Buyer's Guide To
Joint Supplements
What Everyone Needs to Know About Joint Health

Osteo Bi Flex

Rating: B
Company: Pharma Nord

What is It?
Osteo Bi-Flex is a dietary joint health supplement that claims to improve "mobility and joint comfort", which may decrease due to old age, poor calcium intake or any number of bone-affecting diseases, including osteoporosis. Since 2009, Osteo Bi-Flex has been named as the "Most Recommended Joint Health Supplement" by health physicians in the United States, though it has not been clinically proven to improve joint mobility and comfort. Still, it remains a highly recommended supplement amongst traditional health physicians for generalized joint pain.

What ingredients are in Osteo Bi Flex?
Osteo Bi-Flex contains ascorbic acid, manganese sulfate, chondroitin sulfae, methylsulfonylmethane, collagen, boswellia serrata, vitamin C, manganeses, hyaluronic acid and sodium tetraborate.

Do the ingredients in Osteo Bi Flex help improve joint health?
With the exception of chondroitin sulfate, none of its ingredients have been shown to improve joint mobility or comfort. And chondroitin sulfate has only been proven to improve joint problems only caused by osteoarthritis--it doesn't appear to affect any other conditions. According to a recent 2006 trial funded by the National Institutes of Health, people who took chondroitin only reported improvements in pain and mobility if they were diagnosed with moderate to severe osteoarthritis—no other forms of arthritis were improved by chondroitin. For people with different forms of arthritis, no improvements were reported, and had little effect on the mobility of the joints. As a joint health supplements, Osteo Bi-Flex does very little the improve the loss of joint mobility and comfort.

Is Osteo Bi Flex safe?
Not entirely. Although most of its ingredients contain few side effects, one of its ingredients, boswellia serrata, may cause some moderate to severe side effects. These side effects are mostly gastrointestinal, and include stomach pain, diarrhea, nausea, acid reflux and unusual fullness in the stomach. It may also cause some breathing problems, chest tightness and narrowing of the breathing passageways.

Verdict:
Despite being the most recommended joint supplement in the United States, this supplement may not be effective enough to reduce joint pain for most people.