Mini Mikkipedia - Joint Health

Contact Mikki:
https://mikkiwilliden.com/
https://www.facebook.com/mikkiwillidennutrition
https://www.instagram.com/mikkiwilliden/
https://linktr.ee/mikkiwilliden

Save 20% on all Nuzest Products WORLDWIDE with the code MIKKI at www.nuzest.co.nz, www.nuzest.com.au or www.nuzest.com
Curranz supplement: MIKKI saves you 25% at www.curranz.co.nz or www.curranz.co.uk off your first order

Creators & Guests

Host

Mikki Williden

What is Mikkipedia?

Mikkipedia is an exploration in all things health, well being, fitness, food and nutrition. I sit down with scientists, doctors, professors, practitioners and people who have a wealth of experience and have a conversation that takes a deep dive into their area of expertise. I love translating science into a language that people understand, so while some of the conversations will be pretty in-depth, you will come away with some practical tips that can be instigated into your everyday life. I hope you enjoy the show!

Transcribed using AI transcription; errors may occur. Contact Mikki for clarification.

00:04
Hey everyone, it's Mikki here. You're listening to Mini Mikkipedia on a Monday. And today I wanna chat about joint pain and potential supplemental support to help alleviate some of the discomfort that people experience with joint pain. And this is on the back of an email I got last week. Just someone said, Miki, what supplements should I take if I've got joint pain? And I thought, well, I could just have an email exchange with.

00:32
the person and let them know all the details. I could tell them to pick a consultation or I could do a podcast on it and have a look at what the evidence might suggest has the most benefits for people looking to alleviate joint pain. And when I went to PubMed, which is where I go to get most of my information, the predominant condition that came up for joint pain was of course osteoarthritis. And

01:00
This is where a lot of the studies lie. So osteoarthritis, it's a common degenerative joint disease that primarily affects the elderly, apparently, although I know many people around my age that have osteoarthritis or the beginning of osteoarthritis. And things which increase your risk of osteoarthritis, and I just thought I'd go over some of these, risk significantly increases after the age of 50.

01:29
Women are more likely to develop OA, particularly after menopause. Individuals with a family history of OA are at higher risk due to genetic predisposition. Injuries from sports, accidents, or repetitive use can damage cartilage and lead to osteoarthritis, such as knee injuries from playing soccer or broken hip from a fall.

01:54
Carrying excess body weight does increase the load on those weight-bearing joints like the knees and hips which can accelerate cartilage breakdown. Jobs that involve repetitive movements or heavy lifting can contribute to joint wear and tear. Makes sense really, doesn't it? A sedentary lifestyle can weaken muscles that support joints, increasing the risk of osteoarthritis. And you do hear that engaging in high-impact sports can increase the risk, but I do believe

02:23
I'm thinking about running here. I do believe that that is somewhat controversial, so I'm not sure about that. And of course, there are other medical conditions which increase your risk of OA, such as metabolic disorders, diabetes, and hemochromatosis. So hemochromatosis is iron overload in the body, so your body cannot dump iron or get rid of iron, and that can affect

02:50
Also other inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, which can increase the risk of developing secondary OA. And of course, diet and nutrition. So if you have a diet that lacks an essential micronutrients, including vitamin D and vitamin E and calcium, these can contribute to joint issues. And smoking can affect cartilage health and increase the risk of OA.

03:16
So there are many, a multitude of factors if you like, which impact on specifically osteoarthritis, which is where a lot of the information lies in terms of what may impact joint health and what positively or negatively influences it. I would say though that it's not out of the realms of possibility if you like, that some of the supplements that are studied in the context of osteoarthritis for joint health will also be

03:45
potentially beneficial for any type of joint health which might not actually be osteoarthritis or OA. Because of course, joints are joints and things which increase inflammation or decrease inflammation will have a significant impact on joint function and mobility, synovial fluid, and things like that. So I feel quite comfortable talking about joint health and osteoarthritis in the same light and at the end of the day, you've got nothing to lose from trying these things.

04:14
to see whether or not they make a difference to you. And as with anything, there may be literature on the topic. There may be some preclinical trials, so animal trials. There may be human clinical trials as well. The only way you're going to know whether or not it makes a difference is if you try it. And give it a good try as well, like at least 12 weeks to see whether things make a difference to you. And then you can make your own mind up.

04:42
I think I say that because with any trials that are conducted on any type of supplement, generally speaking, the way that those results are analyzed is by taking an average or a mean result from the population that is being studied. So it'll take all those individual responses to a supplement and they'll add them up and they will determine what the average response was. But we are not averages, we are individuals. So

05:10
There'll be people in the trial that really benefited from a particular supplement potentially and other people who showed no response at all. And no response in a study doesn't mean that that particular supplement is useless. It just means that potentially at the dose or at the frequency or for the duration of time that the study was conducted, that person didn't respond essentially. Whereas if you changed the dose, if you changed the duration or you altered the frequency,

05:40
that might actually have a different outcome. So you always wanna be that in mind when you're thinking about supplements. And of course, it would be remiss of me to say that a supplement is just that, it is a supplement to otherwise healthy behaviors, which help promote good joint health. And so really briefly, there are definitely things which impact on, or from a diet perspective, which impact on inflammation in the joints. So,

06:09
ensuring that you have a diet that contains anti-inflammatory foods such as fatty fish, rich in omega-3 fats, such as salmon, mackerel, and sardines. Nuts and seeds are good sources of omega-6 fats, and omega-6 fats do play a healthy role in heart health and reducing inflammation when they're in balance with omega-3. Essentially, these

06:36
become out of balance when we have a lot of processed food in the diet, of which a large part of the fat that's used in processed food or a high proportion of the fat comes from Omega 6. So your best bet is to minimize processed food in your diet and focus on getting good sources of the Omega 3 fatty acids, but you don't need to shy away from foods that are naturally occurring in Omega 6, like for example nuts and seeds.

07:05
Although you do hear that chia seeds and flax seeds, for example, are good sources of plant-based omega-3 fatty acids, we have a low conversion rate in our body to convert those omega-3s into the types of omega-3s which are much more potent for anti-inflammatory purposes, such as EPA, icosapentaenoic acid, and DHA, docohexaenoic acid. And hey, look, I'm as surprised as you are that I actually got that out in one hit.

07:35
I think it's because I've been saying these words for close to 25 years now. I would never suggest that someone gets a hemp seed, for example, for omega-3s because your conversion rate of that omega-3 is going to be super low, albeit they have other health properties and absolutely are fine to include in an anti-inflammatory approach. Obviously, antioxidant-rich foods are also really important to help reduce and take up those reactive oxidative species.

08:04
that are just present in our bloodstream and our body, which promote inflammation. So things like berries and leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables are high in antioxidants and that will reduce oxidative stress that impacts negatively on joint health. Citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons and grapefruits are rich in vitamin C in addition to those vegetables which I just mentioned, particularly the cruciferous vegetables.

08:32
That's important for collagen synthesis and joint health as well. You've got olive oil, which contains oleocenthyl, which has anti-inflammatory properties similar to NSAIDs or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Of course, you need your really good protein to help support musculoskeletal health and tendon and ligaments. Spices and herbs like turmeric and ginger, both are known for their anti-inflammatory properties.

09:01
So just being mindful of lifestyle and diet is also really important when it comes to overall joint health. But of course, there are supplements that have been studied which may well help with reducing joint pain further. And the first one is New Zealand Green Lipt Muscle or GLM. It's scientifically known as pernacannelculous. It's been studied for its anti-inflammatory properties which are primarily attributed to its unique composition.

09:30
of particular bioactive compounds. So first of all, it does have the icosapentaenoic and docohexaenoic acids, EPA and DHA, which are long-chained omega-3 fats, which are known to have strong anti-inflammatory properties. And those omega-3 fats are precursors to icosanoids, which include prostaglandins and leukotrenes that regulate inflammation. These EPA and DHA

10:00
produce less of the inflammatory icosinoids compared to those derived from omega-6 fatty acids. So that's a good thing. And they help reduce that production, thereby it helps decrease inflammation and pain. Green-lipped muscle also has chondroitin sulfate. These are glucosaminoglycans, which are important for maintaining joint cartilage and reducing inflammation. So they inhibit the activity of enzymes that degrade cartilage, and they reduce that production of inflammatory mediators in the joints.

10:30
So it can help protect and repair cartilage, reducing joint pain and stiffness. There's also something called a furin fatty acid, which has potent anti-inflammatory properties and it's unique to the green lip muscle, which is why they've received, I think, quite a lot of attention. So these fatty acids can inhibit the cyclooxygenase Cox pathway, which is involved in the production of pro-inflammatory prostaglandins. And so...

10:57
By inhibiting that pathway, these furin fatty acids can reduce inflammation and pain. They also contain vitamin E and selenium, which are antioxidants which help neutralize those free radicals. There are certain peptides that GLMs also contain which can help modulate immune responses and inhibit the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. And there is research that has shown that supplementing with green lip muscle can lead to significant reductions in joint pain.

11:26
stiffness, and also reduce the need for pain medication in individuals with osteoarthritis. A particular study showed that patients with moderate to severe hip osteoarthritis, who took green lip muscle at 600 milligrams a day, experienced reductions in joint stiffness and pain medication use after 12 weeks, which is super interesting. So green lip muscle is certainly one thing to consider.

11:53
Of course, throughout that, when I was talking about the GLMs, I did mention Omega-3 polyunsaturated fats, PUFAs. You guys are well familiar with these. They do have those potent anti-inflammatory effects. There are studies that have shown that participants with osteoarthritis who actually also had coronary artery disease, they supplemented with 465 milligrams of EPA.

12:21
and 375 mg of DHA four times a day. So that was a total of 3.36 grams of omega-3s per day. That's quite a high dose. They did this for a year. And what they found is significant reductions in triglyceride levels and high sensitive CRP. And CRP is C-reactive protein. It's an inflammatory marker in the body. And they also found reductions in white blood cell count and neutrophil count.

12:51
who were not taking this supplement experienced an increase in pain and stiffness while the treatment group maintained physical function and improved physical activity levels. So the conclusion of the study was that there was a long-term benefit to taking that quite high dose of omega-3s, and it did in fact reduce the need for surgery in the treatment group. So I think that's a really positive finding. For what it's worth, Nordic Naturals,

13:21
These are three brands which are readily accessible that all have, that I know a lot of people that take those brands of fish oil. So I definitely would hook into one of those. Now I mentioned turmeric in the diet information and turmeric contains something called curcumin and that's the potent sort of bioactive component. And there has been numerous studies actually looking at the potential of curcumin.

13:48
in helping with reducing pain in osteoarthritis. And I often get asked about whether curcumin should actually be taken. And interestingly, it has been studied either in combination with fish oil or alone as to which one is going to be a superior treatment for osteoarthritis. And in fact, when they looked at both fish oil made up of 2.4 grams of DHA, 400 of EPA, and

14:17
160 mg of curcumin for 16 weeks. They found that the fish oil supplement significantly reduced the OA specific pain and burden, which was related to changes in their microvascular elasticity, so the bendiness of their capillaries, their CRP was reduced, and also well-being improved as well.

14:44
there was no change actually in the curcumin alone group. So it's thought that curcumin may work if it's administered alongside fish oil, but really at that level of fish oil it's probably quite likely that fish oil was the thing that was doing a lot of the work there. I also mentioned that the green lip muscle has something called glucosamine sulfate in it. It does help in the synthesis of cartilage in the joints.

15:13
Glucosamine has been found to be helpful in addition to fish oil supplementation in improving morning stiffness of hips and knees. I have to say that the area around glucosamine and chondroitin is quite mixed actually. The glucosamine chondroitin supplement was very well revered maybe 10 or 15 years ago. It was a very popular supplement to take for people with knee pain and joint pain.

15:41
There was one particular study that really informed our understanding at that time as the impact of glucosamine chondroitin. Interestingly, that study was largely critiqued, however, because the funders of the study were those that were providing the supplements, which you are going to get in nutrition science, and I'm not going to suggest that we should throw all of those results out because that would be ridiculous. We need money to come from somewhere.

16:10
they did the statistical analysis in the study. And I don't think that's necessarily going to garner a lot of faith in what they found, particularly because other studies that were done found no particular benefit. And so I do think that we have to be mindful of that. So whilst bicosamine chondroitin used to be all the rage, there's not a ton of research to back that up, albeit.

16:34
As I said at the start of the segment, if you are taking glucose and gondroitin and notice a benefit for you, then don't stop taking it. The reason these things are studied is because there is that mechanistic basis for it. So there is a potential that could be helpful. And then just at this time, I would say there's probably no meaningful information to make me feel super assured that you should take it. Not in the same way that I feel about, say, green lip muscle.

17:03
or fish oils themselves. Now I have actually of late been taking a pendulum health supplement, a probiotic called Clostridium Butyricum GKB7 either live or dead. In fact, I think I'm taking the live. I think. I'm not sure. I'd have to check my supplement bottle. The reason I'm mentioning that is because in the literature looking at joint health, that probiotic, the Clostridium Butyricum,

17:32
Butyric acid is something that is produced by our gut microbiome, which is a short chain fatty acid, which helps support our gut and microbiome health. It's what our gut feeds on. And so taking the probiotic just helps assist in that sort of gut microbiome process. And there are studies actually to show that taking either the live or dead probiotics

18:02
breakdown in clinical trials, which I found super interesting. In case you're unfamiliar with how probiotics work, they help by modulating the immune system and there have been several studies now to show that whilst we hear about live probiotics, musket in the fridge, etc. there is quite a big evidence base now to show that probiotics that are not live, i.e. they're dead, still help with that immune regulation actually.

18:31
And this study, which in fact was a preclinical trial, showed that the anterior cruciate ligament transection, the ACLT, pain was diminished after taking oral supplementations of the clostridium butyricum. So the major result of this study showed that there was reduced production of pro-inflammatory cytokines as well as an inhibition

18:58
of the collagen type two degradation that therefore reduces the amount of cartilage that is broken down. So the authors suggest or the scientists suggest that oral supplementation of the probiotic may potentially be beneficial in prevention and treatment of osteoarthritis. As I said, this is a mechanistic trial. It's preclinical. I misspoke earlier when I said it was a human trial, but it is definitely worth investigating.

19:25
Second to last supplement I would suggest looking at is collagen. I talked to Dr. Mike Ormsby about this in a few weeks' time, actually. Collagen has been studied as a supplement for osteoarthritis. It has been found that over the course of three, six, and nine months, they did this on middle-aged active adults, so a bit like you and I, who took collagen peptides daily,

19:54
activities of daily living and an improvement in pain with 10 grams of collagen peptides a day for six months, specifically for people who exercised daily actually, or a high frequency, so over five times a week, which may be a lot of the people listening to this podcast. They also found that psychological or mental health was improved with 10 grams of collagen peptides over three to nine months. This is long-term collagen peptide use.

20:22
They found that in females, physical components scores improved with 20 grams of collagen peptides over three to nine months. So that is in females. So you may hear from some of the protein researchers out there that collagen does not have any benefits. And as Mike and I discuss, that is because they are referring to it in a muscle protein synthesis space, whereas collagen is not known for muscle protein synthesis. It's known for skin health.

20:51
care health and as this study supports, potentially improvement in joint pain as well. The reason Mike did the study in fact was because he'd heard a lot anecdotally about the improvements that people experience. So absolutely collagen for the win at a minimum of 10 grams. And then finally, there is a supplement called hyaluronic acid or HA. Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring...

21:16
Glycosaminoglycan, which is a type of molecule composed of sugars that's found throughout the body's connective tissue. It's known for its ability to retain water, contributing to its role in maintaining tissue hydration and elasticity. So it's found in connective tissue, including the skin, eyes, and synovial fluid of the joints, which is why it's important, potentially for joint health. Because it's a major component of synovial fluid, it helps reduce friction and allows for smooth, pain-free, and

21:45
movement. It also acts as a shock absorber in the joint, so distributing loads and protecting joint tissues. It may help reduce inflammation by limiting the movement of inflammatory cells within the joint that can then alleviate pain and swelling. It may protect the cartilage because it supports the structure and function of that cartilage and it provides necessary hydration and nutrients. It's a super interesting supplement and it's used in a number of areas.

22:15
injections into the joints are used to provide lubrication, reduce pain, and improve mobility in people with osteoarthritis. And taking it orally may also help alleviate joint pain and improve function, particularly in individuals with mild to moderate osteoarthritis. So this is another supplement which may well be useful. And there have been clinical trials using HA, looking

22:44
hip, shoulder, and ankle joints to see whether or not using an injection is feasible from a medical perspective. The review that I'm looking at here showed that whilst there were post-treatment outcome improvements, the studies that reported these results in adults 55 years or under were deemed to be low-quality evidence. There were small sample sizes and potential methodological problems.

23:14
So what I would say to that is again, not necessarily an injection, unless of course you're working with like a medical practitioner, but certainly looking at oral supplementation of higher lyronic acid could well be worthwhile as well. You can see then in summary, we've got very good evidence for green lip muscle and for omega-3 fatty acids. We've got some good evidence for things like glucosamine, potentially, chondroitin,

23:41
as well as a joint supplement. Curcumin itself may not be so beneficial, but potentially we're just lacking some information there. There is also the Clostridium butyricum probiotic that could potentially be helpful. There's some emerging research there. Collagen, I think, is absolutely a no-brainer, to be honest, even though there are only a couple of studies, there's plenty of anecdotal evidence that it will help support joint health. And then you've got your higher lyronic acid.

24:09
as an oral supplement that you could also use. Or be it, of course, I will go back to what I said earlier is that all of these should be a supplement to your awesome anti-inflammatory diet where you are also managing stress, you are doing good mobility exercise, you are exercising, and you're eating well too. So these are all things to consider which could potentially help your joint pain. Hopefully that was helpful for you. Let me know.

24:36
hit me up on Instagram, threads and Twitter @mikkiwilliden. Head on over to Facebook @mikkiwillidenNutrition or jump on over to my website, mikkiwilliden.com to book a call one on one with me. All right team, have a great week.