L-Glutamine is one type of glutamine , the most abundant amino acid in our bodies. L-Glutamine is one of the two types of glutamine: L-Glutamine and D-Glutamine. As we heard from the UK , over half of us experience bloating. Research suggests glutamine can support our normal digestive function, and one important job it has is to help maintain a strong and healthy mucus barrier in the gut.

The mucus barrier is one of many layers in the gut barrier. Disrupting the gut barrier increasing intestinal permeability may trigger a range of unhappy gut symptoms, including bloating. In this case, taking glutamine supplements may help replenish your supply and limit the bloating.

However, you should always check with your doctor to see if your bloating is related to low L-Glutamine and whether glutamine supplements are the right option for you. Handpicked content: What is bloating?

Glutamine plays a crucial part in our normal intestinal health. But most of us produce all the glutamine we need, plus we get a small amount through foods like meat and fish, dairy products, leafy greens, and nuts.

There's a small amount of evidence to suggest that glutamine may alter the gut microbiome in some people. One pilot study on 33 overweight and obese adults found that L-Glutamine supplements reduced the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes bacteria in the gut. However, the study was only short-term, and more research is needed to form any definite links between glutamine supplementation and the gut microbiome.

Similarly, the Firmicutes : Bacteroidetes ratio has not been proven to be a reliable indicator of body type or health. So, there are some cases where L-Glutamine may improve your gut health, but taking more than your body needs may not have any benefits.

Handpicked content: The Wellness Edit: Dr Megan Rossi — Eat more for good gut health. Magnesium and glutamine have become popular, since magnesium may also help an uncomfortable gut.

Plus, it may relax the muscles in the intestines. However, you can also be low in glutamine if you exercise often or particularly intensely, so it also might be worth considering if this is the case.

If you think your gut health issues may be down to low glutamine, you should speak to your doctor before taking any new supplements. L-Glutamine is most often found as a tablet or powder. Most people get about g of glutamine per day from the protein they eat.

Some research has shown no ill effects of glutamine when given in doses as high as g per day. However, this was only a short-term study and took place on hospital patients, so this may not reflect results on healthy subjects of different ages or different periods of use.

Shop now. Can L-Glutamine help with bloating? Save article. Health Hub Home Conditions Digestive Health Can L-Glutamine help with bloating?

Feel your waistband digging in? Or find yourself getting gassy in less-than-ideal moments? Skip to: What is L-Glutamine? L-Glutamine-and-bloating Glutamine Vs L-Glutamine L-Glutamine benefits Taking L-Glutamine. What is L-Glutamine? More research is needed to determine whether people with cancer or a high risk of cancer should take or avoid glutamine supplements.

Your body produces L-glutamine, but you can also take it as a supplement or prescription medication or consume it through your diet. Sources of glutamine in foods include:.

Your doctor may recommend L-glutamine supplements to address a deficiency, especially in times of significant stress or severe illness.

Talk with your doctor about L-glutamine as a possible supplement for improving your IBS symptoms. If you think you have a deficiency from health problems or other issues — and have IBS — L-glutamine might help. Taking an L-glutamine supplement may reduce IBS symptoms, but more research needs to be done.

Make sure to talk with your doctor before you begin taking it. As with any supplement, remember to follow dosage directions and guidelines carefully.

If you experience side effects, seek medical care right away. Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available. VIEW ALL HISTORY. Healthy cells and cancer cells need glutamine.

Whether glutamine could help treat cancer is a question that still needs to be answered. IBS symptoms like pain, cramping, and bloating can affect your quality of life. Try these remedies to help you find relief.

Digestive enzyme supplements are one of many supposed remedies for alleviating tummy troubles. But do they work? Learn more. Learn the symptoms of IBS, what can trigger them, adjustments you can make to help ease them, and what can treat them.

Probiotics can help manage symptoms of IBS, like diarrhea, bloating, and constipation. Here are the 8 best probiotics for IBS. Increasing magnesium-rich foods and taking certain types of magnesium supplements may be helpful for some people with IBS.

Whether IBS fasting reduces or worsens symptoms depends on factors like the fasting duration and the type and cause of IBS. A registered dietitian…. Complementary therapies, such as acupuncture, yoga, hypnotherapy, and peppermint oil, won't cure IBS-C but may help you manage your symptoms.

Irritable bowel syndrome is a collection of symptoms. No singular at-home diagnostic test is available. A doctor is best equipped to assess your IBS…. Treatment for IBS often includes a cognitive component, which is where CBT can be beneficial.

A Quiz for Teens Are You a Workaholic? How Well Do You Sleep? Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Should I Use L-Glutamine for IBS?

Medically reviewed by Saurabh Sethi, M. Benefits Side effects Research How to use Bottom line A few studies suggest that L-glutamine supplements may help IBS symptoms, but more research needs to be done. Can L-glutamine help with IBS? L-glutamine side effects. IBS and L-glutamine research.

How to use L-glutamine for IBS. The bottom line. How we reviewed this article: Sources. Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references.

You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy. Jun 15, Written By Adrian White.

Lin JJ, Chung XJ, Yang CY, Lau HL. A meta-analysis of trials using the intention to treat principle for glutamine supplementation in critically ill patients with burn.

Medina MA. Glutamine and cancer. Mori M, Rooyackers O, Smedberg M, Tjader I, Norberg A, Wernerman J. Endogenous glutamine production in critically ill patients: the effect of exogenous glutamine supplementation.

Crit Care. Murray SM, Pindoria S. Nutrition support for bone marrow transplant patients. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. Neu J, DeMarco V, Li N.

Glutamine: clinical applications and mechanism of action. Oudemans-van Straaten HM, Van Zanten AR. Glutamine supplementation in the critically ill: friend or foe?

Perez-Barcena J, Marse P, Zabalegui-Perez A, et al. A randomized trial of intravenous glutamine supplementation in trauma ICU patients. Intensive Care Med. Tao KM, Li XQ, Yang LQ, et al. Glutamine supplementation for critically ill adults. Cochrane Database Sys Rev.

Vahdat L, Papadopoulos K, Lange D, et al. Reduction of paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy with glutamine. Clin Cancer Res. van Stijn MF, Ligthart-Melis GC, Boelens PG, Scheffer PG, Teerlink T, et al.

Antioxidant enriched enteral nutrition and oxidative stress after major gastrointestinal tract surgery. World J Gastroenterol. Vidal-Casariego A, Calleja-Fernandez A, de Urbina-Gonzalez JJ, Cano-Rodriguez I, Cordido F, Ballesteros-Pomar MD.

Efficacy of glutamine in the prevention of acute radiation enteritis: a randomized controlled trial. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. Weitzel L, Wischmeyer P. Glutamine in Critical Illness: The Time Has Come, The Time Is Now. Critical Care Clinics. Wilmore DW. The effect of glutamine supplementation in patients following elective surgery and accidental injury.

Yang L, Moss T, Mangala LS, et al. Metabolic shifts toward glutamine regulate tumor growth, invasion and bioenergetics in ovarian cancer. Mol Syst Biol. Ziegler TR. Glutamine supplementation in cancer patients receiving bone marrow transplantation and high dose chemotherapy.

Share Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Home Health Library. Glutamine L-glutamine. Uses Wound healing and recovery from illness When the body is stressed from injuries, infections, burns, trauma, or surgical procedures , it releases the hormone cortisol into the bloodstream.

Inflammatory bowel disease IBD Glutamine helps protect the lining of the gastrointestinal tract known as the mucosa. Athletes Athletes who train for endurance events like marathons may reduce the amount of glutamine in their bodies.

Cancer Many people with cancer have low levels of glutamine. Dietary Sources Dietary sources of glutamine include plant and animal proteins such as beef, pork, poultry, milk, yogurt, ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, raw spinach, raw parsley, and cabbage.

Available Forms Glutamine, usually in the form of L-glutamine, is available by itself, or as part of a protein supplement. Standard preparations are typically available in mg tablets or capsules. How to Take It Take glutamine with cold or room temperature foods or liquids.

Pediatric For children 10 years and younger: DO NOT give glutamine to a child unless your pediatrician recommends it as part of a complete amino acid supplement.

Adult Speak with your health care provider regarding dosing instructions. Precautions Because of the potential for side effects and interactions with medications, you should take dietary supplements only under the supervision of a knowledgeable health care provider.

Possible Interactions Lactulose: Glutamine supplementation can increase ammonia in th body, so taking glutamine may make lactulose less effective. Supporting Research Abcouwer SF. Decker GM. Glutamine: indicated in cancer care? Clin J Oncol Nurs. Use limited data to select content.

List of Partners vendors. Adam Meyer. EatingWell's Editorial Guidelines. Reviewed by Dietitian EatingWell. She is a registered dietitian with a master's in food, nutrition and sustainability. Reviewed by Dietitian Jessica Ball, M.

Jessica Ball, M. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Related Articles. Newsletter Sign Up. And of course which type of L-Glutamine powder is best? b When is the best time of day to take L-Glutamine for gut health? Obviously water would be fine.

But what about the other 6 types of beverages? Video: If you want to try the L-Glutamine powder we feature in the video above you can buy it on Amazon or direct from us b Hot versus cold beverages So first of all, in terms of hot versus cold drinks it is best to take L-Glutamine with cold or room temperature drinks.

c Protein-based beverages Next up, it is best to take L-Glutamine with drinks that do NOT contain lots of other amino acids. Anyways, the main drinks we found that are high in amino acids were: Protein rich beverages like milk As well as protein powder drinks And of course, sports recovery drinks that pack extra amino acids into them.

So now you know cold drinks without too many amino acids are ideal let's look at the best drinks to mix your L-Glutamine with, in order from most ideal to least… Photo : L-Glutamine powder is best taken with water, but you can also take it with other drinks, which we cover below 7 best drinks to mix L-Glutamine with ranked from best to worst So first up water.

It is the perfect delivery vehicle for your precious amino acids and it is without doubt our favorite beverage for glutamine. Our suggested use directions are to mix 1 scoop or 5 grams of L-Glutamine powder, with 8 fluid ounces or mils of water.

So the best flavored beverage would be homemade flavored water. In other words, you can infuse or squeeze fruits like lemon, lime or berry into your water.

The next best beverage to mix your glutamine with would be vegetable juice such as tomato juice, beet juice, or if the self loathing is strong you could even try taking it with green juice!

This is a great way to enjoy some flavor, without too much sugar. Now, another great option would be lightly sweetened homemade ice tea.

Which tastes so refreshing, especially in summer. Or even another type of cold tea, being kombucha. Which is always going to taste great. So as you can see…you have a lot of options for drinking your glutamine.

If you haven't tried it yet, you can buy it on Amazon or direct from us And we actually created a whole article on L-Glutamine dosage. Best L-Glutamine powder - 5 things to look for When it comes to L-Glutamine powders, there are 5 main things to look for in a high quality supplement… The first thing would be that it contains no competing amino acids or other ingredients.

Which means you only want to see 1 ingredient on the Supplements Facts panel, being L-Glutamine. And zero other ingredients. Next up, make sure it offers 5 g of glutamine per serving , as this is the IDEAL amount for gut support, as we just saw before. Obviously, check that it is free of allergens like gluten, dairy and soy.

Even better, find one that has been independently 3rd party tested for this. Contains no animal products and is vegan friendly. And lastly, but perhaps most importantly, you should make sure your L-Glutamine is made in the USA.

If it is silent, chances are it comes from overseas. Photo: Whether you buy our L-Glutamine or another company's, make sure it ticks these 6 boxes Now, while most L-Glutamine supplements struggle to meet these standards our very popular Gut L-Glutamine , which we make here at Essential Stacks, of course meets and exceeds these quality standards.

Question Answer Notes With or without food? water, homemade flavored water, vegetable or fruit juice, ice tea etc How much L-Glutamine? Powder easier than capsules No competing amino acids or ingredients 5 grams per serving No allergens, e.

gluten Independently 3rd party tested Made in USA E. Essential Stacks Gut L-Glutamine available on Amazon or direct from us As you can see, we should take it WITHOUT protein-rich food. Let everyone know by leaving a comment below.

Evidence Based An evidence hierarchy is followed to ensure conclusions are formed off of the most up-to-date and well-designed studies available. Systematic review or meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials Randomized controlled trials Controlled trials without randomization Case-control retrospective and cohort prospective studies A systematic review of descriptive, qualitative, or mixed-method studies A single descriptive, qualitative, or mixed-method study Studies without controls, case reports, and case series Animal research In vitro research.

Leave a comment Name. References Weder JK, Sohns S. Model studies on the heating of food proteins. Amino acid composition of lysozyme, ribonuclease and insulin after dry heating. Z Lebensm Unters Forsch.

doi: PMID: Martin CB, Wambogo EA, Ahluwalia N, Ogden CL. Nonalcoholic beverage consumption among adults: United States. NCHS Data Brief, no Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.

Lenders CM, Liu S, Wilmore DW, Sampson L, Dougherty LW, Spiegelman D, Willett WCEvaluation of a novel food composition database that includes glutamine and other amino acids derived from gene sequencing dataEur J Clin Nutr.

Ziegler TR, Benfell K, Smith RJ, Young LS, Brown E, Ferrari-Baliviera E, Lowe DK, Wilmore DW. Safety and metabolic effects of L-glutamine administration in humans.