Interesting.
The higher concentration of the amino acid cysteine in poultry might give insight to why chicken cartilage helped:
Chicken contains an amino acid called cysteine, a substance released when you make the soup. This amino acid is similar to the drug acetylcysteine, which is prescribed by doctors to patients with bronchitis due to its ability to breakdown proteins found in mucous that settles in the lungs.
Cysteine can be found in proteins throughout the body and when used as a supplement it is usually in the form is N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC). The cool part about this is, cysteine, whether taken in supplement form or not, converts to glutathione, a very powerful antioxidant!SourceBroth always eased my cipro-induced neuropathy and joint pains, though I think supplements derived from chicken cartilage might be just as effective.
To answer your question, OP -
Douglass Labs has a formulation that has N-Acetyl-D-Glucosamine and it is in powder form. Expensive but you'd have to try it for yourself.
Edit:
Cheaper powder that is just solely N-Acetyl-D-Glucosamine.
Best.
Post Edited (Guardian7) : 5/21/2014 9:06:05 AM (GMT-6)