Osteoporosis is a condition in which the bones become brittle and weak, is responsible for about 70% of the hip fractures in Canada, leading to considerable disability. Healthy lifestyle choices begun at an early age combined with proper screening, early detection, and appropriate treatment can offset bone loss and prevent or delay serious complications.

Throughout our lives our bodies go through a process of breaking down old bone material and replacing it with new bone. In our early years, we make more bone than we lose until we reach our lifetime maximum bone mass. For a woman that can happen in her teen years. For men, it’s a little later. At that point, the process reaches a balance and the amount of bone made is about the same as the amount of bone lost. As we age, we begin to lose bone faster than we make it.

One in four Canadian women and one in eight men over the age of 50 will lose so much of their bone mass that their bones will become fragile and break easily. In severe cases, a simple hug can be enough to break a bone. Read the rest of this entry »

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Chitosan: Origins of Chitosan

Chitosan has long been considered as the potent substance that binds fat and stop it from accumulating in our bodies. Chitosan is effectively a fantastic fat inhibitor which work wonders for those in search of a safe way to lose that body fat.

What is chitosan made from? It is taken from chitin, a polysaccharide found in the exoskeletons of crustaceans and cell walls of fungi. It is manufactured by removing the shells from the shellfish like lobster, shrimps and crabs.

The History of Chitosan

The origin of chitosan can be traced back to 1811 when “chitin”, from which it is derived, was first discovered by Braconnot, a then professor of the natural history in France. According to some researches, while Braconnot was conducting research on mushrooms, he isolated what was later to be called chitin.

Twenty years later, there was a man who wrote an article on insects in which he noted that similar substance was present in the structure of insects as well as the structure of plants. He then called this astounding substance as “chitin”.

Basically, the name chitin is derived from Greek, meaning “tunic” or “envelope”. The concept was further known in 1843 when Lassaigne demonstrated the presence of nitrogen in chitin.

Following the discovery of chitin, the name “chitosan” emerged in the scene. It was first discovered by Rouget while experimenting with chitin. Rouget observed that the compound of chitin could be manipulated through chemical and temperature treatments for it to become soluble. Then, it was in 1878 when Ledderhose identified chitin to be made of glucosamine and acetic acid. It was not actually until 1894 that Hoppe-Seyler named the tailored chitin, chitosan.

During the early 20th century, several researches took chitosan as their subject of study. They then involved sources of chitin, including crab shells and fungai. It was the work of Rammelberg in the 1930s that led to the confirmation on the identity of chitosan from these sources. It was also noted that by hydrolyzing chitin in several ways, it was determined by experts that chitin is a polysaccharide of glucosamine.

During the 1950s, the use of x-ray analysis had advanced the study of the incidence of chitin or chitosan in fungai. However, it is only the most advanced technologies that proved the most reliable in accepting the existence of chitin as well as cellulose in the cell walls. The first book on chitosan was published 140 years after the initial observation of Braconnot, and that was in 1951.

During the early 1960s, chitosan was examined for its ability to bind with the red blood cells. That time also, the substance was considered as a hemostatic agent. Then, for the past three decades, chitosan has been used at water purification plants for detoxifying water. It is spread over the surface where it absorbs greases, oils, and other potential toxins.

Nowadays, Chitosan it is known as a dietary supplement that is good for weight loss. In fact, it has been marketed for such purpose for about 20 years in Japan as well as in Europe.

What is Chitosan used for

Chitin has long been viewed as the nature’s second most abundant polymer. This is for the fact that it is found not only in shellfish, but also found in insect shells and fungi cell walls. Chitosan, a refined form of chitin, is prepared by removing the shells from shellfish. The shells are then ground into a pulverous powder, which is deacetylated or stripped of specific chemical groups allowing the compound to actively soak up fats. This aspect of it being able to absorb fat is the main feature which makes it effective in helping weight loss.

There are a number of functions or uses linked to chitosan. Because of these applications, chitosan is now marketed as a dietary supplement and is used to thicken foods, paints and makeup.

Liquid Chitosan

Chitosan is made in two main types, namely the dry and flakey product, and the liquid chitosan.

Although these forms are marketed as dietary aids, it is actually the liquid chitosan which gained a lot of interest from the people. This is mainly because the liquid chitosan is said to eliminate clumping problems or stomach pains as it causes the fat to form into hundreds of tiny calorie-free beads that are far gentler on your digestive tract.

The liquid chitosan is often identified by its appearance, color, protein content, degree of deacetylation, viscosity, insoluble, and other factors. Here is a summary of these factors:

Liquid chitosan is clear and yellow. Its protein content is less than 0.5% and often results to 0.14% if measured by Kjeldal method. Its degree of deacetylation is more than 90% with a result of 95% if measured through colloidal method. If you will prepare liquid chitosan by stirring 30 minutes, you can get a viscosity of about 50cps. Liquid chitosan has less than 0.5% insolubility if 20 grams of liquid chitosan is dissolved in 100 ml of distilled water. Liquid chitosan has a pH level of less than 5.5. Liquid chitosan has no taste and smell.

Liquid chitosan is commonly used as a weight loss supplement these days. Many of those who have used the flakey product have turned to the liquid form noting that liquid chitosan works better in the system than the flakey form.

Based on certain reports, instead of forming large clumps, the liquid chitosan causes the fat to form into hundreds of tiny calorie-free beads that are gentler in your digestive tract. However, it is important to note that in addition to binding fats, it binds the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, making them unavailable to the body. This is the reason that most experts recommend a supplement with high-quality multivitamin.

Chitosan Recomendations

So, although Chitosan is taken as a ‘wonder’ pill of today, it has been around for ages and has been a subject since 1811. I am still not convinced about the abilities of Chitosan but again I say that in the absence of any side effects this is another product that you can try for weight loss, maybe for a couple of months, and then decide how it made you feel and whether you had a good response to it and go from there.

Tags: acetic acid, Braconnot, chemical groups, Dietary Supplement, Europe, flakey product, France, Japan, professor of the natural history, Rouget, x-ray

Glucosamine & Chondroitin Double Strength

I know that many people have back or knee problems and that joint pain is a real big problem in north america today…actually my wife is one of those that suffers from back pain. One of the supplements tha people are using successfully to help alleviate joint pain is Glucosamine with Chondroitin One of the things that you can try is
Glucosamine & Chondroitin Double Strength

Here is more info on the double wammy of these to great supplements:

Glucosamine and chondroitin are building blocks of connective tissue and are key components of the joints.

For detailed discussions of these nutrients, please see the individual articles for glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate.

Glucosamine is a simple molecule that is available as a supplement in several forms: glucosamine sulfate, glucosamine hydrochloride and N-acetyl-glucosamine (NAG). The glucosamine sulfate (GS) form (stabilized with a mineral salt, such as sodium chloride or potassium chloride) is the only form consistently shown in clinical trials to be effective for people with osteoarthritis (OA).

Chondroitin sulfate(CS) is a much larger and more complex molecule than GS. Like glucosamine, it is a major constituent of cartilage and has been the subject of many clinical trials. CS supplementation has proven to be an effective treatment for people with OA.

When to take glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, or both: The popular idea that GS is clinically “preferred” over CS, or that CS is “not necessary,”1 has not been examined (let alone supported) by appropriate comparative research. An analysis of controlled clinical trials evaluated the independent effects of GS and CS in the treatment of OA.2 The authors concluded that the overall efficacy in trials of CS for people with OA exceeded the overall efficacy of GS for people with that condition. However, more than one-third of CS supplements have been reported to contain less than 40% of the amount of CS listed on the label.3 Moreover, no single clinical trial has compared the effects of the two supplements.

Many people with osteoarthritis take combinations of CS and GS or glucosamine HCl. This practice may be based on the suggestion, made in a best-selling book,4 that GS and CS in combination have stronger effects than either supplement alone. Although this idea may sound appealing, and may be harmless, it is based only on anecdotes and hypotheses. The theory that GS and CS work synergistically in the treatment of osteoarthritis remains unproven. To date, no clinical trials have compared glucosamine/chondroitin combinations with either of the supplements taken individually.

One preliminary trial found that the combination of glucosamine HCl (1,600 mg per day), CS (1,200 mg per day), and calcium ascorbate (1,000 mg per day) was effective at reducing joint noise, pain, and swelling in people with osteoarthritis of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ, or jaw joint).5 However, this study was not well controlled and the outcomes measured were highly subjective. Moreover, participants in this study were allowed to use aspirin and ibuprofen, so the exact effects of the nutrient combination cannot be accurately assessed.

Similarly, the combination of glucosamine HCl (1,500 mg per day), CS (1,200 mg per day), and manganese ascorbate (228 mg per day) was evaluated in a double-blind trial and was associated with significant symptom reduction and improvement on x-ray for osteoarthritis of the knee (less so for spine). However, subjects were allowed to use acetaminophen for pain, and comparative effects of a glucosamine HCl/chondroitin sulfate combination and the individual nutrients were not examined.

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Tags: acetaminophen, back pain, osteoarthritis, pain, potassium chloride, sodium chloride, treatment of osteoarthritis, x-ray