Sometimes it feels like my life is dominated by pills. I’ve got pills I take before breakfast, pills after breakfast, pills with lunch, pills after dinner, pills before bed. Pills, pills, pills, pills, pills. 

Some of them, I’m stuck with (hooray genetic predisposition to high blood pressure!). But others are supposed to be there to make my life better. Like, for example, the regimen I take to support my joints. 

Now, I’m not old (though I will gladly tell you to get off my lawn if you attempt to say otherwise), but the older I get the more I can feel my body slowing down. And I want to be going out and biking and hiking and dancing and… all the other things that I’ve spent my life doing. Hence, the joint pills. But oh, the pills. I’m pushing a dozen on a good day, plus some Tylenol on a bad one.

Feeling like I was drowning in pills, I decided to see if there was a better way to take my vitamins. Unfortunately, they don’t make Flintstone gummies full of Chondroitin and Glucosamine. But I did manage to find something even better: Healthycell’s Joint Health & Mobility MicroGel, an easy-to-take pouch that covers all of my joint pills in one go.

The MicroGel is the powerhouse of the Healthycell

If vitamin gel is triggering flashbacks to retrofuturist visions of eating food in pill form and pills in food form, then you’re not alone. Personally, I’m not looking forward to spaghetti al capsulé, but I have to say that being able to toss back a day’s worth of pills in a single, orange-flavored shot is a much better alternative than trying to choke down a half dozen capsules in a single go.

But the real appeal of the microgel goes beyond just convenience. This patent-pending tech actually increases nutrient absorption by 165% and provides a 144% higher maximum nutrient level (as backed by this peer-reviewed study). My highschool biology is a little out of date, but thankfully, Healthycell breaks down how it all works.

To form the microgels, the Healthycell team starts by dissolving fat-soluble nutrients in natural oil and water-soluble nutrients in water. This fully solubilized form makes them easier for your GI tract to absorb, hence the significantly increased absorption rate. 

From there, the water and oil are mixed together with natural emulsifiers to create a fully-soluble emulsion (think salad dressing after you shake it up). Natural ingredients are then added in to form a gel matrix which is subjected to high-sheer mixing (the scientific version of putting that salad dressing into the blender), which forms microgel particles that hold everything together. 

At the end of the process, you wind up with a nutrient-rich gel that’s more easily absorbed by your body. And as an added bonus, you get to skip out on all those other synthetic, unnecessary “other ingredients” listed on your supplement bottles. No binding glues, fillers, coatings, or anti-caking agents, just the stuff your joints crave in the most effective possible form.

Tasting, tasting, 1, 2, 3…

With a semi-firm (gel-like, if you will) grasp of the science, and a much firmer appreciation of 165% better nutrient absorption, I decided to give Healthycell a go.

The Joint Health + Mobility gel pack in particular stood out to me, packing 11 pills into one dose and promising joint lubrication, inflammaging support, and connective tissue stability. And while my inner skeptic was worried about orange-flavored anything, a quick look at the pill bottles on my kitchen counter told me that I knew I at least had to try.

Thankfully, the ordering process itself was simple enough – no need for groundbreaking technology there. I went with a monthly subscription to save about 10%, but you can save about 15% if you opt for a 3-month subscription. I scored free shipping by choosing a subscription, but you can also get them delivered with Prime if that’s more your speed. 

Once it arrived at my door the biggest hurdle was the thought of taking (drinking?) the gel. Would it be goopy? Would it be slippery? And what would the orange flavor actually taste like?

You’ve got some options for your “delivery method” of choice. The Healthycell website says you can “shoot it” (i.e. drink it straight from the pouch), mix it into a drink, or blend it into a smoothie. All enticing, but I decided to throw back to my younger days and take my first “shot” in years. The texture was surprisingly perfectly fine, easy to drink and not gloopy enough to linger around. The flavor was… honestly not bad! I was expecting Delsym cough medicine and instead got a pleasantly tart orange. On day 2 I actually mixed it in with water (it dissolved almost instantly) and enjoyed a glass.

How the supplement stack stacks up

So the science checked out, the ordering was easy, and the flavor and texture were pleasantly palatable… But the big question remained: would this actually help my joints? 

Healthycell combines three joint health blends, each with different goals. Their aims are to support connective tissue (cartilage, ligaments, and tendons), provide joint lubrication (by way of hydration), and reduce joint irritation (cut down on inflammation). 

All in all, the vitamins, supplements, and nutrients they included in the pack matched up almost 1-to-1 with what I had been taking before. Take a peek at their main ingredients and what they can do for your joints:

• Curcumin – reduces joint discomfort and inflammation
• Glucosamine – increases the cartilage and fluid around joints and/or helps prevent their breakdown
• Chondroitin – helps keep cartilage healthy by absorbing fluid (particularly water) into the connective tissue
• Omega-3 – promotes the reduction of inflammation in joints
• Hyaluronic acid – increases the density of synovial fluid and delays further cartilage degradation and forms a protective layer between joints 
• Bioperine – helps with curcumin absorption
• Collagen precursors – stimulates cartilage repair in joints, improving range of motion and reducing discomfort
  

Reviews you can gel with

No good review is complete without a proper review of reviews. So if you don’t want to trust just me, take a look at what other Healthycell customers are saying about their experience with the Joint Health and Mobility MicroGel.