The Benefits of Glutamine on Gut Health

There is a common misconception that you have to experience symptoms like bloating, or gas to be having gut problems. This is not the case. Around 22% of people who have digestive issues don’t have obvious digestive symptoms.

Recently, there has been a renewed focus on gut health and digestion. It can be difficult to differentiate between the products that work and the ones that do not so, where to start? There are many products on the market promising ways to improve your gut health and even cleanses that claim to clean out your gut and re-set your gut microbiota. It can be difficult to differentiate between the products that work and the ones that do not so, where to start?

One simple and affordable way to begin improving gut health is by supplementing with glutamine. Glutamine is considered a conditionally essential amino acid and is one of the most abundant amino acids in our blood. Our body uses a lot of this amino acid during times of intense physical stress.

One study in particular from PubMed looked at a group of 107 children and how they responded to L-glutamine. Half of the children took L-glutamine and the other half took a placebo. In just 120 days the children who received the L-glutamine supplement had improved intestinal barrier function.

L-glutamine has also been shown to reduce inflammatory bowel disease symptoms including people with ulcerative colitis.

There are many foods that contain L-glutamine such as bone broth and grass-fed beef. For a plant-based source, red cabbage, especially fermented in the form of sauerkraut, is abundant in L-glutamine and provides the gut with probiotics that help make glutamine more bioavailable.

Depending on the state of your gut, you may only need to add food sources to improve your gut health. If you need a more clinical-based approach, supplementing with 5-15g of L-glutamine a day is a good dose for most people. Also, looking for L-glutamine in powder form is more easily digestible than capsule form.

L-glutamine is a very important amino acid that is crucial for gut health. If you need to improve the state of your gut, adding glutamine into your supplement regimen is a great place to start!