L-Glutamine Supplement: Good Or Bad?

[breavenewworld]

i'm thinking about taking an amino acid called glutamine to help repair my intestines.

this is from the Great Plains Laboratory website:

In celiac disease, there is also an increase in the blood of antibodies to wheat. There is also a marked increase in antibodies called endomysial antibodies. The exact nature of the endomysial antigen has recently been identified as the tissue transglutaminase enzyme.

Researchers in Norway think that transglutaminase facilitates the physical linkage of the carboxamide group of an amino acid called glutamine in gluten to an epsilon-amino group of a lysine residue in transglutaminase in the intestinal tract. (The normal physiological function of transglutaminase is probably the repair of injured or inflamed tissue by cross-linking extracellular matrix proteins in the tissue, thus stabilizing the damaged tissue and protecting the surrounding tissue from further damage.)

Since gluten has an abundance of the amino acid glutamine, it is especially vulnerable to this reaction with transglutaminase. This abnormally linked molecule is then perceived as a foreign antigen by the immune system and antibodies to transglutaminase begin to be produced, inhibiting the normal function of transglutaminase in repairing damaged intestinal mucosa.

so my question is, would the amino acid L-glutamine help by giving the transglutaminase something to link with the lysine residue, or will it possibly cause an immune reaction (and further inflammation) because it is something found in gluten? i know that i have antibodies to transglutaminase present in my gut, so i don't know if i want to encourage its activity or not... or, should i wait and maybe those auto-immune antibodies will decrease with time away from gluten, then take L-glutamine later?

i would love to know what you think.

Thank you!!

[txplowgirl]

Hi There, Now, I don't know anything about helping with healing but I do know that if I take 2000 mgs of L-Glutamine with a glass of water it helps me tremendously with my gluten symptoms.

Vicky

[butterfl8]

I second Vicky! I take L-glutamine after a glutening and it helps. I also took it right after my diagnosis upon recommendation of the nutritionist I saw. She said that hospitals even use it to help intestinal healing. She recommended 2000 mg, 3x per day. Enjoy!

-Daisy

[breavenewworld]

thank you girls i'll add it to my list of supplements to introduce - trying to do everything one at a time and see if i react...

but it sounds like it may work quite well!