Amino Acids--friend Or Foe?

[NewB]

Hi!

My user name says it all: However someone recently gave me L-Glutamine to help "build my immune system" It is supposed to "aid rapidly growing cells (immune system lyphocytes and intestinal cell enterocytes). ..and is a nitrogen transporter."

I've just started to read about the peptide chains set off by certain proteins affecting celiacs... and, well with a name like Glutamine it made me wonder.

[Nancym]

Glutamine should not contain any gluten, just a coincidence about the name. And it sure seemed to help my gut. I was taking 4 grams a day. I only take it when I'm poopy.

[tarnalberry]

Glutamine is one of the 20 amino acids - many of which are vital. They group together in long chains to form proteins - such as gliadin (one of the glutens), casein (dairy protein), albumin (egg protein), and so on. A particular portion of gliadin (and the similar barley, rye, and - to a lesser degree - oat) protein has a 33 amino acid long sequence that is a problem. When taken as a whole, it triggers the celiac reaction.

It's not any of the amino acids individually that are the problem, it's having them together in that order that causes them to be the problem they are for people with celiac.

Baring a few specialized conditions (like maple syrup urine disease and phenylketonuria), amino acids on their own are not harmful, and many of them are essential (they can't be synthesized from other amino acids in the body). How much you get in your diet depends on the food you eat, and is where the idea of "protein combining" or "food combining" comes from for vegetarians - to get a balanced intake of protein. (It's not that hard, it's just where the idea started from, because different foods have different balances of amino acids.)

[GlutenWrangler]

Glutamine is synthesized naturally in our bodies. It is also helpful in the facilitation of many processes in the body. The body's supply of Glutamine can be reduced in people with celiac disease. Supplementing your diet with L-Glutamine can be helpful to the healing process. Also, the name has nothing to do with gluten.

Amino acids cannot be defined as "friend or foe". Some are essential to our survival. You will find amino acids everywhere. It is true that a portion of gliadin is toxic to celiacs, but that is just one amino acid peptide sequence, and in no way encompasses all amino acids. The L-Glutamine is perfectly safe, unless of course you have negative side effects.

-Brian