Cetyl myristoleate (CMO) is the common name for cis-9-cetyl myristoleate. (a relative of the Omega-9 fatty acid found in olive oil.) It is a completely natural medium chain fatty acid found in certain animals, including cows, whales, beavers, and mice -- but not in people. CMO was discovered in 1972 by Harry W. Diehl, Ph.D., a researcher at the National Institutes of Health. At the time, Dr. Diehl was responsible for testing anti-inflammatory drugs on lab animals. In order for him to test the drugs, he first had to artificially induce arthritis in the animals by injecting a heat-killed bacterium called Freund's adjuvant health supplement. Dr. Diehl discovered that Swiss albino mice did not get arthritis after injection of Freund's adjuvant health supplement. Eventually, he was able to determine that cetyl myristoleate was the factor present naturally in mice that was responsible for this protection. When CMO was injected into various strains of rats, it offered the same protection against arthritis. There have been three notable studies on humans.
The first double blind study was conducted in 1997 under the auspices of the Joint European Hospital Studies Program. Of the 106 people who received cetyl myristoleate, 63% showed improvement VS just 15% for the 226 people in the placebo group.
In 2001, a study of 1814 arthritis patients found that over 87% of the subjects in the study had greater than 50% recovery and over 65% of those showed from 75% - 100% recovery following a sixteen day regimen. All types of arthritis were positively affected by CMO. Only those subjects with liver damage or digestive problems or those taking immune suppressing medications were not helped.
In 2002, a double blind study of 64 people with chronic knee pain, published in the Journal or Rheumatology, concluded that CMO provided a significant functional improvement in range of motion VS placebo. In fact, the study concluded that CMO "may be an alternative to the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of osteoarthritis."
The CMO is sourced from bovine tallow.
Several years ago, researchers from the University Hospital in Liege, Belgium reported in the August 2003 issue of The Journal of Rheumatology that an extract made from the oils found tightly bound to avocado and soybean fibers could significantly boost production of aggrecan, thereby helping slow down and even repair some of the damage caused by osteoarthritis -- in as little as nine days.
It should be noted that although eating avocado and soybean oil separately does indeed enhance aggrecan production (somewhat); it is only this special ASU extract (made up of one-third avocado and two-thirds soybean unsaponifiables) that restores aggrecan synthesis blocked by the inflammation-causing compound interleukin-1-beta. In addition, ASUs also reduced levels of several other inflammatory factors such as MMP-3 production. In other words, ASU health supplement is not the same as avocado and soy oil. It is specially extracted from the fiber of avocados and soy. The problem is that before extraction, the ASUs are so tightly bound to the fiber, that they are mostly unusable by the human body.
Aggrecan plays a crucial role in the functioning of articular cartilage (the cartilage found in joints), primarily working to maintain high levels of hydration in the cartilage – thereby keeping the cartilage healthy and functional.
Note: all ASU comes in a 30% concentration by weight. 50% of the blend is soy protein isolate -- which may present a problem for those allergic to soy protein. However, that works out to only 165 mg of soy protein in an average daily dose of Triple Jointed™.
Ginger has a long history of use in herbal medicine.
Boswellia serrata, the Indian version of frankincense, has been a staple of Ayurvedic medicine from time immemorial for its ability to manage inflammatory disorders. Positive effects of boswellia in some chronic inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, bronchial asthma, osteoarthritis, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease have been reported.1 Until recently, research on boswellia has focused almost exclusive on the boswellic acids, particularly AKBA (acetyl-11-keto-beta-boswellic acid) as the most active component in boswellia, and supplements such as 5-LOXIN® have looked to maximize that component. However, more current research has indicated that some of the water soluble polysaccharides in boswellia are also essential components in that they initiate and support the anti-inflammatory activity, whereas the lipid-soluble boswellic acids help to provide a sustained action. In fact, a particular boswellin polysaccharide extract known as Polysal has demonstrated a dose dependent anti-inflammatory potential, similar to the boswellic acids.
For the following reasons, Boswellin® PS now stands out as the boswellin ingredient of choice.
1 Ammon HP. "Modulation of the immune system by boswellia serrata extracts and boswellic acids." Phytomedicine. 2010 Sep;17(11):862-7. Epub 2010 Aug 8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20696559
UC-II is extracted from chicken sternum cartilage using a patented, low-temperature process that ensures the undenatured biological activity of the type II collagen even when exposed to digestive juices for 90 minutes or more. Undenatured collagen administered orally works with the immune system to promote healthy joints by a process called oral tolerization. This process helps the body differentiate between foreign invaders, such as bacteria, and elements that are good for the body, such as nutrients and cartilage. In the case of UC-II, small amounts (typically around 10 milligrams) taken orally have been shown to correct a faulty immune response specifically targeted at the type II collagen present in bone joint cartilage – in effect, modulating the body's immune response so it works correctly once again.
Most type II chicken collagen sold in dietary supplements is denatured, or hydrolyzed, which is another way of saying that the chemicals and high-heat used to process and refine it have changed its molecular configuration. This does not make it useless. Hydrolyzed type II chicken collagen still has great value as a source of some of the components of aggrecan including type II collagen itself, hyaluronic acid, chondroitin and glucosamine. However, one significant thing does change in the process of denaturing; when denatured, type II chicken collagen loses its immunomodulating ability. Type II collagen must be in its native (undenatured) form, such as UC-II to be effective in this capacity.
Ionic minerals are added to many formulas to increase the bio-electric activity level of the ingredients in the formula and sustain their activity for a significantly longer period of time.
Ionic merely means that the minerals are broken down to their absolutely smallest form.