We bet you didn’t know that glutamine is the most abundant free amino acid in the body? Don’t worry, we are here to provide all the juicy facts around glutamine and why your gut is crying out for this product!
Did you know that around 30% of glutamine the body is used for the health of the gut?
The health of the cells, that line the wall of our gut, is essential for the absorption of nutrients for the health of humans and animals. These cells hold together tightly to create a barrier against the outside world. Stopping any nasties getting into our body. If there is severe damage to these cells, it can be detrimental to our health.
But have no fear, Glutamine is here! Glutamine is known as a non-essential amino acid, meaning our body makes it itself. However, this may not be the case now that we know glutamine is vital for good gut health.
Glutamine has many roles in the body but the most predominant role is being the main fuel source for the intestinal cells in our gut. The most researched functionality of glutamine on the gut is the ability to assist in proliferation. Meaning that glutamine is the main driving factor for increasing the number of healthy cells that line our gut. Therefore, maintaining its integrity. Better yet, maintaining its ability to act as a barrier for unwanted substances such as bacteria and viruses to get into the body.
As mentioned before, the cells hold together tightly however, they don’t do this on their own. They have proteins holding them together called tight junctions. These tight junctions are critical when it comes to that barrier functionality of the gut. When there are issues with these proteins (tight junctions), it is what you may have heard as leaky gut or in sciency terms, increased gut permeability. Increasing the likelihood of toxins and bacteria being able to cross this barrier and entering the blood. Glutamine is essential for the upkeep of these tight junctions.
During times of stress, the human body may not be able to produce enough glutamine to support the cells in the body that use it in high demand. Such as our intestinal cells, renal and immune cells. Living very busy lifestyles, our body can be under constant stress. You may not even know it! This is why supplementing with glutamine, whether it be in your morning lemon water or your breakfast smoothie, is a great way to compliment a gut friendly diet.
Not only living busy lifestyles, but did you know that exercise is a form of stress on the body? During exercise, the gut becomes more permeable. Meaning that ‘barrier’ isn’t as strong as it usually is therefore, glutamine supplementation can amplify the integrity of the gut. Whether it be the general population or athletes undertaking long distance, endurance type events, there is high risk for gut discomfort. Glutamine supplementation may help with this gastrointestinal discomfort, lowering the risk.
Believe it or not, glutamine even holds anti-inflammatory properties through influencing inflammatory signaling pathways.
