Update 8/22/19. Tissue Rejuvenator by Hammer Nutrition is a supplement that’s marketed mostly to people who work out regularly but also to those who have joint pain like arthritis. What I'd like to do in this review is look at the anti-pain research all the ingredients in Tissue Rejuvenator and see if we can see if it might be right for you.
Tissue Rejuvenator ingredients
According to Hammer Nutrition’s website, Tissue Rejuvenator has the following ingredients:
- Glucosamine sulfate
- Chondroitin sulfate
- Methylsulfonylmethane, ( MSM)
- Enzyme Blend
- Boswellia
- Devil's Claw.
- Yucca Root
- Turmeric
- Quercetin
- Undenatured Type II Collagen
The first three ingredients – glucosamine sulfate, chondroitin sulfate, and MSM – are supplements used to reduce the pain of osteoarthritis (OA). What I like about Tissue Rejuvenator is that it contains glucosamine sulfate, which if you have read my book, you know that of the 3 types of glucosamine, glucosamine sulfate has most of the evidence that it helps reduce OA pain in some people. Most supplements contain an essentially watered-down version called glucosamine HCL which is less effective.
For more information on glucosamine HCL read the review I did on the arthritis product Supple here
There is no proof that glucosamine re-grows joint cartilage. This is a myth.
I do have some reservations at the moment about chondroitin sulfate because of some research suggesting that there may be a link to prostate cancer. While this is mostly speculation, I don’t recommend that men use chondroitin sulfate until more is known.
MSM also has some research that it may help OA pain but its less than that of glucosamine sulfate.
Arthritis supplements often combine glucosamine, chondroitin (and sometimes MSM) together despite, good proof that the combination works better than glucosamine sulfate alone.
Boswellia, Devils Claw, and Yucca Root have also been studied for helping osteoarthritis pain. Of these 3 supplements, Devils Claw currently has most of the evidence (which is less than glucosamine sulfate).
Turmeric has at least one study that may help the pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis because it appears to have some anti-inflammatory properties. In other words, it seems to work like aspirin and other NSAIDs. Some call turmeric a “natural COX-2 inhibitor” for this reason. Some even go so far as to say turmeric works as well as Viox” without any of the side effects.
Tumeric is one of the ingredients in Protandim, anti-aging supplements. See my review of Protandim for more info.
This is not actually true, however. Because of its aspirin-like qualities, turmeric may affect blood clotting. This is probably more likely when used with other supplements that have “blood thinner” properties (vitamin E, gingko, etc.). Fortunately, it appears that humans are not very good at absorbing turmeric although people who take blood thinner medications should still use caution.
Quercitin is probably included in Tissue Rejuvenator because it has some anti-inflammatory properties. In theory, this may help inflammation associated with arthritis. The problem is that there is not much direct human research that it helps arthritis.
As for collagen, this is basically a low-quality protein. By low quality, I mean that it is missing some of the essential amino acids that we need to rebuild proteins of the body. If you have ever eaten Jell-O, you have eaten collagen. At least one study noted that collagen helped the pain of rheumatoid arthritis but this study was not on collagen supplements.
I'm skeptical of collagen supplements for arthritis. Because collagen is a protein, it’s likely that most of it would be destroyed in the stomach by digestion.
As for the enzyme blend, some of the enzymes (bromelain) may help arthritis inflammation but as for the other enzymes, there is no good proof that they help. Because it’s a “blend”, it’s difficult to know how much of each enzyme the blend contains. Thus, the blend may contain more or less than what has been used in clinical studies.
Avoid papain if you are pregnant. Some have noted that it may cause cancer. How much, is difficult to say and the amount in Tissue Rejuvenator is probably very little. It does have some anti-inflammatory properties and that’s why it’s included in this product.
By reducing inflammation, in theory, there may be something to Tissue Rejuvenator. The problem is that there is no published peer-reviewed research on Tissue Rejuvenator itself to see how well it might work.
Given that studies often say that it takes 4-8 weeks before glucosamine starts to work, Tissue Rejuvenator may take as long but this can vary according to how severe your arthritis is – and what type of arthritis you have. Because most of the ingredients are used to help osteoarthritis, this may be the type people feel the most relief (in theory).
Despite its name, there is no good proof that Tissue Rejuvenator rejuvenates tissues. For those who are interested here is Tissue Rejuvenator on Amazon so you can compare prices with other products you have heard of such as glucosamine sulfate.
Also, read my review of Supple which is also advertised for arthritis
What do you think?