Freedom from Injury

We are designed to heal, if we give the body what it needs.

Specifically, our bodies use sulphur to create strong and elastic connective tissue.

This sulphur is supposed to be present in large amounts in foods that we consider part of a healthy diet. However, changes in farming practices, soil quality, and the types of crops grown means that, in the sense of delivering sulphur, healthy foods do not provide what is needed for joint recovery.

The Basics of Joint Recovery

The connective tissues in joints are ligaments (tissue connecting bone to bone), tendons (tissue connecting muscle to bone) and cartilage (tissue that acts as shock absorbers and prevents bones from rubbing together).

These tissues are largely made from collagen, elastin and keratin.

Joint health appears to come down to two things. First, we need our body to make high-quality collagen, elastin and keratin that will not tear or fall apart. Second, we need to address any long-term inflammation in the joint.

Why Use Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM)?

Taking MSM, as a source of sulphur, works in two ways.

MSM provides sulphur as a component of structural tissue. The sulphur is needed to make tightly intertwining collagen strands and to cross-link fibres of collagen and elastin. We all make collagen and elastin, but the quality of the collagen and elastin varies among people. In addition, keratin is largely made up of sulphur, which provides keratin its strength. (Read our page on Beauty to learn more about making better collagen, elastin and keratin.)
MSM reduces inflammation. Mainstream thought is that there is short-term inflammation, which is important to recovery, and long-term inflammation, which ultimately damages the body, including joints. Mainstream medicine, which typically focuses on eliminating symptoms rather than addressing the causes of illness, uses drugs to turn off the inflammatory response. The obvious question that is overlooked is, why is the body in a state of long-term inflammation in the first place; that is to say, what is the body fighting in the long term? We speculate that MSM works by treating long-term infection in the joint, which allows the body to lower its inflammatory response. Mainstream research considers that MSM simply disrupts or overrides the inflammation response and does not consider what might be causing the inflammation. In any event, MSM does not have the adverse side effects of anti-inflammatory drugs.

However it works, MSM has been shown to reduce joint pain, stiffness and swelling, often within days or weeks. Methylsulfonylmethane benefits those with joint degeneration, a common cause of pain in the knees, back, hands and hips, and inhibits the breakdown of cartilage. Methylsulfonylmethane has thus been shown to improve people's overall quality of life.