Do you suspect irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or leaky gut?
IBS and leaky gut are common issues that are accompanied by histamine intolerance - an inability to tolerate 'normal' levels of histamine, therefore causing sensitivity to a variety of healthy, natural, whole foods.
IBS and leaky gut can be contributors to food intolerances that may require using a low histamine diet to feel better
The above issues can arise from various underlying causes, however there’s one thing they have in common: a gut-related component.
Today I’d like to talk about a particular nutrient that works pretty universally when it comes to gut-related symptoms. This nutrient is called L-glutamine.
L-glutamine is a particular conformation of an amino acid that’s shown to be one of the most effective supplements when it comes to prevention, repair and maintenance of your gut.
Let’s find out why!
L-glutamine for IBS and Gut Health
If you have leaky gut, irritable bowel syndrome, acne, eczema, fatigue and other gut-related issues, L-glutamine is one of the best supplements you can come by.
L-glutamine is pretty top-notch when it comes to gut health, and the many benefits of taking a glutamine supplement have been demonstrated in various studies showing L-glutamine to drastically improve gut health.
In fact, studies in both adults and children have demonstrated that supplementing with L-glutamine was able to help to tighten the gut lining in as little as 10 DAYS – a super important improvement for those of you experiencing leaky gut. And a huge bonus is that, as an alternative therapy, the 10 day improvement time is comparable to most pharmaceutical drugs, but without all of the nasty side-effects.
As a nutritional scientist, L-glutamine is one of the most common supplements I use when practicing clinical nutrition.
I deal with a variety of gut health issues, however, my focus is histamine intolerance and L-glutamine comes in particularly handy for these individuals as it is able to not only improve the health of the gut lining but, the knock on effect of this means improving food intolerances as well such as the reactions associated with having a histamine intolerance.
I understand better than most that gut disorders can come from a variety of underlying issues, meaning that personalization in therapy is important, and everyone will need to focus on a different route.
However, the reason I choose L-glutamine in nearly every program – regardless of underlying cause – is because the majority (and arguably all) disease and disorder is associated with the presence of leaky gut.
The science on this topic is still developing - however, the more things progress, the more it seems to appear that the presence of both leaky gut and inflammation are necessary to promote chronic illness and disease.
This combination is particularly important for those with histamine intolerance. As histamine is a compound which is part of the immune system, it already brings the inflammatory component into play, while leaky gut can also be present.
Using an L-glutamine supplement is undoubtedly one of the fastest and most well-studied ways to repair the gut lining, and therefore one of the most universal interventions for disease and disorder.
L-glutamine for Gut Health and Histamine Intolerance: Therapeutic Dosages
Studies have shown the therapeutic dosage of L-glutamine to be approximately 0.5g L-glutamine per kg body weight.
For example, the dosing calculation for someone weighing 50kg would be as follows: (50kg body weight) x (0.5g L-glutamine) = 25g L-glutamine per day.
This dosage sounds like a lot - and it is! But this higher dose is just temporary.
Additionally, I typically recommend dividing this into two smaller doses, taken with breakfast and dinner daily. You can either drink L-glutamine powder, preferably with a carbohydrate-based drink, or mix it into your meals as long as your meal isn’t too hot, as this may disturb the amino acid conformation.
I do not recommend opting for L-glutamine capsules if you are doing a high-dosage repair program, as this will be more expensive, require you to take too many pills, and consume large amounts pill casings, which may contain additives or gut irritants.
Even if they are all-natural and hypoallergenic, pill casings are not meant to be consumed in such massive dosages and may still act as gut irritants.
As I discuss in the video above, bone broth is also a great source of L-glutamine however, it is far from reaching the therapeutic dosage that has shown to be so effective in research.
Additionally, if you are experiencing a histamine intolerance on top of leaky gut, bone broth that is long fermented can be high in histamine.
I find bone broth to be great in both the prevention and maintenance phase, or even as a supplement to your gut-healing program. It is a great way to keep your gut healthy and gradually improve and maintain the status of your gut lining.
If you do have histamine intolerance, I recommend making a homemade bone broth that's not left to cook for as long as typical bone broth. This will reduce histamine content however, the downside of this is that it will also extract less L-glutamine from the bones which are cooking to make the broth.
For those of you who are looking for a more intensive repair program however, taking an L-glutamine supplement is definitely going to get you better results, faster.
Try it out and see for yourself!
Put your health in nature's hands.
Anita Tee, Nutritional Scientist
References
- Ban, K. and Kozar, R. (2010). Glutamine protects against apoptosis via downregulation of Sp3 in intestinal epithelial cells. AJP: Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, 299(6), pp.G1344-G1353.
- Benjamin, J., Makharia, G., Ahuja, V., Anand Rajan, K., Kalaivani, M., Gupta, S., & Joshi, Y. (2011). Glutamine and Whey Protein Improve Intestinal Permeability and Morphology in Patients with Crohn’s Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Dig Dis Sci, 57(4), 1000-1012. doi:10.1007/s10620-011-1947-9.
- Larson, S., Li, J., Chung, D. and Evers, B. (2007). Molecular mechanisms contributing to glutamine-mediated intestinal cell survival. AJP: Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, 293(6), pp.G1262-G1271.
- Sevastiadou, S., Malamitsi-Puchner, A., Costalos, C., Skouroliakou, M., Briana, D., Antsaklis, A. and Roma-Giannikou, E. (2011). The impact of oral glutamine supplementation on the intestinal permeability and incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis/septicemia in premature neonates. The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine, 24(10), pp.1294-1300.
- Zuhl, M., Lanphere, K., Kravitz, L., Mermier, C., Schneider, S., Dokladny, K. and Moseley, P. (2013). Effects of oral glutamine supplementation on exercise-induced gastrointestinal permeability and tight junction protein expression. Journal of Applied Physiology, 116(2), pp.183-191.
- Zuhl, M., Dokladny, K., Mermier, C., Schneider, S., Salgado, R. and Moseley, P. (2014). The effects of acute oral glutamine supplementation on exercise-induced gastrointestinal permeability and heat shock protein expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Cell Stress and Chaperones, 20(1), pp.85-93.
Anita Tee
My name is Anita Tee. I'm a nutritional scientist who specializes in histamine intolerance. I hold a Master of Science in Personalized Nutrition and a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology and Psychology.For the past ten years, I have used my experience in nutritional and medical health sciences to create a scientifically backed, natural approach to healthcare that relies 100% on evidence-based research.As I previously suffered from - and overcame - histamine intolerance, my focus is to increase recognition and expand the available resources and protocols available for resolving this particular disorder. To date, I have helped over 4,000 individuals fully resolve or better manage their histamine intolerance symptoms.
