Does Glucosamine Make You Gain Weight?

It is always advised to make sure that you are fully aware of what you can expect should you decide to begin including a new supplement or vitamin in your daily diet. This can also include finding out if there are any changes that new supplements could have on your weight; weight loss or weight gain. Now, whilst many supplements might appear to be altering your weight, it's likely that when it comes to Glucosamine; the changes to your weight are in correlation to your diet and not just the supplement itself! There are several benefits to regularly taking glucosamine and weight management is considered to be a popular reason for taking the supplement. However, there are some things you should be aware of before taking glucosamine, which will be covered in today's blog post. We will explore how glucosamine affects your weight and answer your most pressing questions relating to water retention and bloating (whilst taking the supplement). Therefore we encourage everyone to do their reading on glucosamine before they consider taking it regularly, you might want to consult with a GP beforehand to ensure that it is going to be the right supplement for you and your needs. With that said, we will now move right onto the topic at hand to explore if glucosamine does cause weight gain or aid in weight loss and if so how?

Does glucosamine cause weight gain?

If you are considering glucosamine, as your next supplement, you should be aware that it can cause weight gain and aid in weight loss but not entirely on its own! While taking glucosamine, significant changes to your weight can also be based on your eating habits and diet. The number of unhealthy fats and carbohydrates you consume daily, whilst taking glucosamine, can increase your weight! Your daily diet is one of the most prominent contributors to both weight gain and weight loss; which is why for any supplement to help - like glucosamine- your diet would need to be balanced and limit unhealthy food consumption. However, we cannot link glucosamine supplements directly to weight gain or loss entirely on their own so don't let that put you off! Yes, one of the side effects could be weight gain (due to your eating habits and diet) but glucosamine can still help you with weight loss; if that's your intended reason for taking it…

Does glucosamine aid in weight loss?

There are many benefits to the body should you take glucosamine regularly; it can offer several benefits to the body, including improving your metabolism and how the body breaks down foods. How? Well, it’s been known for a long time that glucosamine can help reduce the metabolism of nutritive sugars; studies have shown that supplementing glucosamine into your diet can assist your body in breaking down the amino acids which are vital in helping the body use carbohydrates productively! Essentially, this means that glucosamine can help the body break down and use the carbohydrates that we consume as opposed to letting them turn into fat which can store in the body causing extra weight gain! Therefore, that’s why a balanced diet and healthy eating habits are important to consider would you decide to begin taking glucosamine; otherwise you might be using the opposite ‘reaction’ than you desired. Healthy eating habits and a balanced diet can help glucosamine work with your body's natural metabolism of foods as opposed to against them which could cause weight gain! 

Does glucosamine make you retain water and bloat?

It can be difficult to connect glucosamine directly with water retention or even bloating (inside the body) but once again your diet and eating habits are likely to have a hand in bloating or water retention whilst supplementing glucosamine. Some forms of glucosamine sulphate are processed with sodium chloride (salt) which is known to have direct links to bloating as well as causing the body to retain water thus leading to extra fluid buildup! Although, your daily diet will likely contain more sodium chloride than glucosamine supplements. However, this does not mean that you should not be aware of the possibility of experiencing stomach bloating or water retention when taking glucosamine. Whether it's a direct cause of the glucosamine supplement  (due to glucosamine sulphate being proceeded with salt) or it is related to your diet; experiencing bloating and retention could be related to glucosamine, if so then you might to ensure your diet is not too high in salt to keep sodium chloride consumption manageable for the body. 

Does glucosamine cause belly fat?

Belly fat due to glucosamine relates to one of our previous questions on whether the supplement can be causing weight gain. We know that poor eating habits and an unbalanced diet can affect our weight, even when taking glucosamine, therefore weight gain could contribute to an increase or even cause fat to gather around the stomach area. Again the chance of causing belly fat, with glucosamine, is more to do with your daily diet and eating habits than the supplement on its own. Yes, glucosamine can help the body break down and use up foods like carbohydrates but for the supplement to be an effective aid in weight management; your diet needs to be sustainable for your body as well as the glucosamine to manage. If you want to avoid the risk of unintentional weight gain or storing foods that turn into fat then you might want to ensure your diet is balanced first before you begin taking glucosamine for its weight management benefits. It will not be (as) effective if your body and the supplement cannot convert and manage the food begin consuming; thus leading to weight gain or internal fatty tissue build-up.