The Price is Right?

October 21, 2007 2:34 PM

Why is this particular glucosamine & chondroitin product so much cheaper?

It's way cheaper than any other comparable glucosamine at that dosage, and I have to say I'm a little skeptical. Can anyone either explain why it's so much cheaper, assure me that it's just as good, or recommend anything stellar at a decent price?

posted by hermitosis to health (4 comments total)

Swanson's Health sells a lot of dirt-cheap supplements. Whether or not they are worth the price you pay is anyone's guess, but the glucosamine isn't a fluke, I can tell you that much.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 3:01 PM on October 21, 2007

Maybe it doesn't contain the amount of G&C that it says it does? (Supplements, unlike drugs, are unregulated by the FDA and require no proof of the ingredients that they say they contain.)
posted by gramcracker at 3:35 PM on October 21, 2007

The dosage is pretty low compared to other supplements.

For example, the Solgar brand has 3X the Glucosamine and 6X the chondroitin and 100 extra caps per bottle.

So, after some fancy-pants math you spend $14 per gram of both glucosamine and chondroitin with both brands. So, it isn't that remarkable that brand-X can sell for so cheap over the crem-de-la-crem brand Solgar.
posted by munchingzombie at 7:04 PM on October 21, 2007

It's probably just as good as the alternatives, and short of not buying into G&C altogether, I'd recommend shooting for the cheap end.
posted by drpynchon at 10:03 PM on October 21, 2007