****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I would probably say this should be a 4.5 rating; but I don't get that option. I have a dog that needs Glucosamine-Chondroitin (G-C). She also needs some Ibuprofen, all on account of arthritis in her right (wrist) paw. I bought some "doggie" Ibuprofen that costs about 20 times as much as the normal stuff, from the Vet. Now, that Doggie G-C cost about 6 times as much as the human form of it that I buy for myself. But the main stuff I buy for myself has MSM in it. I called the supplier of that stuff I take, and they wouldn't tell me how much MSM is in it. They said it was a proprietary secret.I looked up all the other people who sell the same strength medication, and ALL of them put 400mg of MSM in every pill and capsule they sell that contains the exact same amounts of G-C. For Dogs, one must regulate MSM very closely. It is guestimated that they can take up to about 2mg of MSM/kilogram body weight/per day with no problem. If dogs get too much MSM, they can develop cataracts in their eyes. But MSM is a very important thing when it comes to arthritis, because it stimulates the secretion of joint lubricants, in dogs and humans.G-C provides the materials for the rebuilding of degraded (ground-down) bones in joints. MSM provides the lubricant to minimize the grinding and degradation. Ibuprofen takes away the inflammation that puts extra pressure on the joint in question. Such inflammation promotes the grinding and degradation. This is why I bought these mortars and pastels.Now, I must say that veterinarians advise strongly against giving dogs human ibuprofen. Human ibuprofen focuses mostly on some type of inflammation designated as "Type 1." Arthritis in dogs occurs mainly with a type of inflammation designated as "Type 2." And there is NO doubt that giving too much human ibuprofen to a dog can lead to kidney and liver damage, even failure of one or both of these organs. But the research is there. Type 1, and Type 2, are not all that different. Doggie Ibuprofen focuses better on Type 2 than on Type 1, but it does both, as does human Ibuprofen.So what I did was to maximize the G-C, keep the MSM (by combining other sources of G-C with more organic sources of pain relief with small doses of MSM), and I did that for a few months. I had to travel out of town recently. My dogs had plenty of food and water for 4 days. I came back, and my dog with the arthritis (Jynx) had hardly a limp at all. That was why I bought these things, along with a milligram scale to make sure I got the amounts right, at safe levels.She gets the ground up powder in some soup I make for her, and for me. Whatever sort of Ibuprofen you give a dog should always be provided with food, so I dissolve it in the soup. She loves it, and she has nearly no limp at all, anymore. How ru going to force a dog to eat after you give it a pill? You have to give the medication in food, to start with.These things work perfectly. I've never needed the biggest one, yet. Who knows?I am very happy with this purchase.I wanted something to grind my Vit C tabs with, as the tabs were not easy to swallow, and given how important Vit C has become in the treatment of Covid-19, and having dug into the research myself, taking a fair amount daily preventively seems to be a no brainer.Some ground breaking, interesting and very recent research has demonstrated there is a rapid transport system for Vit C directly from the stomach (if doses and stomach acidity are high enough), and the redox activity of ascorbic acid (vs none seen with the buffered form sodium ascorbate). It demonstrated very high doses being rapidly absorbed from the stomach on par with IV Iv adminustration of Vit C. So mixing the ground up Vit C tabs with something to take or drink seemed like the a smart plan of action.I decided, after much looking, that a ceramic motar and pestle was the best way to go since steel can rust, and more porous materials can absorb odors and stains. I decided on this set due to added value of the various sizes included. I am quite happy with the quality and ease of use.To initially break up the Vit C caplets I use the small mortar with the large pestle. They work very well together and make short work of it. Then, after getting it into a fairly fine-to-medium powder, I use the smaller pestle to finish getting the powder to a fine and uniform consistancy. This is all done very quickly. I then combine the powdered Vit C with something else to ingest it. I've been using a high quality extra virgin olive oil with a 'press date' (something hard to find, but tells you how fresh it really is), and when you add Vit C, wow the flavor pops! This has become part of my nutritional regime for staying well in these troubled times.I've seen no staining or wearing to any pieces, and they are easy to clean. I am very pleased with this purchase. For around $15, this seems to be a very good value.This is a nice cute little set of Mortars & Pestles. There's just one thing about these that I really don't like. And that is the rough surface on the ends of the Pestles and on the inside bottom of the of the Mortars. They are very rough and feeling them is like dragging my fingernails across a really rough chalk board. To use one and actually rub the end of the pestle across the bottom of the Mortar just sets my nerves on fire and makes them try to go crawling off somewhere on their own. Just thinking about using one of these gives me what me mum would call a bad case of the shidders. I got out my air powered high speed angle grinder and used a special sanding disc made for extremely hard metals that I figured would work on ceramics and used it to smooth down that rough surface on them. I got most of the worst of it smoothed down a little bit but just lightly rubbing the end of the pestle in the bottom of the mortar is still like dragging my fingernails across a genuine slate chalk board. Gives me the shidders just thinking about it! I cant even pick one of them up now without my skin wanting to crawl off someplace and hide. ;-)So if fingernails dragged across a chalk board sets your nerves crawling you probably wouldn't like trying to use one of these. Now if things like that don't bother you then you would probably like this set. Now if I can get the bottom inside the Mortar smoothed down a little more then I'll be able to use them, I hope.The rough finish on the inside bottom of the Mortar and on the end of the Pestle is the reason that I gave these a 3 star rating. I suppose they made them this way to help them be able to crush things to a powder easier. Any who, if the fingernails on a chalk board thing bothers you, you might want to try a set of glass ones instead of the ceramic. I wish I had ordered the glass one instead too. If I cant get at least one set of these polished down and get rid of the rough then I'm ordering a glass one.as advertized, good productHonestly, just buy a decent one for 20-40 bucks, or a good one for more than that. Maybe these are just supposed to sit on a shelf and do nothing, and if that is the case, after I got them that is all they did. The small one was just too small, and nothing felt right. I might have used the bigger one a couple times before I just gave up. Every time I applied pressure I felt like they would break. Bottom line, if you want little toys to sit on your window sill, I’m sure these would do. If you really want to get into grinding up and mixing herbs and spices, do yourself a favour and get a real mortar and pestle.Me encantó el producto. Inmediatamente molí algunas cosas y lo hacen a la perfección los tres morteros. Sus tamaños son ideales para diferentes tareas y parecen ser muy sólidos y durables. Me encantaron.Me han funcionado de maravilla. Pensaba en un inicio que el pequeño sería el que menos usaría pero en realidad es el que más útil me ha sido. Los recomiendo ampliamente.Los morteros están muy bonitos,su tamaño es ideal para moler porciones pequeñas. Además lucen donde se pongan.Tamaños justos para cantidades pequeñas y los materiales exceles e igual su estética.
