Eggshell membrane's advantages makes joint health chew possible, developer says

12-Oct-2014 - Last updated on 19-Oct-2023 at 14:54 GMT

Supplements in the joint health space have often been handicapped by the large dosages required for some of the active ingredients. Customers have had the choice of a beverage (with its larger cost per serving) or swallowing large pills. That has changed with the introduction of what the developer says is the first soft chew in the space.

Called JOINThealth Soft Chews, the recently-introduced product was featured at the SupplySide West trade show in Las Vegas, NV by Bradley, IL-based Redd Remedies, a dietary supplement marketer focused on condition-specific formulas. The basic idea behind the company's formulas is to bring the body into a state of balance, said founder and CEO Dan Champman.

“Our niche is to design formulas that focus on a specific condition,” Chapman told NutraIngredients-USA. “All of our products are easy to use and focus on symptomatic relief and balance of the core issue. We want to find balance, because we don’t want to push the body. You can push the body with drugs, but you can also push the body with certain herbs.”

The chews are made possible by an innovative ingredient in the space: NEM-brand eggshell membrane offered by partnership of Stratum Nutrition and ESM Technologies. NEM, the only active ingredient in the chew, provides chondroitin, hyaluronic acid and collagen.

Mode of action

The ingredient has some important scientific results backing its mode of action. In a recent study, the ingredient showed an ability to inhibit pro-inflammatory cytokines in a rat model.

The results from the recent study, published in Modern Research in Inflammation, showed substantial reductions of a variety of pro-inflammatory cytokines while, importantly, having little effect on the anti-inflammatory cytokines evaluated. The initial studies in healthy rats demonstrated large reductions (up to 88%) in cytokines that occur later in the inflammatory cascade (e.g. MCP-1, MIP-1β, RANTES, VEGF). Whereas a follow-up study in inflammatory-challenged rats demonstrated significant reductions (40-44%) in IL-1β, a key primary mediator of inflammation. Similar results were obtained previously in in vitro studies measuring the response of human immune cells, said Kevin Ruff, PhD, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs for ESM.

Ruff said the unique thing about NEM is that it has been shown to work on one side of the inflammation coin.

“There is the pro-inflammatory side and the anti-inflammatory side and they have to stay in balance for the immune system to be healthy,” Ruff said. “In reality what we inhibited was the pro inflammatory side. You get an amplification effect; you haven’t turned off the cytokines involved in fighting infection.”

Dosage advantages

Chapman said another benefit of eggshell membrane is its low dose. At 500 mg, it comes it at a third of competitor glucosamine, which ususally calls for an active dose of 1500 mg per day. This made a chew possible, he said.

“People are capsule- and pill-fatigued. We can give you a product that has a wonderful flavor and is pleasant to use,” he said.

Redd sells its products primarily in the natural and health food channel, though its products are available online. Chapman said the company values the customer interaction that characterizes the natural sector.

“We certainly will work with with an outlet like Vitacost. But we believe there is more of a hands-on approach to talking to a customer in a health food store. We think we can better serve the customer, and we want to be more intentional with that relationship,” he said.