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by Robert Crayhon, M.S.
Glutamine: The Supernutrient for Weight Loss, Digestive Health and Immune Power
Glutamine is a nutrient with an impressive range of health benefits. It helps balance blood sugar, build lean muscle and strengthen the body’s defenses. How does this amino acid do so many things? Because of its unique Robin Hood-like nature; it distributes nitrogen freely to the cells which need it most. Since many cells throughout the body—including immune, gut and muscle cells—need nitrogen as a fuel and basic building block, giving your body glutamine has powerful and wide-ranging health effects.1
Glutamine is also an excellent brain fuel which helps keep mental energy up and cravings down.2
Glutamine is a must supplement for anyone who skips meals. Why? One of the most important reasons to eat regular meals is to maintain muscle tissue. Whether your goal is weight loss, lowered cholesterol, a leaner physique, increased energy or just maintaining high level health, you always need to optimize the amount of muscle on your body. More muscle burns more fat and lowers cholesterol. More muscle makes you look better. By helping us maintain and grow muscle tissue, glutamine helps us lose weight, lower cholesterol and look and feel fitter.
Your body needs a steady supply of protein or it will break down muscle for energy. When you wake up in the morning your body is already in the process of breaking down muscle tissue. You need to stop that process immediately. You can either eat a healthy protein-rich breakfast or, if you’re too busy, take 1–2 teaspoons of glutamine in water or juice. Either way you must begin your day with protein.
By so doing—whether you get your needed protein through food or glutamine—you will instantly give the body the nitrogen it needs to build and maintain muscle. If you do any kind of exercise—walking, aerobics, weight training, yoga—you do so to gain more muscle and become more lean. Why undermine these efforts by skipping meals? If you skip breakfast or eat low protein meals throughout the day, you are going to slowly lose muscle tissue. The body builds muscle with exercise plus protein, so make sure to take a teaspoon of glutamine whenever you find you don’t have time for a meal. Taking a teaspoon before and after exercise is also a good idea to help you maximize your results. You’ll quickly see the difference optimizing protein intake creates. And don’t worry, glutamine won’t make you muscle-bound. It will just help you attain the leaner, fitter physique you want and help you fit more easily into your clothes.
Sports Applications
Glutamine is an ideal supplement to combine with exercise. Prolonged exercise lowers glutamine levels in the body, sometimes for as long as two weeks after the event.3 Glutamine helps the body store more glycogen, the energy reserve in the liver and muscle that fuels exercise.4 It enhances growth hormone secretion, which in turn increases muscle growth and overall health.5 Glutamine also helps prevent muscle soreness by speeding muscle recovery.
Supporting Digestive Health
Glutamine is the single most important nutrient needed for a healthy digestive tract. Glutamine is called “the intestinal permeability factor” because of its ability to maintain the integrity of the intestinal wall.6
It is important to keep our intestinal tract from becoming permeable. If our intestinal wall allows large food molecules into the body, a host of problems can develop: arthritis, disturbed immune function, autoimmune diseases, food allergies and even mood disorders and mental illness. This leaky gut syndrome can be greatly helped by taking 10–30 grams of glutamine (3–10 tsp.) per day for a month. Glutamine is essential for the treatment of Crohn’s disease, colitis,7 inflammatory bowel disease8 ulcers and diarrhea.9 Glutamine also lessens stomach inflammation during chemotherapy.10
Fighting Colds and Flus
Glutamine is a major energy source for the immune system and its varied cells.11 Viral infections from colds and flus to conditions like HIV all dramatically lower glutamine levels, making supplementation essential.12 We never want a glutamine deficiency because this will lower levels of our protective T cells13 and reduce the ability of macrophages to kill viruses and bacteria.14 Glutamine is a must supplement for fighting any kind of cold, flu or immune weakness. It is especially important when patients are sick and not able to eat well.
Speeds Wound Healing
Glutamine speeds wound healing15 and is very important for burn and trauma victims.14 The body cannot make enough glutamine to meet its needs during any periods of physical stress or injury and supplementation is essential under such circumstances.16 Glutamine should be given to all post-surgical patients17 for it improves hospital outcomes and shortens hospital stays.18 In cirrhosis, glutamine is also very beneficial.19 It may not be desirable in very late stage liver failure, however, for then the liver cannot handle glutamine effectively.
Helping Cancer Patients
Glutamine is an essential supplement for cancer patients because it
• enhances immune function
• protects the body from side effects from radiation, chemotherapy and surgery and
• enhances the effectiveness of chemotherapeutic drugs, including methotrexate.20 Glutamine also protects against infections in patients undergoing bone marrow transplants.21 Doses used with cancer patients are in the range of 10 to 40 grams (3-14 teaspoons) per day given in divided doses.
More Benefits of Glutamine
Glutamine increases production of glutathione, the main antioxidant of the body. This in turn boosts immune function, protects all tissues from damage and detoxifies harmful substances. Glutamine is an important precursor for neurotransmitter substances in the brain and supports brain wellness and mental energy. When 12 grams (four teaspoons) were given to alcoholics, glutamine eliminated alcohol cravings in 75 percent of those studied.22
Glutamine helps promote milk production in lactating women.
Since glutamine dissolves instantly in water and has no taste, the powder form is recommended. This allows for maximum purity as well as economy. If using capsules, three 1000 mg capsules of glutamine equals one teaspoon of powder. Glutamine is very safe and without side effects.
References
1. Nurjhan, N., Bucci, A., Perriello, G., et al. “Glutamine: a major gluconeogenic precursor and vehicle for interorgan carbon transport in man,” J Clin Invest (1995). Vol. 95(1) pp. 272–7.
2. Curthoys, N. P, Watford, M. “Regulation of glutaminase activity and glutamine metabolism” Annual Rev Nutr (1995). Vol. 15 pp. 133–59.
3. Keast, D., Arstein, D., Harper, W., Fry, R.W., Morton, A. R. “Depression of plasma glutamine concentration after exercise stress and its possible influence on the immune system,” Med J Aust (1995). Vol. 162(1) pp. 15–8.
4. Varnier, M., Leese, G., Thompson, J., Rennie, M. J. “Stimulatory effect of glutamine on glycogen accumulation in human skeletal muscle,” Am J Physiol (1995). Vol. 269(2 Pt 1) pp. 309–15.
5. Welbourne, T. C. “Increased plasma bicarbonate and growth hormone after an oral glutamine load,” Am J Clin Nutr (1995). Vol. 61(5) pp. 1058–61.
6. van der Hulst, R.R., van Kreel, B. K., von Meyenfeldt, M., et al. “Glutamine and the preservation of gut integrity [see comments],” Lancet (1993). Vol. 341(8857) pp.1363–5.
7. Harding, K. “The Use of Glutamine and its Implications for the WOC Nurse,” J Wound Ostomy Continence Nurs (2000). 27(1) pp. 32–35.
8. Peck. “Glutamine Should Be Figured Into Inflammatory Bowel Disease Formulations,” Family Practice News (June 1, 1994). p. 22.
9. Savarese, D., Al-Zoubi, A., Boucher, J. “Glutamine for irinotecan diarrhea.” J Clin Oncol, (2000). Vol. 18(2) p. 450.
10. Skubitz, K. M., Anderson, P. M. “Oral glutamine to prevent chemotherapy induced stomatitis: a pilot study,” J Lab Clin Med (1996). Vol. 127(2) pp. 22–8.
11. Newsholme, E. A., Parry-Billings, M. “Properties of glutamine release from muscle and its importance for the immune system,” JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr (1990). Vol. 14 (4 Suppl) pp. 63S–67S.
12. Greig, J. E., Rowbottom, D. G., Keast, D. “The effect of a common (viral) stress on plasma glutamine concentration [letter].” Med J Aust (1995). Vol. 163(7) pp. 385, 388.
13. Ziegler, T. R., Young, L. S., Benfell, K., et al. “Clinical and metabolic efficacy of glutamine-supplemented parenteral nutrition after bone marrow transplantation. A randomized, double-blind, controlled study.” Ann Intern Med (1992). Vol. 116(10) pp. 821–8.
14. Parry-Billings, M., Evans, J., Calder, P. C., Newsholme, E. A. “Does glutamine contribute to immunosuppression after major burns?” Lancet (1990). Vol. 336(8714) pp. 523–5.
15. Moskovitz, B., Katz, Y., Singer, P., Nativ, O., Rosenberg, B. “Glutamine metabolism and utilization: relevance to major problems in health care,” Pharmacol Res (1994). Vol. 30(1) pp. 61–71.
16. Gore, D. C., Jahoor, F. “Glutamine kinetics in burn patients. Comparison with hormonally induced stress in volunteers.” Arch Surg (1994). Vol. 129(12) pp. 1318–23.
17. Klimberg, V. S., Salloum, R.M., Kasper, M., et al. “Oral glutamine accelerates healing of the small intestine and improves outcome after whole abdominal radiation,” Arch Surg (1990). Vol. 125(8) pp. 1040–5.
18. Pastores, S. M., Kvetan, V., Katz, D. P. “Immunomodulatory effects and therapeutic potential of glutamine in the critically ill surgical patient,” Nutrition (1994). Vol. 10(5) pp. 385–91.
19. Teran, J. C., Mullen, K. D., McCullough, A. J. “Glutamine—a conditionally essential amino acid in cirrhosis?” Am J Clin Nutr (1995). Vol. 62(5) pp. 897–900.
20. Kovacevic, Z., Morris, H. P. “The role of glutamine in the oxidative metabolism of malignant cells,” Cancer Res (1972). Vol. 32(2) pp. 326–33.
21. MacBurney, M., Young, L.S., Ziegler, T. R., Wilmore, D. W., “A cost-evaluation of glutamine-supplemented parenteral nutrition in adult bone marrow transplant patients,” J Am Diet Assoc (1994). Vol. 94(11) pp. 1263–6.
22. Rogers, P. “Review of Nutrition,” Journal Stud. Alcohol (1957). Vol. 18(4) pp. 581–7.
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