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MSM

Supplement organosulfur compound bone & jointskin & hair
Aka: methylsulfonylmethane, OptiMSM
Brands seen in Singapore: California Gold Nutrition, Doctor's Best, NOW Foods, Life Extension, Jarrow Formulas
Not medical advice. Check with your doctor or pharmacist before you start, stop or change the timing of anything you take.
How to use
What it’s for
Joint stiffness in knee trials · skin claims are thin
When to take
Daily
Take with
Powder and capsule forms are both sold in SG
Studied for
Blood levels build over about four weeks
Pros & cons
Pros
  • 22-trial network analysis: top 3 for stiffness
  • Gras status; safe under 4,845.6 mg/day per FDA notice
  • No CYP enzyme inhibition in liver-microsome tests
Cons
  • Skin evidence is mostly topical or combined products
  • Joint trials are small and mostly short-term
  • Alcohol sensitivity reported online; never studied
Sources
  1. Methylsulfonylmethane: Applications and Safety of a Novel Dietary Supplement (Butawan et al., Nutrients 2017) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “health-specific outcome measures are improved with MSM supplementation, including inflammation, joint/muscle pain, oxidative stress, and antioxidant capacity … MSM is well-tolerated by most individuals at dosages of up to four grams daily, with few known and mild side effects”
  2. Butawan et al., Nutrients 2017 — OptiMSM GRAS status · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “one MSM product (OptiMSM ® ; Bergstrom Nutrition, Vancouver, WA, USA) was granted the Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status by the Food and Drug Administration in 2007”
  3. Butawan et al., Nutrients 2017 — safety profile · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “technical reports indicate that mild skin and eye irritation have been observed when MSM is applied topically. Nonetheless, under the … (FDA) GRAS notification, MSM is considered safe at dosages under 4845.6 mg/day”
  4. Butawan et al., Nutrients 2017 — section 3.7, skin quality and texture · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “MSM has been suggested to have therapeutic uses for the improvement of skin quality and texture by acting as a sulfur donor to keratin … four peeling sessions using pyruvic acid and MSM once every two weeks improved”
  5. Butawan et al., Nutrients 2017 — serum accumulation with chronic intake · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “daily ingestion of MSM at 3 g by 20 healthy men for a period of four weeks … serum MSM was elevated in all men following ingestion, with a further increase at week 4 versus week 2”
  6. Butawan et al., Nutrients 2017 — MSM and alcohol · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “Much anecdotal evidence from web forums and videos exists regarding chronic MSM use and increased sensitivity to alcohol … there have been no studies to date examining the effects of MSM usage on alcohol metabolism”
  7. Efficacy of dietary supplements for treating knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and network meta-analysis (Du et al., Front Nutr 2025) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “analysis included 22 studies with 2,777 participants … In addressing the reduction of the WOMAC score of stiffness, NEM, Aflapin, and MSM emerged as the optimal interventions … the number of RCTs included in our analysis was relatively small”
  8. Du et al., Front Nutr 2025 — Table 1, MSM trial regimen · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “Kim 2006 USA MSM:21 Placebo:19 … MSM: 6 g/daily”
  9. Investigation of Drug-Interaction Potential for Arthritis Dietary Supplements: Chondroitin Sulfate, Glucosamine, and Methylsulfonylmethane (Kim et al., Molecules 2023) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “CS, GCS, and MSM had no inhibitory effects on CYP1A2, CYP2A6, CYP2B6, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, and CYP3A4 … there have been reports of an interaction case where the co-administration of CS and GCS with warfarin resulted in an elevated INR”
  10. HSA — Guidelines on Prohibited and Restricted Ingredients in Health Supplements and Traditional Medicines, GL-CHPB-1-012 Rev 001 (Oct 2025) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “The objective of this guideline is to highlight the substances of concern when used in HS and TM and is not meant to be an exhaustive list [methylsulfonylmethane / MSM not listed in Annex A or B]”
  11. HSA — Health Supplements Guidelines, GL-CHPB-3-001 Rev 020 (Jan 2026), Table 5: Minerals Limits · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “Table 5: Minerals Limits … Nutrient Maximum Daily Limit Boron 6.4 mg Calcium 1200 mg Chromium 0.5 mg Copper 2 mg Iodine 0.15 mg Iron 15 mg* Magnesium 350 mg Manganese 3.5 mg … Selenium 0.2 mg Zinc 15 mg”
  12. iHerb Singapore — MSM category page, Bone, Joint & Cartilage (default order, 76 results) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “California Gold Nutrition, Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM plus Hyaluronic Acid … Doctor's Best, MSM with OptiMSM®, 1,500 mg, 120 Tablets … NOW Foods, MSM, 1,000 mg, 240 Veg Capsules … Life Extension, MSM, 100 Capsules … Jarrow Formulas, Vegan MSM”
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Updated 2026-08-29. Every line above traces to a numbered source. Kozen-X is not a medical device and does not give medical advice. It lists what published sources have written down — nothing more. A pair not listed is unrecorded, not cleared. Before you start, stop or re-time anything, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.