You know how ineffective arthritis medications are. None has ever been proven to cure, stop progression of, or even work in the long haul for arthritis. But the side effects range from destroying your stomach lining, liver, and kidneys to actually causing death.

However, this is not the case with one cheap supplement found in most health food stores.

In three review studies, this natural ingredient has proven to reduce the risk of arthritis progression by 54%, significantly reduce your pain, and drastically improve mobility.

That’s without any side effects or risks.

The defining feature of osteoarthritis and any degenerative joint disease is the gradual loss of articular cartilage because of age or overuse. This cartilage is the soft, spongy cushion that separates your bones from each other inside your joints.

Synthetic medication to manage it ranges from physically addictive analgesics against pain, to stomach ulcer-causing nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories against inflammation and pain, to organ-destroying corticosteroids against inflammation and pain. You are basically choosing between bad, really bad, or worse.

Glucosamine is one of the natural health community’s answers. It is a crystalline amino sugar that is a major building block of glycosaminoglycans. Glycosaminoglycans occur in abundance in cartilage.

The thinking is, therefore, that a glucosamine supplement can stimulate your body to produce more glycosaminoglycans that can, in turn, build up your failing cartilage.

Before summarizing the research, it is important to mention that there are at least three types of glucosamine; namely, glucosamine sulfate, glucosamine hydrochloride, and N-acetylglucosamine. When you evaluate a study or consider buying a supplement, note that only glucosamine sulfate has positive research behind it. Studies that test them all together are not credible, and supplements that contain the other types will probably be ineffective.

At least three highly reliable review studies that show significant benefits of glucosamine sulfate:

Study 1: The first of these appeared in JAMA on the 15th of March, 2000. It included only double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials of four or more weeks’ duration on the effects of glucosamine on knee or hip osteoarthritis. While they admitted that manufacturer-conducted studies probably skewed the conclusion slightly in favor of the supplement, they still concluded that, on average, glucosamine probably had large positive effects on pain and limb function.

Study 2: Another review published in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy in 2005 also included only double-blind, randomized, controlled trials on the effects of oral glucosamine on knee osteoarthritis, but only those that applied the treatment for at least one year. It concluded that glucosamine reduced the risk of disease progression by 54%, and that it also significantly reduced pain and improved knee function.

Study 3: A review of only crystalline glucosamine sulfate, published in the journal Therapeutic Advances in Musculoskeletal Disease in 2012, established that most long-term trials showed 1,500 mg of it per day to be an effective treatment for pain and knee function limitation. In addition, based on studies that examined treated joints over three years or more, the authors concluded that it could actually reduce the progression of joint structure changes that arthritis normally causes.

Note, if you are vegan or allergic to shellfish, try to obtain a supplement made from fungi instead of from shellfish or animal bones.

To completely heal arthritis naturally, though, you need to follow a solid, step-by-step strategy. Here is the 3-step strategy thousands of readers – and I, myself – used to completely cure our arthritis…