Connective tissue matrix
The oral Bioavailability Question is the Whole Argument here. These are very large polymers; ingested chondroitin and hyaluronan are largely depolymerised before absorption, so any benefit is unlikely to be simple replacement of what was swallowed. Claims should rest on what was measured in people, not on the intuition that eating cartilage builds cartilage.
In depth
Hyaluronan, chondroitin and the sulfated glycosaminoglycans of cartilage and dermis.
What drives it
Tissue remodeling increases it.
Glycosaminoglycans and collagen form the extracellular matrix together. Carried by the intermediary-metabolism, micronutrient and clinical reviews. doi 10.3390/nu18132141 · PMC9967593
Cellular aging reduces it.
Dermal and cartilage GAG content falls with age. Carried by the intermediary-metabolism, micronutrient and clinical reviews. doi 10.3390/nu18132141 · PMC9967593
What it drives
It increases Joint comfort.
The oral bioavailability question is the whole argument - these are very large polymers, largely depolymerised before absorption, so benefit is unlikely to be simple replacement of what was swallowed. Carried by the intermediary-metabolism, micronutrient and clinical reviews. doi 10.3390/nu18132141 · PMC9967593
It increases Skin.
Dermal hyaluronan holds water and determines turgor. Carried by the intermediary-metabolism, micronutrient and clinical reviews. doi 10.3390/nu18132141 · PMC9967593
It reduces Joint wear.
The cartilage matrix component lost in the disease. Carried by the intermediary-metabolism, micronutrient and clinical reviews. doi 10.3390/nu18132141 · PMC9967593
Blends that modulate it
Each blend page names this pathway and carries the study behind its claim.
See it on the map
Open the causal map to follow this pathway upstream and downstream, arrow by arrow, each with its study.