The largest independent trials in this category found placebo-sized effects. That does not make it useless — it makes the honest recommendation narrower than the shelf implies.
Shark cartilage, "cartilage rebuild" claims and topical glucosamine — no supplement has been shown to regrow cartilage in humans. Claims of structural repair go well beyond what any trial in this category measured.
Joint trials that worked measured change at 12–24 weeks, not at two.
Progressive resistance work beats every ingredient here in head-to-head comparisons.
Which is exactly why unblinded trials in this category read better than they are.
Ours. Curcumin with piperine at the studied ratio and collagen peptides at 10 g — and, as the review says plainly, two of its four actives sit below trial doses.