At the health food store they are recommending L-Glutamine to help heal the intestine. Anybody know about this?
Pat
L-Glutamine
Moderators: Rosie, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Yes, I know about it. Still not sure how much if any it helps. Various studies point to it possibly helping. I was taking it for quite some time, about 5 g a day I think. My reading says it's great fuel for the GI tract (which I would assume would help it heal) and that I believe it also acts as an anti-inflamitory for the gut. I know that burn victims recover faster with glutamine.
And unfortunately most heath food stores will recommend a lot of things as this is how they make their money.
Mike
And unfortunately most heath food stores will recommend a lot of things as this is how they make their money.
Mike
Mike,mle_ii wrote:And unfortunately most heath food stores will recommend a lot of things as this is how they make their money.
Mike
I love that disclaimer. You said a mouthful there.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
My nutritionist (she was recommended to me by my GI dr) recommended L-Glutamine to me this week. I told her I had been told it was made from gluten and she NO. It is an amino acid. Not a starch. She said it works to heal the intestine. She said to take 30 grams 3 x/day. Sounds like a lot to me. Don't know where Jean and Mike got their info that it is made from gluten. She did say that if you have an underlying infection (like Mike had) it won't work.
Pat
Pat
Pat,
This is a fairly complex issue, and I don't believe that any of us completely understand it, (including your nutritionist, and 99.99% of doctors). The fact that she felt obligated to point out that it is not a starch, indicates that she is confused about the chemistry involved. (She's apparently concerned about your fructose issue, and is overlooking the gluten problem). Starches are irrelevant to the type of food intolerance reactions that are related to MC. MC reactions are caused by certain proteins. Sure, we may reaction to certain sugars until our gut heals, but those issues are not the primary cause of our MC, (or celiac), reactions.
Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Proteins consist of chains of amino acids strung together in unique configurations. If we represent amino acids by a single letter, for example, gluten has the basic structure:
MKTFLILALLAIVATTATTAVRVPVPQLQPQNPSQQQPQ
EQVPLVQQQQFLGQQQPFPPQQPYPQPQPFPSQQPYLQLQ
PFLQPQLPYSQPQPFRPQQPYPQPQPQYSQPQQPISQQQQ
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQIIQQILQQQLIPCMDVVLQQHNIV
HGKSQVLQQSTYQLLQELCCQHLWQIPEQSQCQAIHNVVH
AIILHQQQKQQQQPSSQVSFQQPLQQYPLGQGSFRPSQQ
NPQAQGSVQPQQLPQFEEIRNLARK
Within that composition, however, it is actually the gliadin component that we are intolerant of, (I have emphasized it in red), which can be represented as:
RPQQPYPQPQPQ
In this sequence, the amino acid glutamine is represented by the letter Q, and as you can see, there are five repetitions of it, (almost half the total number of amino acid components that comprise gliadin.
This information basically comes from an excellent article that was written for a different purpose, but which discusses the amino acids involved here quite elegantly, IMO:
http://www.celiac.com/articles/826/1/Gl ... Page1.html
So what's the bottom line? Beats the heck out of me, as like most of us, I don't understand enough about cereal chemistry to really fathom the significance of all this. It's the specific arrangement of amino acids within the chains that form proteins, that determine whether or not we are intolerant of them. I do know that glutamine is not normally considered to be an essential amino acid, which means that it can be easily synthesized by the body as needed, from other available amino acids. You may be able to get a better handle on all this by reading the article that I've cited here. I'm not sure that anyone can be confident that they truly understand how this stuff actually affects us, though, (as far as MC is concerned).
Tex
This is a fairly complex issue, and I don't believe that any of us completely understand it, (including your nutritionist, and 99.99% of doctors). The fact that she felt obligated to point out that it is not a starch, indicates that she is confused about the chemistry involved. (She's apparently concerned about your fructose issue, and is overlooking the gluten problem). Starches are irrelevant to the type of food intolerance reactions that are related to MC. MC reactions are caused by certain proteins. Sure, we may reaction to certain sugars until our gut heals, but those issues are not the primary cause of our MC, (or celiac), reactions.
Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Proteins consist of chains of amino acids strung together in unique configurations. If we represent amino acids by a single letter, for example, gluten has the basic structure:
MKTFLILALLAIVATTATTAVRVPVPQLQPQNPSQQQPQ
EQVPLVQQQQFLGQQQPFPPQQPYPQPQPFPSQQPYLQLQ
PFLQPQLPYSQPQPFRPQQPYPQPQPQYSQPQQPISQQQQ
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQIIQQILQQQLIPCMDVVLQQHNIV
HGKSQVLQQSTYQLLQELCCQHLWQIPEQSQCQAIHNVVH
AIILHQQQKQQQQPSSQVSFQQPLQQYPLGQGSFRPSQQ
NPQAQGSVQPQQLPQFEEIRNLARK
Within that composition, however, it is actually the gliadin component that we are intolerant of, (I have emphasized it in red), which can be represented as:
RPQQPYPQPQPQ
In this sequence, the amino acid glutamine is represented by the letter Q, and as you can see, there are five repetitions of it, (almost half the total number of amino acid components that comprise gliadin.
This information basically comes from an excellent article that was written for a different purpose, but which discusses the amino acids involved here quite elegantly, IMO:
http://www.celiac.com/articles/826/1/Gl ... Page1.html
So what's the bottom line? Beats the heck out of me, as like most of us, I don't understand enough about cereal chemistry to really fathom the significance of all this. It's the specific arrangement of amino acids within the chains that form proteins, that determine whether or not we are intolerant of them. I do know that glutamine is not normally considered to be an essential amino acid, which means that it can be easily synthesized by the body as needed, from other available amino acids. You may be able to get a better handle on all this by reading the article that I've cited here. I'm not sure that anyone can be confident that they truly understand how this stuff actually affects us, though, (as far as MC is concerned).
Tex
Tex,
Actually, the nutrtionist seems to be more concerned about the gluten issue and not the fructose problem. She and the dr both think they are separate unrelated problems, but that some of the fructose problem will be taken care of by getting the MC under control, but not all of it. I find the article very interesting and will forward to her. Thank you very much. You have really studied this!!!
Pat
Actually, the nutrtionist seems to be more concerned about the gluten issue and not the fructose problem. She and the dr both think they are separate unrelated problems, but that some of the fructose problem will be taken care of by getting the MC under control, but not all of it. I find the article very interesting and will forward to her. Thank you very much. You have really studied this!!!
Pat
I remembered that my nutritionist said that the brand Bluebonnet was safe from gluten. So I checked a bottle of L-Glutamine Powder by Bluebonnet and it says on the bottle, "Free of milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, treenuts, peanuts, wheat and soybeans. Also free of corn, yeast, gluten, barley, rice, sodium and sugar." I did forward that article to her. I'll see what her response is.
Pat
Pat
To be clear I said that some L-Glutamine supplements can contain gluten. That is the ones that are derived from wheat. There's no way that they'd be able to make an L-Glutamine supplement that was made from wheat not contain gluten.
BUT there are some L-Glutamine supplements that would NOT contain gluten, these would be where the amino acid is derived from something besides wheat, barley or rye (and perhaps oats).
This is why I say buyer beware. Contact the manufacturer, if it is not made from wheat/barley/rye/oats, then you are fine. If it is I wouldn't take it. Some derive the amino acid from other foods, like say corn or rice, or animal products, or dairy, etc.
BUT there are some L-Glutamine supplements that would NOT contain gluten, these would be where the amino acid is derived from something besides wheat, barley or rye (and perhaps oats).
This is why I say buyer beware. Contact the manufacturer, if it is not made from wheat/barley/rye/oats, then you are fine. If it is I wouldn't take it. Some derive the amino acid from other foods, like say corn or rice, or animal products, or dairy, etc.
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artteacher
- Rockhopper Penguin
- Posts: 731
- Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2005 11:13 pm
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Can I ask your opinion, guys . . .
I get sick (extreme diarrhea) ingesting grains. Not just wheat, but corn and rice, esp. corn. And milk. Is that result of
a) gluten caused damage to the intestinal wall
b) inflammation caused by an autoimmune reaction to those proteins
c) overgrowth of bad bacteria
They all are carbs, or sugars, which leads me to think "bacterial overgrowth"
I so much appreciate the discussion on l-glutamine. I tried to take it, it gave me D. But then almost everything does.
Marsha
I get sick (extreme diarrhea) ingesting grains. Not just wheat, but corn and rice, esp. corn. And milk. Is that result of
a) gluten caused damage to the intestinal wall
b) inflammation caused by an autoimmune reaction to those proteins
c) overgrowth of bad bacteria
They all are carbs, or sugars, which leads me to think "bacterial overgrowth"
I so much appreciate the discussion on l-glutamine. I tried to take it, it gave me D. But then almost everything does.
Marsha
That's the 64 dollar question. I think it could be any of them, or all of them. Though grains are mostly starch, it's certain prolamins that comprise the proteins in them that we are intolerant of. For example, wheat is about 12 to 14% protein, corn about 8%, and rice about 5 to 9%. The protein casein in milk is what causes problems for us. Casein makes up about 80% of the protein in milk - most of the rest is whey.
And, of course, since they all have a high carbohydrate/sugar content, they can provide good nutrition for various bacteeria in the gut. Additionally, it's true that our gut is much more sensitive when it has already sustained damage from an autoimmune reaction against gluten.
All of this makes it kind of tough to pin down thw problem without additional infomation.
Tex
And, of course, since they all have a high carbohydrate/sugar content, they can provide good nutrition for various bacteeria in the gut. Additionally, it's true that our gut is much more sensitive when it has already sustained damage from an autoimmune reaction against gluten.
All of this makes it kind of tough to pin down thw problem without additional infomation.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.