A new human clinical trial demonstrates groundbreaking benefits for gut and muscle health.
For most glucosamine ingredient suppliers, it’s enough to prove joint health and mobility benefits. But that’s just the starting point at TSI Group, where experts continuously invest in science, pioneer the discovery of new benefits among time-tested ingredients, and optimize processing. Most recently, in an effort to provide scientific substantiation for additional glucosamine benefits beyond joint health, TSI Group funded a clinical trial on its market-leading glucosamine ingredient, GlucosaGreen®.
This research reveals that GlucosaGreen®, TSI Group’s premium non-shellfish derived, non-allergenic, non-GMO, and clean label glucosamine ingredient, may also benefit gut and muscle health—a first for the market. Let’s break it down.
The question: A previous study suggested that supplementing with glucosamine could increase counts of healthy gut bacteria and may improve gastrointestinal symptoms—but researchers at the time didn’t examine these effects against a placebo, and no study to date has investigated the gut health benefits of glucosamine alone. Researchers wanted to know whether GlucosaGreen® offers gut health benefits. And if so, how?
The study: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover clinical trial was designed to examine GlucosaGreen®’s potential gut health benefits in healthy volunteers.
This type of study is the gold standard in human clinical trials for two reasons:
- It’s double-blind, meaning that participant and researcher bias is eliminated. Neither the participants nor the researchers know at the time of ingestion whether participants are taking placebo or GlucosaGreen®.
- Crossover studies require every participant to take both the placebo and GlucosaGreen® during the course of the study, eliminating the variable of different body chemistries yielding different outcomes.
The method: Volunteers took a daily 3000 mg dose of GlucosaGreen® for three weeks, as well as a placebo for three weeks, with a two-week washout period in between. Throughout the study, they completed questionnaires about their bowel habits and gastro-symptoms, and also provided stool samples so researchers could analyze the microbiota present at baseline and at the completion of each supplement period.
The findings: Supplementing with GlucosaGreen® not only yielded better gut bacteria profiles compared to placebo, but it also significantly reduced stomach bloating and symptoms of constipation. Researchers suspect that these benefits might be related to GlucosaGreen®’s ability to modify the intestinal environment, and which microorganisms thrive there. Notably, counts of some bacteria like Pseudomonadaceae, Peptococcaceae, and Bacillaceae were much lower during supplementation.
Researchers also found something a bit surprising, with impacts for muscle health—and staying active across a lifetime.
While participants were taking GlucosaGreen®, researchers noted a reduction in stool counts of glutamate and other amino acids like leucine, isoleucine, and valine. This suggests that GlucosaGreen® may have increased the body’s absorption of those nutrients. This is important for those seeking to maintain an active lifestyle, since amino acids are critical for muscle development and strength, responsible for increasing muscle growth and decreasing soreness and fatigue.
Going forward, this opens the door for researchers to examine how the ingredient might help protect against age-related muscle loss or other instances where muscle tissue can be compromised.
The bottom line: This is great news for brands and consumers alike, in that GlucosaGreen® is a more well-rounded anti-aging ingredient than previously thought: not only does it support joint health and comfort, but it also boasts benefits for a healthy gut and active muscles.
In short, GlucosaGreen® offers a tremendous growth opportunity for brands operating in the joint health category—no other glucosamine ingredient on the market today offers science-backed muscle and gut health benefits in addition to time-tested joint benefits, backed by TSI Group’s commitment to supply chain transparency, quality, and sustainability.
Source: Moon JM et al. “Impact of Glucosamine Supplementation on Gut Health.” Nutrients. 2021;13(7).
