Using glutamine for gut health
My boyfriend recently started seeing a nutritionist who advised him to take glutamine once a day, first thing in the morning with water. I hadnt heard of this before, and strikingly the more I looked it up the more it was indicated for people with compromised gut health. Not fully understanding why my absolutely healthy boyfriend would be advised to incorporate this into his diet, I took it upon myself to do some research.
It turns out that glutamine is the most abundance amino acid in the intestinal system as it is obtained naturally in the body and through certain foods. The amino acid is used to maintain a strong intestinal barrier, and is a key player in your immune system. Coming back to my boyfriend, he is engaging in extreme exercise and it is the type of stress that not only uses the glutamine to promote protein and muscle growth, but exercise at this intensity can also use up your glutamine reserve. If you are working out for long periods of time or at a high intensity it is definitely advised to take glutamine powder once a day.
It has also been found that glutamine levels are quite low in individuals who have undergone bodily stress such as autoimmune disease, where inflammation can be detrimental to the glutamine production and to the mucosal lining of your gut.
It has been shown that glutamine intake can reverse the development of leaky gut. https://goodbyeleakygut.com/l-glutamine-leaky-gut/. Leaky gut happens when the mucosal lining of your intestinal tract is weak and thin, allowing minerals and nutrients to pass through the lining and into the blood stream where is can cause harm. Imagine your gut lining like a tightly wound net. Those with leaky gut have such big holes in the netting, letting things slip out where they don’t belong.
I took this fantastic image from this article here: https://www.soundprobiotics.com/blog/9-2015/leaky-gut-syndrome-athletes
If glutamine is overall a superhero for intestinal health and gut mucosal strengthening, what about glutamine for IBD? There are many studies out there that have tested the efficacy of glutamine to downregulate intestinal inflammation and have shown marked results. Some, limited number of studies have shown that this effect is also evident in humans. That being said, like the black box that is IBD, I have asked around and tons of people with IBD have ‘felt’ tremendous results with the extended use of glutamine.
So, I took it upon myself to join my boyfriend in a cool, crisp glass of glutamine water every morning. It doesnt taste like much, and I have no idea if its working, but it is natural and pretty much harmless. I started taking it about 3 weeks ago, and then had to stop because I took an international flight and couldnt think of any smart way to pack an obscure white powder in my bag. That pretty much means day 1 starts today, and I’ll report back in 60 days.
Is anyone else taking L-Glutamine? Do you like it?
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