Glutamine
•Last Updated: January 9 2023
Glutamine is an amino acid that may benefit the body when it is under a period of great physical stress, such as after surgery, burns, or radiation exposure.
Glutamine is most often used for
Last Updated: January 9 2023
Glutamine is one of the 20 amino acids that make up all proteins. It is conditionally essential, meaning it is needed during traumatic conditions like illness, injury, or surgery. It is the most abundant amino acid in blood serum, and it tends to decrease in proportion to the acuteness of trauma to the body.[88][89]
The main benefit of glutamine is improved outcomes in trauma, burns, and injuries.[90] It has also been found to affect nitrogen balance (i.e., reduce protein depletion), improve immune function, and reduce infectious morbidity in adults going in for abdominal surgery for peritonitis (an infection of the abdomen).[91] In addition, glutamine may reduce gut permeability (lactulose/mannitol ratio), inflammation (IL-6, TNF-ɑ, C-reactive protein), hospital stay length, and mortality.[88]
In people undergoing radiation therapy for head and neck cancer, glutamine reduced the severity of oral mucositis. This painful condition results from the death of the cells lining the mouth and is often a reason to halt the course of radiation. Post-radiation, glutamine was found to reduce the use of analgesic opioids, nasogastric feeding, and treatment interruptions.[92]
In addition, glutamine may reduce symptom scores of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) alongside a low-FODMAP diet.[93] Glutamine was found to have no significant effect in the context of Crohn’s disease, though sample sizes were small.[94][95][96][97]
Glutamine is commonly marketed as an exercise supplement, but there are no consistent observed effects on athletic performance from supplementation with glutamine. However, glutamine may increase white blood cell counts and benefit weight reduction.[98]
Glutamine may improve digestion by strengthening the intestinal barrier by reducing intestinal permeability, aiding tight junctions, and promoting enterocyte growth (cells that line the intestines).[90]
Glutamine is the preferred source of fuel for enterocytes as well as lymphocytes, an important cell of the immune system.[93]
Glutamine may act as an anti-inflammatory agent by reducing interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-ɑ), and C-reactive protein levels. It may also help produce glutathione, the body’s principal antioxidant.[90][88]
Note that Glutamine is also known as:
- L-Glutamine
Glutamine should not be confused with:
- Glutamate
- Alanylglutamine (Sustamine)
Supplementation of L-glutamine tends to be dosed at 5 g or above, with higher doses being advised against due to excessive ammonia in serum. The lowest dose found to increase ammonia in serum has been 0.75 g/kg, or approximately 51 g for a 150 lb individual.
Due to the relative inefficacy of glutamine supplementation for increasing muscle mass, the optimal dosage is not known. The above recommended doses are sufficient for intestinal health reasons and for attenuating a possible relative glutamine deficiency (seen in instances of low protein intake or veganism).
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Glutamine supplementation does not affect body composition, but it may accelerate strength recovery from resistance-training sessions and reduce the occurrence of infections in hard-training endurance athletes.
Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in your body. Your body can synthesize it, so it is not an essential amino acid (EAA), but your requirements may at time outpace your rate of synthesis, making glutamine conditionally essential. Historically, however, glutamine has been considered conditionally essential only in the critically hurt or sick — burn victims and other people in whom physical stress is exceptionally high and catabolism (body-tissue breakdown) rampant...
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