Chondroitin is a widely used ingredient that occurs naturally in the body of warm-blooded animals, and forms an important building block of joint cartilage. Dozens of scientific studies with animals and humans have clearly demonstrated that dietary supplementation of chondroitin in combination with Glucosamine, another building block of cartilage, benefits joints. The best-known clinical study is the 4-year one known as the Glucosamine/chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT), conducted at 16 sites across the United States. This double-blind, placebo-controlled study was sponsored by the government funded National Institute of Health (NIH), and was published in 2005 in the New England Journal of Medicine. This study, which enrolled nearly 1, 600 patients, showed that when Glucosamine and Chondroitin were used in combination, they resulted in relief of knee pain in nearly 79% of patients with moderate to severe osteoarthritis; Significantly more than either the placebo control group, or patients that were treated with the common NSAID drug Celecoxib (Celebrex).