What is MSM

MSM is an organic form of naturally-occurring sulfur. MSM is a part of the natural sulfur cycle and plays a crucial role in many important functions of the human body which help to maintain good health. As MSM has become more popular, there have been many MSM look-alike products that have entered the market and that may be contaminated. This is a great concern because not only can contaminations be harmful for human health, the effectiveness of the MSM is totally dependent on the quality of the materials from which it is manufactured. Unlicensed MSM is generally imported from China and has been produced by crystallization, an inferior technology which traps any contaminant in water. You can avoid the risk of these products by insisting on patented and pure OptiMSM.

OptiMSM™ is held to the highest quality standards, tested by independent laboratories to guarantee the absence of harmful metal and biological contaminants, and is always guaranteed to be 99.9% pure Methylsulfonylmethane.

OptiMSM™ is the world’s purest Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM). Every batch of OptiMSM is distilled for purity and undergoes the most rigorous analytical testing available, guaranteeing unsurpassed quality. OptiMSM is the only brand of MSM with published, peer- reviewed safety data.

What you should know about the Quality of MSM Click Here.

To read about a university study with OptiMSM™ Click Here.

Discover the OptiMSM difference. There are many different brands of MSM in the marketplace. When you see the distinctive OptiMSM logo on our MSM products, you know you're getting the original MSM from Cardinal Nutrition, exclusively used by the medical doctor who first brought MSM to the world, Stanley Jacob, M.D. OptiMSM is held to the highest quality standards, tested by independent laboratories to guarantee the absence of harmful metal and biological contaminants, and is always guaranteed 99.9% pure methylsulfonylmethane.

OptiMSM is Kosher Certified 

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Manufacturing Analysis

Is MSM Natural or Synthetic? Resolving the Controversy

by Alexander G. Schauss, Ph.D.

     There is controversy In the industry about the question of whether methylsulfonylmethane (also known as dimethyl sulfate or MSM is a "natural" or "synthetic" product. In some ingredient directories, MSM is listed as either natural or synthetic. How could the same product be both? By understanding how MSM is manufactured, one can answer the question.

     MSM has been around for more than 35 years. DMSO and MSM research can be traced back to the 1950s. In fact, there are more than 55,000 studies on DMSO alone. Since DMSO breaks down in the body to MSM and other sulfur compounds, there is considerable evidence of its safety, along with two acute toxicity studies on MSM that basically attest to it being as safe to consume as water.

     The most significant body of clinical evidence on the broad range of therapeutic applications for MSM as a dietary supplement comes from the work led by Stanley w Jacob, M.D., Professor of Surgery at the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Ore. Dr. Jacob has studied MSM's therapeutic benefits either administered intravenously or orally in more than 15,000 patients seen in his clinic at the medical school over the last three decades.

     Jacob is the senior author of The Miracle of MSM and MSM: The Definitive Guide. In these books, Jacob and his co-authors report how MSM has been found to significantly decrease the discomfort associated with arthritis, back pain, headaches, athletic injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome and a myriad of auto-immune diseases such as scleroderma, lupus and fibromyalgia. 

     This product has been so effective in helping patients with these problems since its introduction into the natural products marketplace that MSM has almost surpassed glucosamine and chondroitin as an analgesic dietary supplement, as well as for allergy relief and as an anti inflammatory agent.

     MSM is a simple molecule that contains eleven atoms bonded into one configuration. There are no isomeric forms. MSM that is manufactured by humans is indistinguishable from the MSM found in nature. 

     It is important to understand how MSM is made in nature to appreciate the similarity between this process and how chemical engineers have learned to produce MSM. Microscopic phytoplankton living in the oceans eventually die and begin to decompose. As the biomass decays, it gives oil a highly odoriferous compound called dimethylsulfide (DMS). This gas is highly volatile and taken up by our atmosphere. Samples of air taken at various elevations in our atmosphere record the presence of DMS.

     Both oxygen and sunlight react with DMS; that causes DMS to go through a series of oxidation steps that include the formation of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) and other sulfates. Studies on how clouds form have demonstrated that microscopic particles of sulfate are required for water vapor in the atmosphere to form clouds.

     The water droplets "absorb" DMSO and MSM since both are highly soluble in water. Eventually, when the clouds release their water droplets as rain, trace amounts of these compounds drop to the Earth to be used by plants or returned to the sea to repeat the process.

      Plants and animals take in sulfur by using the MSM and other sulfur compounds that have come from the atmosphere. This process is essential for all life on this planet. One would therefore think that plants and microscopic animals would be an ideal "natural" source for MSM since they require it and concentrate it in their tissue and cells. Unfortunately, this is not possible since the amount of MSM in plant or animal cells is no more than a few parts per million, too little for commercial extraction.

     Hence, the only viable method for producing large commercial quantities of these life-giving sulfur compounds is by using chemical technology. Therefore, one can not buy "natural" MSM. It is not commercially possible. Instead, one must rely on chemical engineering and the skills of chemical engineers to produce commercial quantities of MSM.

How is MSM made?

     All MSM is formed by catalytic reaction of hydrogen peroxide with DMSO. All DMSO is formed by reaction of nitrogentetroxide and oxygen with DMS. The oxygen atoms for these reactions come from the atmosphere, the same source used in nature.

     DMS is made commercially by two competing processes. The most common method, in simplified terms, is reaction of sulfur with natural gas (methane). Methyl alcohol made from natural gas is combined with sulfur in the form of hydrogen sulfide or carbon disulfide In a vapor phase catalytic reaction to form DMS and methylmercaptan (MM). MM is primarily used to make the amino acid methionine, another dietary supplement. DMS is sold for various industrial uses or converted to DMSO. This process is generally favored due to high conversion yield, low energy consumption and its independence from a paper mill waste stream. It is the least "natural" of the two processes.

     The alternate method for manufacturing DMSO which is used in the production of OptiMSM (Cardinal Nutrition) combines sulfur with paper mill pulping liquids to make DMS. Sulfur is added to black liquor and heated to about 460 F under high pressure. Crude DMS is stripped from the liquor after about an hour. This process is very energy intensive and limited by low yield and pulping capacity. The black liquor is burned in a recovery boiler to dispose of the remaining organic material from the wood and to reclaim the inorganic chemicals for recycle to make fresh pulping liquor. Crude DMS is purified by a series of extraction and distillation steps to make a product for sale or conversion to DMSO.

     Due to the volatility of sulfur compounds, only a single  purpose facility can prevent any cross-contamination that might occur if other sulfur-containing products were produced at the same location. ONLY ONE manufacturer has such dedicated facilities: Cardinal Nutrition, the maker of OptiMSM.  Distillation processes prevent contamination including heavy metals and residual DMSO. Low moisture content helps prevent microbiological contamination and increases stability and shelf life.

     In summary, nature does make MSM. However, the amount of MSM found in nature in cells as a source is on a scale so small that the only way to produce commercial quantities for human or veterinarian use is to rely on the manufacturing methods developed by chemical engineers. The process nature uses to produce MSM is rather similar to how humans produce it commercially. But MSM is not "natural," rather it is a synthetic product. The confusion in qualifying the source of MSM as "natural" or "synthetic" comes from the fact that MSM is identical in structure whether it comes from the factory or is found in nature.

     Alexander C. Schauss, Ph.D., is a former Clinical Professor of Natural Products Research ad tile National College Of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Ore. For the previous 21 years, he was director of Natural and Medicinal Products Research, Life Sciences Division, AIBMR Inc. in Tacoma, Wash. Schauss is the author of  Minerals, Trace Elements arid Human Health (4th Edition), Biosocial Publications, 1999.

Natural Products Industry Insider 12/13/99 
Reprinted with permission from Cardinal Nutrition, Inc.

Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM, or dimethylsulfone) is an organosulfur compound with the formula (CH₃)₂SO₂. This colourless solid features the sulfone functional group and is considered a relatively inert chemically. It occurs naturally in some primitive plants and is present in small amounts in many foods and beverages and it is sold as a dietary supplement.

MSM is structurally related to dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), but the behavior of these two species is different. DMSO is a highly polar solvent and an excellent ligand, with water-like dissolving properties whereas MSM is relatively less polar and less reactive.

MSM relieves pain and inflammation in several ways. It blocks pain impulses by precluding their passage along C fibers within nerves. These fibers carry messages of pain from a site of damaged tissue in the body to the brain. MSM also reduces inflammation. Inflammation can place pressure on nerves and other tissues which intensifies pain. MSM promotes blood flow, which enhances the healing processes. MSM reduces muscle spasm – a condition invariably present when the musculoskeletal system is damaged.

Individuals taking MSM as a nutritional supplement frequently experience a normalization of bowel function with relief of constipation. When using MSM there will be a lessening of scar tissue, softer skin, thicker hair, less brittle nails, and one will experience an increase in energy levels.

To read a list of MSM related articles Click Here. 

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