Good question Cortez. MSM is produced naturally by the bacteria in the intestinal tract. It is also found in all plant and animal tissue. There have been studies that show that at a dose of 3 grams twice a day, people had significant improvement in their osteoarthritis. We still don't understand why it works exactly. Two of the triple flex give you about 1.5 grams of MSM daily. The study never looked at MSM in lower dosages. I think that you're probably right. If you take in the supplement, your body doesn't recognize a need for the MSM so you won't absorb as much from dietary sources and your gut bacteria possibly won't produce as much. It will take some time for your system to catch up. Any way you cut it, the triple flex seems to help. All of my older patients (including my 85 year old grandmother) swear by it.