There are many glucosamine and chondroitin supplements available, and commercials are often aired to get old people with knee pain and back pain to buy them.
I, like many others, have been taking them every day as if it were my duty.
But do glucosamine and chondroitin really work?
The biggest reason that they do not work is that they are only broken down into glucose and amino acids in the body when taken orally.
It is true that even if you eat cartilage components, it is hard to believe that they will be absorbed in your painful knees and hips.
Injecting hyaluronic acid directly into the affected area at a doctor's office may help a little, but....
On the other hand, I have not heard any solid evidence or proof that these things work.
Still, many manufacturers are selling these products through commercials and mail-order sales, and almost no one is objecting, perhaps because they are afraid that it might be considered a form of obstruction of their business.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW) and other government agencies will not even look on the sidelines unless something like Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's rice malt causes actual damage.
Unless there are many deaths and the media makes a fuss, the authorities will not act.
Many Japanese people nowadays take a lot of supplements every day, which may or may not really work.
Too many...creates a new problem.
I take about 10 different kinds of supplements every day, but as is often said, the first thing to consider is compatibility with the medicine prescribed by the doctor.
If they are not incompatible, it is fine, but if they are occasionally incompatible, it can cause a new disease.
And this is a difficult one, but aside from the overdose of apps, it is the compatibility/compatibility issue between multiple supplements.
Perhaps, some combinations can cause serious illnesses.
If you go to a pharmacy and ask a pharmacist, he or she may be able to give you some advice.
But no one knows what scientific and physiological effects they will have on the body if you take, say, ten different supplements at once.
You may already have a surprise in your stomach, and your body may already be in a lot of trouble.
Instead of improving your health, your body may be being devoured by the supplements.
Experts still don't know what to do with red yeast rice, even if they are all on the same page!
But maybe someday there will be a useful app that will allow an AI to determine in an instant whether the supplements we take every day are compatible or not, and show us.
Until such an app is available, we will continue to take supplements somewhat in the hope that they will be somewhat effective.
By the time we figure it out, it will be too late and we may be dead.