What is Glutamine?

There are 20 amino acids utilized by our genetic code to manufacture proteins. Glutamine is the most abundant and versatile.¹

Research shows that it may improve digestive and gut health and enhance the body’s response to exercise.^1,2

Researchers consider glutamine to be semi-essential because the body often doesn’t produce enough.³ The difference needs to be made up by oral intake.

Many people take whey or vegan protein, which already contains glutamine. For some individuals, however, this might not be sufficient.

While glutamine is found throughout the body, about 30% of total glutamine is used just in the intestines.⁴ Because of this, a depletion of glutamine can be especially consequential to gut health.

Three randomized, controlled studies have shown that glutamine use benefits intestinal health:

• Thirty-three obese or overweight adults received either glutamine or the amino acid L-alanine for two weeks to analyze changes in gut microbiota.⁵ Those who received glutamine had a decreased ratio of Firmicutes bacteria to Bacteroidetes bacteria. Imbalance of this ratio is considered dysbiosis. Higher ratios are usually seen in obesity and in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).⁶ The improved gut microbiota balance with the use of glutamine suggests it is a good candidate to help restore gut flora balance.
• Ten active men received glutamine or a placebo before intense exercise, to study gastrointestinal permeability differences post-exercise.⁷ Increased intestinal permeability, also known as "leaky gut," is related to multiple digestive disorders. Those taking glutamine had decreased gastrointestinal permeability compared to those in the placebo group.
• In a larger study, 106 participants with irritable bowel syndrome took glutamine or a placebo for eight weeks.⁸ Irritable bowel syndrome severity scores were reduced by 50 points or more in 79.6% of the glutamine group but in only 5.8% of the placebo group.

Additional studies have shown that glutamine may:

• Improve immune function in heavy-load-training athletes,⁹
• Reduce the accumulation of blood ammonia (believed to be a cause of fatigue) in high-level endurance athletes,¹⁰
• Decrease muscle soreness following eccentric exercise (a workout in which the muscles get longer in response to a force, for instance, the downward phase of a biceps curl),¹¹
• Reduce symptoms for sickle cell anemia patients,¹² and
• Reduce chemotherapy- and radiation-induced mucositis (inflammation of the mucous membrane) in cancer patients.¹³

To summarize, research has shown that glutamine can improve intestinal health and exercise response. 

Material used with permission of Life Extension. All rights reserved.