry NCT00032890outcome WOMAC pain response

The big public trial: no significant benefit over placebo overall. A moderate-to-severe-pain subgroup responded — hypothesis, not proof.

Towheed et al. (Cochrane) (2005)

species humandesign Cochrane review of 25 RCTsn 4963duration mixeddose mostly 1500 mg sulfate/dayfunding publicoutcome pain and function scores

Benefits concentrate in trials of one manufacturer's sulfate preparation; independent trials trend null. The funding column on this claim is the story.

lower all-cause mortality (association) — grade B, small effect (observational)

Li et al. (UK Biobank) (2020)

species humandesign prospective cohortn 495077duration 8.9 years mediandose habitual use (self-report)funding publicoutcome all-cause and cause-specific mortality

~15% lower all-cause mortality in users, surviving adjustment. Consistent with other cohorts and a plausible anti-inflammatory mechanism — but observational: healthy-user bias can't be excluded and no RCT exists.

Grade timeline

No grade movement since first review.

Dosing & safety

TYPICAL SUPPLEMENT DOSE1500 mg/day

DOSES USED IN STUDIES1500 mg/day in nearly all trials

UPPER LIMITnone established

SAFETY NOTE Made from shellfish; caution with shellfish allergy. May affect glucose tolerance at the margins and interacts with warfarin.

COST SNAPSHOT

No product records for this compound yet.

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