My Review: Wellesse Joint Movement Glucosamine – Good Or Not?

by Heather Pharm.D. ·

It’s time to review Wellesse Joint Movement Glucosamine, a product that really impressed me at first sight. It’s not one of those regular supplements with large, thick pills. In fact, it has a liquid composition and it’s really easy to take.

But when I took a closer look, I noticed it’s not as good as it seems. I totally agree that it’s one of the most comfortable products with glucosamine. However, its formula could be a lot better. But I will explain everything in depth below.

I tested out Wellesse’s product some time ago, so I think I’m pretty familiar with how it works and what it can do.

Note: This review is only based on my experience with this product, so it won’t necessarily agree with other reviews you find. I am not trying to praise/criticize it or its company, I am simply telling my opinion about it.

So Let’s Get To The Review

Full Name: Joint Movement Glucosamine from Wellesse

Quantity : 16 oz (there’s also a 33 oz one)

Best Actual Price: $15.50

Where I Bought It From: Ebay

Designed For: Osteoarthritis and cartilage problems. That’s what glucosamine and chondroitin work best for. So it should be effective for someone with weak and painful joints because of aging, accidents or worn off cartilages.

I wouldn’t recommend it if you have RA, PsA or any other inflammatory condition. The ingredients would definitely help, but there are other substances that work much better for inflammation. Turmeric would be my top recommendation in this case.

My Rating: 6 out of 10 – It gets this high mark because it’s really affordable. I would have given it more if it worked better.

Worth Buying?: Not really. It has really good ingredients, but it uses the weak form of glucosamine (HCl instead of sulfate). I never got any major results from this ingredient in the past. Besides, it tastes extremely sweet and it has several artificial sweeteners that I don’t like.

In terms of how it works, I wasn’t impressed. It didn’t improve my knees in any form. They were just as stiff and inflexible as before. So I wouldn’t really buy this thing again, even though it’s pretty cheap. Overall I just wasn’t satisfied.

What I Recommend Instead: This Projoint product. It has the best ingredient list that I found (including the strong form of glucosamine). It’s also the product that improved my knees, both in pain and flexibility. So that’s the product I fully trust.

What I Liked About It

Most of the ingredients have high doses
It’s really easy to swallow
It’s pretty affordable overall
There are 2 versions available: 16 or 33 oz, but the price is better for the larger bottle
You can find it in lots of stores and online retailers

What I Didn’t Like About It

Way too sweet, so it’s pretty hard to swallow 2 tablespoons
It contains some artificial sweeteners that I personally don’t like
It uses the weaker form of glucosamine (HCl), which is why I don’t recommend it

The Ingredients – Looking Good

Even though it’s a liquid supplement, Wellesse’s product has a pretty good ingredient list. Even very good, if I’m referring to the doses. So at first sight, it really looks impressive.

However, the form of glucosamine it uses isn’t really the best one, so that’s the major downside of this product, in my opinion. But let’s take each ingredient by turn. (I will only mention the ones that are important for joint pain, without sodium and carbohydrates).

– Glucosamine HCl (2000 mg) – glucosamine is the best ingredient for damaged cartilages, because it helps rebuilding them very fast. It also promotes joint health and cartilage loss, which is essential for someone with OA. The dose is indeed very impressive, as most supplements I know have about 1000-1500 mg at most.

However, this glucosamine comes as HCl, which isn’t the best form. I will explain that later, but it’s basically much weaker in terms of effectiveness compared to the other form. It’s considerably cheaper, but studies didn’t show it has any major benefits for the joints.

– Chondroitin Sulfate (1200 mg) – this substance does pretty much the same as glucosamine, but it also increases its power. That’s why I recommend products that have both glucosamine and chondroitin. Unfortunately, most producers prefer to skip chondroitin and add only glucosamine, which is a pretty bad choice, if you ask me.

So I really appreciate Wellesse’s product for containing this substance. The dose is also extremely high, which is a great plus.

– MSM (500 mg) – this is a natural substance that exists into our body but it decreases with age. That’s why older people need some extra MSM from supplements. MSM is an anti-inflammatory and even though it’s not a very strong one, it’s enough for the inflammation from OA. The 500 mg from this product are a great dose.

– Hyaluronic Acid (10 mg) – this is a pretty useless substance, in my opinion. Studies showed that hyaluronic acid is great for joints when it’s injected directly. But if you want to take it by mouth, you need a much higher dose to get the same effect. So in my view, 10 mg won’t do anything important.

– Vitamin D3 (400 UI) – studies didn’t prove that vitamin D3 could have anything to do with joint pain. However, it increases the absorption of calcium, which is important for bones. So I would link this vitamin with bones, instead of joints.

Conclusion: Except the bad form of glucosamine, the ingredients look great. I’m saying this mainly because of their doses, which are higher than in most supplements I know. However, I can’t really forget about glucosamine HCl, which is a major downside, in my opinion. Otherwise, I would have praised Wellesse’s ingredients a lot.

My Experience With This Supplement

My Background: I developed a secondary osteoarthritis in my knees because of the RA I had for years. So my cartilages started to wear off. Surprisingly, it was only happening in my knees, as the other parts from my body were pretty fine (from that point of view).

Anyway, I had enough cartilage left even in my knees, so the pain wasn’t unbearable. It was rather the weakness of my knees that bothered me. Since I developed OA, they really lost flexibility and I had a very hard time moving around. They weren’t that painful, but they were stiff and hard to move.

What I Bought It For: As I said, the pain from my knees wasn’t my #1 problem. So I was hoping this liquid supplement would improve my flexibility and mobility. I tried a lot of glucosamine products that did that, so it is possible. But unfortunately, most of the supplements I tried didn’t help me from this point of view.

So I bought Wellesse’s product mainly for improving my knee flexibility.

How It Worked

By mistake, I bought the 16 oz version instead of the 33 oz one. That meant one bottle would only last for 16 days, which was basically a bit more than 2 weeks.

However, in reality it didn’t really last 16 days, but about 15-14. I mean, in the last day I didn’t have enough liquid to fill 2 tablespoons. Maybe I added a higher quantity in other days, I don’t know, but I remember it didn’t last exactly 16 days.

Well, in this time I can’t say I noticed a huge improvement. I mean, I couldn’t stand for longer or walk more than before. I can’t really judge after the pain, because as I said, it wasn’t terrible. Maybe it got a bit better, but the change wasn’t huge, so I can’t really tell.

But my goal was to improve the flexibility of my knees. Wellesse’s product didn’t really do that. At the end of the treatment, I wasn’t any better from this point of view. So I wasn’t too impressed.

Conclusion: In my case, Wellesse’s supplement didn’t do anything major. Maybe it decreased my pain a bit, but it wasn’t very bad before, so I can’t tell very well. In terms of improving flexibility, it really didn’t work.

Maybe I should have taken it for longer, I don’t know. But I hated its taste and I didn’t see any little improvement, so I preferred not to buy another bottle. I just don’t think it could have done much either way.

PRO #1 – Easy To Take

I’m not a big fan of liquid supplements, because I’m losing a lot of time taking them. You have to add the liquid into a tablespoon, measure carefully to get the perfect dose and then repeat this procedure, if you have to take more than one tablespoon at once.

However, I have to admit that Wellesse’s liquid supplement is pretty comfortable. I mean, it didn’t drive me crazy while preparing the dose, as other products did.

As I said, I pretty much prefer supplements because I can finish with them much faster. But there are some pills that are absolutely huge. So compared to those, liquid supplement seem like heaven on earth.

That’s why I can’t really criticize Wellesse’s product, even though I don’t really like liquid glucosamine. But this product is very easy to take and you don’t get any chest pain after swallowing it. I needed more time to prepare the doses than I would with a supplement, but that’s the risk. You have to take 2 tablespoons daily, and I used to take them together just to save some time.

So from this point of view, this product is extremely comfortable. If you’re one of those people who hates pills, a liquid supplement may be a good alternative. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be my personal recommendation (but more on that below).

PRO #2 – Pretty Cheap

Compared to regular supplements, Wellesse’s Joint product is extremely cheap.

The version I got cost me about $16, so that was super cheap. I don’t remember seeing a lot of products with glucosamine under $20, so it’s a big advantage. However, there’s something I want to point out. The 16 ox bottle that I got only lasts for 16 days. That’s not a lot, when it comes to time.

So let’s do the calculations: $16 divided to 16 oz would be about $1 per day. At this point, it doesn’t seem super cheap anymore, does it?

That’s right, if you get the 16 oz version, the price won’t be that amazing. Maybe you can find it a few dollars less, but I did a quick search and I couldn’t find a lower price. But what I wanted to say was that there is also a 33 oz bottle. That one lasts for 33 days and it costs about $24-$25.

If you do the calculations again, it’s $25 divided to 33 oz. That is going to be less than $1 per day, so the price is much better in this case.

Therefore, Wellesse’s supplement is pretty cheap, compared to others. Besides, it’s liquid, and liquid products tend to cost a lot more. But if you want to get the best price, I would suggest getting the 33 oz bottle. This is not a product I would recommend or buy again, but if you really want it, I think the 33 oz bottle would be a much better deal.

CON #1 – Glucosamine HCl

Wellesse’s supplement may have a lot of positive things, but I’m not going to skip its negative side just for the sake of making it look good.

If you read some of my other reviews, you may know that I’m pretty against joint supplements with glucosamine HCl. This form of glucosamine is pretty weak, in terms of effectiveness. I never had great results with it, so that’s why I kind of reject it.

But let me explain the thing with glucosamine. There are 2 forms widely used: sulfate and hydrochloride. The sulfate form is more expensive, but it’s also much better. Because of the sulfur it contains, it rebuilds cartilages and prevents bone and cartilage loss. It does some other things, but these are the most important ones.

You surely heard about the benefits of glucosamine, didn’t you? Well, they were all about glucosamine sulfate. That’s because all the studies conducted on the HCl form didn’t have any positive results. According to them, the HCl form doesn’t have any major effects or benefits in osteoarthritis.

So why are brands using it then? Because it’s way cheaper than the sulfate form, and most people aren’t aware of the difference.

A lot of brands use high quantities of glucosamine HCl and people are very impressed. But the results won’t be that impressive. That’s why I try to avoid supplements with glucosamine HCl, even though there are a lot.

Unfortunately, Wellesse’s supplement also contains the bad form – HCl. The dose is indeed very high, but there’s no point, if there isn’t the sulfate form.

Conclusion: The sulfate glucosamine is way better than the HCl one. Wellesse’s liquid supplement uses the HCl one, so that’s a major reason why I don’t recommend it.

CON #2 – Artificial Sweeteners

If there’s something I hate about this supplement (excluding the ingredients), is its taste. I’m not a fan of berry flavor, but I could take that. It’s only that one tablespoon of this liquid is so so sweet.

Don’t get it wrong, I really love sweet flavors. So instead of those bitter pills, a sweet taste is amazing. But the taste of Wellesse’s product is way too sweet. My throat feels like burning after I swallow one tablespoon of it. When I take the second, I don’t want anything sweet for the rest of the day.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I absolutely hate the taste of this product. Even bitter supplements are easier to swallow, from this point of view.

The reason – because of the artificial sweeteners that are inside this liquid. From what I read, it has sucralose, which is a substance 650 sweeter than sugar itself. So that pretty much explains why this liquid is extremely sweet.

However, I found out some pretty bad stuff about sucralose. A study claims it could trigger migraines and headaches, which is pretty unpleasant. Now, I don’t mean to accuse Wellesse or any other brand, especially because I never experienced any migraines myself.

But if it’s studies saying that, I think it’s pretty sure. So I would kind of try to avoid sucralose and artificial sweeteners in general. I don’t think they are any good especially, if you have diabetes in your family.

Conclusion: So besides the terribly sweet taste, I also dislike those artificial sweeteners they put inside the liquid. I personally would try to avoid them, as they’re surely no good.

My Final Verdict – Is It Worth Buying?

Short answer: Not really. It’s not very expensive, so you’re not losing a fortune trying it. But it has the bad form of glucosamine, so I doubt it would help you much. In my case, it didn’t. Besides, I don’t like those artificial sweeteners that make the liquid really hard to swallow.

Other than that, there’s not much I could criticize about it. But for me, these are real arguments to not buy it again in the nearby future. It definitely not a bad product, but it’s far from a good one. At least that’s what I think about it.

Would I buy it again?: No. It didn’t help me much, so there’s no reason I would buy it again. I prefer supplements because they are easier to take. And compared to Wellesse’s product, they also taste better. I don’t like bitter pills, but they are way better than this extremely sweet liquid.

And as I said, I avoid products with glucosamine HCl. Unfortunately, that’s what Wellesse’s supplement has inside. So I can’t really expect it to work wonders.

So if you ask me, I advise you to get a product with glucosamine sulfate. It doesn’t need to have 2000 mg inside, even 1000 mg should do. Only make sure it’s the sulfate form. I have a personal recommendation, which was the best product for my OA. So if you need any advice, that’s what I would recommend.