L-glutamine: Good Or Bad?

[namklak]

I read that some people are taking amino acid L-Glutamine to promote small intestine healing. Well we are certainly all for that. For myself, I'm hoping someday my intestine will generate lactase again.

But I've seen conflicting information on glutamine. This is an excerpt from one post on this forum

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The damaging proteins are particularly rich in proline and glutamine (especially the amino acid sequences which are in the following orders: Pro-Ser-Gln-Gln and Gln-Gln-Gln-Pro). As peptides, some such as 33-MER, cannot be broken down any further. In people with celiac disease, 33-MER stimulates T-cells to produce antibodies. The antibodies, in turn, attack the villi in the small intestine, reducing their ability to absorb nutrients. It is important to note that these sequences are NOT found in the proteins of corn and rice."

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also, see this link

Open Original Shared Link

Personally, I've been gluten-free for two years, and within two weeks of taking L-Glutamine, I started losing weight again, and my stools were getting sticky again. The L-Glutamin I was taking claimed gluten-free on the bottle. So I stopped and a week later, I'm feeling my old gluten-free self.

Being a software engineer, I don't understand any of this... Can someone put this in layman's terms?

Has anyone seen a long-term gain from L-Glutamine?

Thanks,

Bob.

[lorka150]

Hi Bob,

I was recommended it when I was first diagnosed, and starting taking it. My liver levels went from relatively normal to soaring over 800 (they should be below 40).

As soon as I was off it, they went close to normal again (they are still a little high, but just about 150... Not 800!)

That's evidence enough for me that it wasn't the best choice. There are a few debates on the forum about this if you use the search.

[nettiebeads]

I use the Rexall brand from WalMart with no problems. I feel better on them than off.

Annette

[mouse]

I hope more people post on this subject. I have been taking L-Glutamine for some time - just as a preventive major, in case of accidental cross contamination. I only take one pill in the morning. I am wondering if my energy levels started dropping around the same time I started taking it. Three months after I started it, I started having constipation problems, which I had not expierenced since going gluten free a year and a half before I started the L-Glutamine. I never thought that there might be a correlation and now I wonder.

[utdan]

I just started taking a L-glutamine supplement and have been feeling worse. It is made by TwinLab. I'll have to stop/start taking it again to double check.

[KaitiUSA]

I think L-glutamine is a really good thing for your body to help heal. I was on that for a while to promote the healing of the intestinal lining.

[abbiekir]

There is another sequence of amino acids that also stimulates CD4 T-Cells to attack the intestine. That is found in the article Open Original Shared Link

That was found back in 2000 but the interesting part of this is that the immune system doesn't attack the amino acid sequence until an enzyme (tTG) comes along and puts in GLUTAMATE right in the middle of the sequence. Why is this interesting? Glutamate happens to be implicated in the cause and progression of Parkinson's disease. If you notice a recent thread on this website, many people have a parent with parkinson's who showed symptoms of celiac. Glutamate has been shown in deceased Parkinson's patients to have plugged up and/or altered the structure of the Blood-Brain-Barrier (the protective sheath of endothelial cells that is supposed to keep out damaging stuff circulating in the blood). If a BBB (blood-brain-barrier) is warped or altered by glutamate or something then of course a person is going to become sensitive to a whole host of foods and substances because they are getting in where they shouldn't be.

Hi Dan,

Thanks for your response from the other thread on Parkinsons

I have done some reading on MSG and wow you have me convinced. Then I came across another thread from this site that a member Rachael has talked a lot about her problems with MSG and she recommended the website MSGmyth which was helpful and I may order the book for recipes but what else is safe to eat? In terms of like food staples or basic stuff? Are there any more webistes you can suggest?

Just to add yes there are times when I did seem to have an intense reaction to emotional issues in my life but not sure if it could be considered out of the ordinary?? but maybe it was the antidepressants doing there thing? not sure?

[Guest BERNESES]

I have been taking L-Glutamine since last september. I actually just stopped last week because I was having surgery and the strange thing is I feel better. But it was gall bladder surgery so I don't know. Ugh! this stuffis so confusing.

I am embarassed to say that I don't understand much of the above posts. I think I need it in "L-Glutamine for Dummies" language.

[WorshipfulHeart]

I have a friend that has been studying amino acids, what they are used for and what they will do for your body. I have taken a few and have given some to my daughters. One thing that she is constantly telling me is that amino acids should not be taken constantly. YOur body naturally produces amino acids, when you have lower levels, you take the extras for a boost until your body regulates itself and then you stop taking the amino acid- regardless of which one it is. If you are taking too much then you will begin getting the reverse effects. I had been giving my daughter, who is gluten intolerant, an amino acid complex. She took it for about a month and a half and did fine. Just this week I have noticed some regression of symtoms so I took her off of them and she is doing well.

Another example of this , my friend was taking tyrosine for tiredness and lack of energy, it helped a lot at first but after a few weeks she began getting really tired again. She got off of the tyrosine and is fine now. Amino acids should not be taken for months or years at a time - as I have stated too much of one will cause an imbalance and give you the opposite results. Some people need that reregulating boost for a couple of weeks or a couple of months, but generally no more than that. I am by no means an expert in this but this is my basic understanding from someone who has become well versed and experienced in amino acid therapy.

Hope this helps.

God Bless!

Angela <><

[utdan]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for your response from the other thread on Parkinsons

I have done some reading on MSG and wow you have me convinced. Then I came across another thread from this site that a member Rachael has talked a lot about her problems with MSG and she recommended the website MSGmyth which was helpful and I may order the book for recipes but what else is safe to eat? In terms of like food staples or basic stuff? Are there any more webistes you can suggest?

Just to add yes there are times when I did seem to have an intense reaction to emotional issues in my life but not sure if it could be considered out of the ordinary?? but maybe it was the antidepressants doing there thing? not sure?

I really don't know why I chose to talk about glutamate in this thread (not enough sleep maybe). Anyways you can message me or make a new thread for everyone's benefit.

I highly recommend the book "Excitoxins --The Taste That Kills" by Dr. Russel L. Blaylock, Nuerosurgeon. His stuff is quoted by many doctors online. A good sample of the book can be found at: www.aapsonline.org/jpands/hacienda/excito.html

This MSG thing is really pretty scary. Powerful business is pushing it, but I don't want to get started on the FDA conspiracy thing. Online sources claim that any prepared foods that say "natural flavors" or "spices" or "extracts" or some sites even claim that anything that has been enriched with vitamins contains MSG. I don't currently know how much of all this is true but I'm going with the consensus on the web. I would like to be able to find a few industry professionals through the web and get their comments on how prevalent is MSG added to foods.

[clock]

These are some thoughts; please take at face value as an offer for clarification with no guarantees for accuracy, either on my part or on the part of the authors cited.

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Summary of below:

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- Glutamine helps to repair intestinal damage if it exists.

- Glutamine may become "conditionally essential" (that is, your body may require supplementation) during certain disease states/healing/etc.

- Short-term/as-needed use is thought to be safe in otherwise healthy (ie, no serious organ problems) people (for celiac disease, just make sure it is gluten-free).

- Long-term risks, if any, are unknown; it would be reasonable to assume its use is only needed for active recovery from damage, after which your body should be able to make what it needs from there.

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Explanation of DNA structure and what Glutamine is:

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Most of the body's functions occur through proteins. The function of the protein has much to do with its three-dimensional folded structure. Gluten itself is a composite of two proteins.

Proteins are made up of amino acids. Amino acids are made up of bases.

- DNA is made up of four bases (A,C,G,T) in different three-letter combinations.

- Every three bases are interpreted to make an amino acid(eg, CAA and CAG make glutamine; UGU and UGC make Cysteine).

- There will be a region that marks "start" and a region that marks "stop". The body continues to interpret these three-letter codes, making amino acid after amino acid, creating a longer and longer chain of amino acids until it is told to stop. Most are very, very long. (Just a made-up example, Ala-Cys-Asp-Glu is what four in a row could look like, although I'm not sure that particular sequence is meaningful).

- This resulting chain of amino acids is a protein that has some use/function in the body.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_standard_amino_acids:'>Open Original Shared Link:

"There are 22 standard amino acids, but only 21 are found in eukaryotes. Of the twenty-two, twenty are directly encoded by the universal genetic code. Humans can synthesize 11 of these 20 from each other or from other molecules of intermediary metabolism, but the other 9 essential amino acids (histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine) must be consumed in the diet. The remaining two, selenocysteine and pyrrolysine, are incorporated into proteins by unique synthetic mechanisms"

In the purest sense, it is not the amino acid that has an impact, it is the combination of amino acids (more properly, the final, folded, three-dimensional protein) that has a function.

Here are the amino acids: Open Original Shared Link

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What does it do?

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A few Wikipedia highlights on Glutamine:

"Glutamine plays a role in a variety of biochemical functions including:

* Protein synthesis, as any other amino acid.

* Regulation of acid-base balance in the kidney by producing ammonium.[3]

* Cellular energy, as a source, next to glucose.[4]

* Nitrogen donation for many anabolic processes.[2]

* Carbon donation, as a source, refilling the citric acid cycle.[5]"

"The most eager consumers of glutamine are the cells of intestines,[2] the kidney cells for the acid base balance, activated immune cells[7] and many cancer cells.[5] In respect to the last point mentioned, different glutamine analogues such as DON, Azaserine or Acivicin are tested as anti-cancer drugs."

"In catabolic states of injury and illness, glutamine becomes conditionally-essential (requiring intake from food or supplements). Glutamine has been studied extensively over the past 10

[Skylark]

Did you see that warning from moderators not to bump old threads? This is exactly what they were talking about.

[Rocky Road]

Hi Clock,

Thanks for the info on the Glutamine. I have been having severe problems with hypoglycemia since I restarted the glutamine. It makes sense.