# Natural Eggshell Membrane (NEM) & arthritis



## Magwart

On the advice of Gatorbytes about a year ago, I started giving a supplement with Natural Eggshell Membrane (NEM) to my old dog. I started with the Fast-Jointcare-Plus brand and eventually shifted to Vitacost's brand. I've been very pleased with how it's helped, and I've very glad to have learned about it on this forum.

I think it's an under-appreciated supplement for seniors. There's a good video about NEM on Mercola's site here (though I don't use their brand of supplement):
Pet Joint Supplements | Healthy Joint Support - Mercola.com

I've recently been pondering whether I could just pull out the membranes from eggs we eat and save the membranes to feed to him. I have been saving eggshells with the membranes still in them in a zippie-bag in the freezer with this in mind, so I've got a bunch of them. 

So....does anyone have any thoughts on whether I should just give the membranes to him as is? Would baking/steaming degrade the bioactive ingredients? Any thoughts on how many at a time?


----------



## Jax08

I bake the egg shells to add to Banshee's food. You have to bake htem to dry them out enough to grind. If you do this, you have to take into account the extra calcium you are adding to his food.

So you've seen good results on this? We give Banshee Dasuquin but the arthritis is in her back, not her joints so not sure how much good it's doing her.


----------



## Magwart

Yep, it's one of the supplements I think helped make a difference. We're doing a lot else (incl. adequan), but the vet thinks the supplements are probably at least a third of the benefit we're seeing. Of course it's all anecdotal --all I can say is tings just got better when it was added to the supplement list.

I feed good-quality kibble (Fromm), so I wasn't thinking of using the entire egg shell, thinking it might throw off the calcium/phosphorus ratio in the food. I was just going to pull out the little membrane clinging inside it and toss the rest of the ground shells out in the garden. Do you think there's a benefit to feeding the shell too? I recall reading that you learned from Carmen that they are bioavailable (good) sources of calcium, as opposed to the "rocks" in calcium pills -- which I found very interesting.


----------



## Jax08

There is a benefit if the dog needs calcium but I don't see one if they are on a balanced diet already. I"m not sure what to much calcium can do to the system as a whole. I use it in Banshee's food due to her CRF since she can't have bone.

How to you extract the membrane from the shell? I've never tried it. We save all our shells, for Boo and to put in with our tomatoes next year.


----------



## Magwart

If you look at the cracked shell, there's a little skin on the inside of it after the egg content is out. I *think* that's the part of the egg they extract the NEM out of. 

I noticed that after the empty shells were frozen, that inner membrane actually starts to peel away from the shell on its own--you can pull it out in little pieces. Seeing it peeling from the shell is what got me thinking about this.

It might also be that dunking the empty shells quickly in a hot water bath might help the membrane separate (like a tomato skin) -- haven't tried that technique yet, just hypothesizing here.


----------



## Jax08

check this out. you can just soak it in vinegar, dissolve the shell and then just feed the membrane.
Science of Eggs: Making Naked Eggs Activity | Exploratorium

wonder if you could then just dry it and grind it up? would it digest better? they must process it somehow to make a capsule.


----------



## Magwart

Oh, wow! That's very cool. Great find! The capsule is definitely a powder. I would bet they pasteurize it or otherwise process to remove pathogens. 

I have a dehydrator, but I'm thinking it may not need to be ground up--just toss bits of it in with the meal? Store in a jar in the fridge, or in the freezer?

What do you think about the salmonella risk of raw egg for a senior?


----------



## Jax08

I think I feed raw eggs all the time and never had a problem.  Salmonella is on the shell. So wash the shell if you are concerned. I freeze the shells while saving them and then bake them. Never had an issue feeding to my senior.


----------



## Magwart

Good to know. Thanks!


----------



## Jax08

Maybe I'm wrong on that
Eggs & Salmonella

But regardless...I've never had an issue.


----------



## Magwart

I'm finding that the membrane itself actually possesses antibacterial properties. Here's one article reporting experiments testing the antibacterial quality in China (bacteria couldn't attach to the membrane in its natural state, until it was degraded chemically or with autoclave):
Soluble eggshell mebrane protein: Antibacterial property and biodegradability - Springer

Some people use it as a kind of natural wound dressing, which also makes sense with the antibac aspect: 
Don't Throw Away Those Egg Shells! : Historic Downtown Farmers and Artists Market.

By the way, here's more on NEM and arthritis:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/554518-egg-shell-membrane-for-joints/


----------



## Jax08

I just saw this earlier today too! 
30+ Things to Do with Eggshells | The Prairie Homestead
See #2


----------



## Magwart

I'm thinking it can't hurt. It's just food.

This CDC paper says that after separation, the eggshell membrane "then partially hydrolyzed using a proprietary process and dry-blended to produce 100% pure Natural Eggshell Membrane (NEM®) powder." 

Eggshell membrane: A possible new natural therapeutic for joint and connective tissue disorders. Results from two open-label human clinical studies

Sounds like they soak it in water, blend it and grind it--but I'm almost certainly oversimplifying. I'm not seeing any reason not to try it though.


----------



## BowWowMeow

That's interesting. I have local eggs right now and I can peel the membrane right out of them. I give Rafi a raw egg (sans shell) every day. I guess I'll start adding in the membrane too!


----------



## Jax08

Banshee already gets it when we grind the egg shells. I wonder if baking it degrades the properties in any way.


----------



## Magwart

Jax08 said:


> Banshee already gets it when we grind the egg shells. I wonder if baking it degrades the properties in any way.


I couldn't find anything about it for NEM (other than the autoclave destroying the antibac property, but that's not the property we're interested in).

I did, however, go and look to see about the effect of heat on hyaluronic acid, which NEM is rich in and is likely one reason it's so helpful for joints. I found that heat degrades hyaluronic acid (here's an example of that claim:
Patent WO2012089537A1 - Hyaluronic acid compositions stabilised against the degrading effect of heat ... - Google Patents ). That leads me to infer heat likely would degrade the bioactive components of the NEM.


----------



## BowWowMeow

I would imagine that heating it would not be good. What is the source of the powdered membranes? Rafi gets humanely raised, antibiotic-free eggs. The ones I have now are also organic and free range. I pulled it out of my egg this morning and fed it to him. How many per day could I give him? HE eats one egg per day and I eat one egg per day.


----------



## Magwart

My guess is that your organic eggs are probably better than the source in the capsules -- I would bet the supplement factories are getting waste eggs and eggshells for commercial mfr purposes to create large quantities of powdered NEM for the market. Of course, that's just a guess based on the economics of it--I have no way of knowing.

The doseage in the NEM capsules is 500 mg. If the membrane is dried out, maybe put it on a food scale? If not, I'd likely be inclined to just give the dog the 2 membranes a day you have.

This is all a bit of a guessing game, since I can't find anything about just feeding the membranes themselves instead of the supplement -- all the literature uses the supplement. It just really makes sense that you could get the benefit of the supplement from the food from which the supplement is made -- like eating cranberries instead of taking a cranberry capsule!


----------



## Vinnie

Interesting information - thanks.

We feed raw free range chicken (and occasionally duck) eggs all the time. I've always given the whole egg, shell and all. For the shells w/membrane one boy will just eat them if I crush them a little with my fingers when cracking the egg open. The others I usually just set the shells up to dry overnight. No need to bake them to get them dry enough. Then I grind them up to a powder and toss in the food dish.

This is what I use to grind the shells w/membranes;

DSCF9549 by BlackDogsPhoto, on Flickr

This is the consistency when I feed it but I'm sure I could grind to powder;

DSCF9548 by BlackDogsPhoto, on Flickr


----------



## Jax08

Thanks Vinnie! I"m sure that would grind into a powder with a coffee grinder. Maybe I'll start doing that for Banshee.


----------



## BowWowMeow

If you're going to feed the shells too, just be careful. Eggshell powder is highly concentrated bone meal. I imagine it could be concentrated. When I made home-cooked food for the dogs I used that instead of bone meal.


----------



## Vinnie

I don't think there's a problem if you feed the whole egg w/shell and are feeding a complete raw diet. I guess I wasn't paying attention that this is the senior dog forum and not about raw feeding. Going back to the OP - this is not what is being talked about here and we only got on the topic of feeding the shells to get the membrane. So yes, do take caution if you are going to feed the shell just to get the membrane and you are not going to feed the whole egg.


----------



## BowWowMeow

My post should have said, "I imagine it could be CONSTIPATING." Sorry!


----------



## Branko

Magwart,

how much of the Vitacost Eggshell Membrane do you give your dog?


----------



## Magwart

Branko said:


> Magwart,
> 
> how much of the Vitacost Eggshell Membrane do you give your dog?


1 capsule/day


----------



## Branko

I might give it a try, thanks


----------



## Jax08

Not sure if this was posted here...

Eggshell membrane: A possible new natural therapeutic for joint and co*



Authors: Kevin J Ruff, Dale P DeVore, Michael D Leu, Mark A Robinson

Click to expand...

*


> * Published Date May 2009 Volume 2009:4 Pages 235 - 240
> DOI:  Eggshell membrane: A possible new natural therapeutic for joint and co
> *
> 
> Kevin J Ruff1, Dale P DeVore2, Michael D Leu3, Mark A Robinson4
> 1ESM Technologies, LLC, Carthage, MO, USA; 2Membrell, LLC, Carthage, MO, USA; 3Private Practice, Jenks, OK, USA; 4Robinson Family Health Center, Carthage, MO, USA
> *Background:* Natural Eggshell Membrane (NEM®) is a novel dietary supplement that contains naturally occurring glycosaminoglycans and proteins essential for maintaining healthy joint and connective tissues. Two single center, open-label human clinical studies were conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of NEM® as a treatment for pain and inflexibility associated with joint and connective tissue disorders.
> *Methods:* Eleven (single-arm trial) and 28 (double-arm trial) patients received oral NEM® 500 mg once daily for four weeks. The primary outcome measure was to evaluate the change in general pain associated with the treatment joints/areas (both studies). In the single-arm trial, range of motion (ROM) and related ROM-associated pain was also evaluated. The primary treatment response endpoints were at seven and 30 days. Both clinical assessments were performed on the intent-to-treat (ITT) population within each study.
> *Results:* Single-arm trial: Supplementation with NEM® produced a significant treatment response at seven days for flexibility (27.8% increase; P = 0.038) and at 30 days for general pain (72.5% reduction; P = 0.007), flexibility (43.7% increase; P = 0.006), and ROM-associated pain (75.9% reduction; P = 0.021). Double-arm trial: Supplementation with NEM® produced a significant treatment response for pain at seven days for both treatment arms (X: 18.4% reduction; P = 0.021. Y: 31.3% reduction; P = 0.014). There was no clinically meaningful difference between treatment arms at seven days, so the Y arm crossed over to the X formulation for the remainder of the study. The significant treatment response continued through 30 days for pain (30.2% reduction; P = 0.0001). There were no adverse events reported during either study and the treatment was reported to be well tolerated by study participants.
> *Conclusions:* Natural Eggshell Membrane (NEM®) is a possible new effective and safe therapeutic option for the treatment of pain and inflexibility associated with joint and connective tissue (JCT) disorders. Supplementation with NEM®, 500 mg taken once daily, significantly reduced pain, both rapidly (seven days) and continuously (30 days). It also showed clinically meaningful results from a brief responder analysis, demonstrating that significant proportions of treated patients may be helped considerably from NEM® supplementation. The Clinical Trial Registration numbers for these trials are: NCT00750230 and NCT00750854.
> *Keywords:* arthritis, pain, stiffness, eggshell membrane, joint, connective tissue, complimentary, alternative​


​


----------



## BowWowMeow

Thanks for bumping this thread back up. I have been giving Rafi two eggshell membranes per day (I peel them out of the eggshell) and they really seem to be helping with this arthritis! I might increase it to three.


----------



## Jax08

Good! We dont' eat enough eggs but I've been pulling the membrane out and giving it to Jax when we do.


----------



## mspiker03

Glad I saw this thread! I may have to try it with Leyna, who is now 9 and has some arthritis.




Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Magwart

Thanks for sharing this study! I'm very glad NEM is being looked at closely by clinical researchers. It's interesting that the benefit seems to be more at 30 days than 7 days.


----------



## Jax08

The date on that was 2009. I wonder if there are any newer studies to reinforce this one?


----------



## BowWowMeow

I didn't really notice when it seemed to helping him but I do remember that it took a while.


----------



## mspiker03

I wanted to revise this thread again. It has been well over 90 days since I started Leyna on the eggshell membrane (I use the supplement version). I have definitely noticed a difference. I don't remember exactly when I started noticing, but it has been awhile. When I went to our vet awhile ago, she said Leyna probably has some arthritis on her front ankles and at least one back ankle. She was getting limpy often. I think I have only noticed one limpy episode since starting and it cleared up within a day. So much better than she was before. She runs and chases Paisley around and has a blast. She still trucks along on decent length walks as well. 

I would definitely say this is something to try. I really happy with the results!


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Branko

My boy starting having some pain from hip dysplasia ( had HD as a puppy, he is now almost 5 years old) . He has been on some other stuff for a few year but just didnt seem to be working as good. I added the eggshell membrane. Its been 3 months and he doing better. 

Thanks so much for your post.


----------



## Magwart

Just want to give a heads-up to folks using NEM for their dogs (or themselves!) that Vitacost is having a ONE-DAY *buy one-get-one-free* "flash sale" on the Vitacost brand of NEM. Woohoo! 

Vitacost 100% Natural Eggshell Membrane -- 30 Capsules - Vitacost

It's usually $17.99 for 30 capsules there, but this works out to just about $9 per bottle. If you buy $25 of Vitacost-brand products, you can get free shipping (their brand of coconut oil is a good "filler" item, as it's organic, cold-pressed, and hexane free). 

The sale expires on 7/23/14 at 9AM EDT.

This is the absolute best sale I've ever seen them run on this stuff.


----------



## BowWowMeow

I upped Rafi to 3 eggshell liners per day and it is definitely helping. It's a little time consuming to remove the liners from the shells but I know the source of the eggs (free range, local, etc.) so it's worth it to me. 

Thanks so much for starting this thread--I never would have known about this otherwise!


----------



## Magwart

I just noticed that Wondercide is now selling NEM under their label packaged as "Fidoplex." They also posted a link to their own (small) clinical trial, showing its effectiveness. 

It's nice to see more research being done, and NEM popping up in more products. It's such good stuff.


----------



## Magwart

Bumping this thread to add some new research. The research on NEM and osteoarthritis is getting better and better

There is a new 2022 study that found a dose-dependent response for knee pain (500 mg was the "high dose" at which a better response was seen):

Canovas et al., _Nutrients_ *2022*, _14_(11), 2340 - "Randomised Clinical Trial to Analyse the Efficacy of Eggshell Membrane to Improve Joint Functionality in Knee Osteoarthritis"

Link: Randomised Clinical Trial to Analyse the Efficacy of Eggshell Membrane to Improve Joint Functionality in Knee Osteoarthritis

*Abstract:*
Osteoarthritis is a source of chronic pain and disability. Dietary supplements have been shown to be a more secure option than NSAIDS. Particularly, the eggshell membrane has demonstrated efficacy in relieving joint pain and stiffness. A clinical trial was designed in which three groups were assigned to two different doses of this supplement and compared to a placebo control group. The primary outcome variable was knee pain, which was assessed using a visual analogue scale. Secondary outcome variables were knee functional ability, quadriceps muscle strength (assessed by isometric and isokinetic trials), and quality of sleep. All groups showed a significant decrease in pain perception, although maximum values were obtained in the high-dose group. Isokinetic and isometric trials showed a significant increase in strength in the high-dose group. Eggshell membrane showed the potential to reduce pain and stiffness symptomatology. Here, for the first time, two quantitative variables (mobility and strength of knee joint) were used to accurately evaluate changes in the quality of life of subjects affected by knee joint pain. The results of this study indicate a dose-dependent response, which should be taken into account for later use in therapeutics to establish the correct dosage.

-----------------
Additionally, a 2019 study out of Turkey also found NEM reduced pain and stiffness in 7-30 days (though better results were seen in the 90-day group compared to the 60-day group):

Eskiyurt et al., Journal of Arthritis 2019, 8:4, "Efficacy and Safety of Natural Eggshell Membrane (NEM) in Patients with Grade 2/3 Knee Osteoarthritis: A Multi-Center, Randomized, Doubleblind, Placebo-Controlled, Single-crossover Clinical Study"

Link: https://www.omicsonline.org/open-ac...nee-osteoarthritis-a-multicenter-randomiz.pdf

*Conclusion:*
"In this large, multi-center study in subjects with grade 2 and 3 knee OA, NEM reduced pain and stiffness within 7-30 days, and these clinically meaningful benefits persisted for 90 days. NEM can be considered as a safe, natural intervention for inclusion as part of a comprehensive clinical protocol in the management of knee OA."


----------

