Trustworthy Reviews take a closer look at Jointace® Max – one of the UK’s best-selling joint supplements. But does it really deliver?
The Company
Vitabiotics are without doubt one of the UK’s leading vitamin manufacturers – operating for an impressive 45 years. It’s likely that you’ve seen their plethora of products on the shelves of Boots and Holland and Barrett (or perhaps even plastered across London buses due to their extensive marketing efforts!)
With a range of more than 200 products, Vitabiotics have taken advantage of the meteoric growth of the supplement market globally over the past decade to cement itself as the UK’s market leader – as well as now exporting to more than 100 countries worldwide. They offer a well-stacked product range of five joint care supplements in total (each focusing on different primary ingredients).
In this review we’re examining their flagship product Jointace® Max which they proudly call the “ultimate product in the JointAce range”. But is it the real deal for helping sufferers alleviate the day-to-day struggles of creaky joints? Let’s find out…
Formula & Ingredients
Rather than focusing on a single ingredient, Jointace® Max aims to tackle the symptoms of joint pain through a combined approach of three separate daily capsules. While this is clearly somewhat inconvenient, when swallowing the various capsules you’ll be ingesting four separate primary ingredients which the manufacturers claim offer the “strongest and most comprehensive” joint support possible. Let’s take a closer look at what’s inside…
Glucosamine
Jointace® Max contains a pretty hefty 500 mg of glucosamine in potassium form. For those unfamiliar with this ingredient, it’s a viscous gel which can be extracted from a variety of sources including shellfish and various other arthropods and one of the primary building blocks of cartilage, ligaments and tendons – all primary sources of joint issues.
It is suggested that glucosamine works by surrounding the joints for added protection and shielding them from both direct impact and bone on bone pressure. When taken regularly as a daily supplement it can also help promote the regeneration of healthy tissue.
In 2014 a whopping 29,000 tons of glucosamine was sold worldwide, making it by far the most common and widely-purchased ingredient contained in joint pain supplements today.
Chondroitin
Usually combined with glucosamine, this popular additive is also found within the vast majority of joint supplements on the market today.
Some health professionals have suggested that chondroitin can help protect and strengthen existing collagen within the body when taken in controlled amounts and it may also be an effective treatment in helping to protect against the onset of rheumatoid arthritis.
Type II Collagen
Collagen is an ingredient that’s rapidly growing in popularity over recent years – especially in supplements relating to skin, hair and joint issues.
The Jointace® Max tablets contain 150mg of a “high-grade” hydrolysed collagen to aid with absorption.
Omega-3
This highly popular ingredient provides a rich source of DHA (docosahexaenoic Acid) which the manufacturers claim is created to the highest purity standards using molecular distillation.
The benefits of daily Omega-3 are widely known and intensely-studied which is why it’s often found at the very top of many people’s daily supplemental regime.
Product/Brand Guarantee
One of the most important things to consider when choosing any potential purchase is of course the guarantee offered if you are left unsatisfied.
According to their website, Vitabiotics offer a 14 day “no quibbles” guarantee. However this only seems to only cover you for either orders made in error or faulty or damaged products. To take advantage of this guarantee the items will need to be returned in their original and sealed condition in order to obtain your refund.
Vitabiotics do not appear to offer any kind of money back guarantee if you are unsatisfied with the product. We found this quite surprising and a significant weakness as there are various other brands available offering up to 90-day money back guarantees if you are not totally happy with the results.
We believe that Vitabiotics should consider offering a similar policy to ensure that every customer can be 100% confident in what they are buying before parting with their hard-earned cash.
Product Value & Pricing
The three sets of 28 capsules are packaged in individual blister packs providing a total of 84 capsules.
The current recommended retail price is £25.50 based on the manufacturer’s website at the time of this review but we noticed that the product can often be found slightly cheaper from several retailers including Boots, Amazon and eBay. It also seems to be featured regularly in promotions from Holland and Barrett so be sure to keep your eyes peeled if you’re looking to snag a bargain!
Considering the cost of other brands on the market, we found the pricing to be reasonable and on the whole Jointace® Max is priced on a similar level to other comparable brands on the market based on these ingredients.
Product Effectiveness
The major selling point of Jointace® Max is the intriguing combination of various primary ingredients in one package. Although the product is clearly aiming to provide a comprehensive 360-degree approach for joint pain, we note there is a considerable amount of scepticism relating to products containing glucosamine and chondroitin in recent years according to various studies.
A 2016 study by Harvard University showed that patients who tested glucosamine and chondroitin supplements sometimes reported worse joint pain symptoms than those taking a placebo. This suggests that taking these ingredients may actually be more harmful and make your joints feel worse than doing absolutely nothing!
We are therefore of the opinion that the track record of supplements containing glucosamine and chondroitin is somewhat mixed to say the least and we advise that you proceed with caution.
Based on feedback from our readers here at Trustworthy Reviews, we’ve generally found that products containing turmeric curcumin have proven to be more effective when tackling joint issues. You can click view our top picks here.
Customer Satisfaction
In our online analysis, we found that there was a reasonable amount of positive sentiment and feedback on the manufacturer’s website in relation to the product.
However, a number of customers expressed significant dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of the product on several websites with quite a few suggestions that it did very little to reduce the major symptoms of joint pain.
The overall review scores from the following websites are as follows:
- Holland & Barrett: Reviewed 55 times with an average rating of 4.2.
- Amazon: Reviewed 160 times with an average rating of 4.2.
As far as we can see, the vast majority of purchasers were reasonably happy with the responsiveness of dealing with Vitabiotics customer service department.
The Bottom Line
Based on our extensive research on Jointace® Max and having collected considerable feedback from our readers, here at Trustworthy Reviews we are of the opinion that there are more effective and well-proven solutions available for the money.
While the product is clearly from one of the UK’s largest and most well-established brands, we have significant concerns relating to the effectiveness of glucosamine and chondroitin-based products for joint issues based on the evidence and feedback that we’ve seen.
We were also left disappointed by the lack of any money-back guarantee from the manufacturer. We should have liked to see them stand behind the quality and effectiveness of their product by offering a 90-day guarantee like many other brands on the market.
Based on a significant amount of feedback from our readers, joint pain supplements containing turmeric curcumin are currently leading the way in both effectiveness and value for money.
You can read our Top 5 turmeric-based supplements here: Top Picks of 2020!
Citations:
https://www.vitabiotics.com/products/jointace-max
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-latest-on-glucosaminechondroitin-supplements-2016101710391
