Glucosamine sulfate
Glucosamine sulfate is also known as glucosamine sulphate. Glucosamine supplements will usually contain glucosamine sulfate or glucosamine hydrochloride. These two substance are very similar, but they are still different substances and this must be remembered when we obtain information from research projects involving glucosamine. Always check if the study used glucosamine sulfate or glucosamine hydrochloride, because we still do not know for sure whether the human body reacts exactly similar to these two compounds. This means that facts derived from a study based on glucosamine sulfate does not have to be true for glucosamine hydrochloride and vice versa.

Both glucosamine sulfate or glucosamine hydrochloride have been used in various studies and clinical trials, and they seem to affect the human body in similar ways, but there are a few notable differences and we may find even more discrepancies in the future. When it comes to efficiency, some studies have showed glucosamine hydrochloride to be more effective and some have shown glucosamine sulfate to be more effective, so it is yet impossible to do provide any general advice on what to use. The only way to know which type that works best for you is to try both supplements, one after another. There are also a few manufacturers that mix glucosamine hydrochloride and glucosamine sulfate in the same pill, but you should keep in mind that such mixes have been far from thoroughly studied in clinical trials.

One of the most important aspects where glucosamine sulfate and glucosamine hydrochloride show highly dissimilar properties regards low-sodium diets. Today, many people have a daily sodium intake that is much higher than recommended amount. A diet high in sodium can increase the risk of high blood pressure, and once you have developed high blood pressure, you doctor will most likely place you on a strict low-sodium diet.

So, what does sodium and high blood pressure have to do with glucosamine supplements? The link between them is that glucosamine sulfate contains a much higher amount of sodium compared to glucosamine hydrochloride, and choosing glucosamine sulfate is therefore a bad idea if your diet is already rich in sodium. If you on the other hand have achieved a low-sodium diet, you can use glucosamine sulfate as long as it does not tip you over and turn your diet into a high-sodium one. Banishing sodium from your diet completely is not a good idea, because the human body does need a certain amount of sodium to function. The cells in your central nervous system do for instance require positive sodium ions for depolarization. Without any sodium, the central nervous system will not work.

Another interesting difference between glucosamine sulfate and glucosamine hydrochloride regards the absorption rate. One of the reasons why so many pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers of supplements prepare active ingredients as hydrochlorides is that in this form, they will be rapidly absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract. Glucosamine hydrochloride will normally be absorbed after 15-30 minutes, while glucosamine sulfate needs more time.