l-glutamine and its role in supporting gut health
The gut health world is growing and more of us are aware of the importance of looking after our gut health but with things like kombucha, kimchi, l-glutamine getting thrown about, it can get quite overwhelming to know what it is exactly we need to optimise our overall gut health.
Read on to learn more about why this amino acid is gaining popularity within the gut health world and understand the role of l-glutamine for gut health, as well as its connection to brain health and neurological factors
Gut health vs overall health
Before we can look at l-glutamine and what it does, it’s important to highlight the crucial role our gut plays in our overall well-being. Research has shown that our gut health is closely connected to our immune system and overall health, to read more about this relationship, read our blog on gut health and it’s impact on our immune system.
To quickly summarise the importance of our gut health, we must highlight the role of our gut microbiome, which is basically a community of trillions of microorganisms that help digest food, absorb nutrients, and produce energy. It’s essential to maintain a balanced gut microbiome for overall good health, however factors like diet, stress, and medication can disrupt this balance, leading to an unbalanced state called dysbiosis. Dysbiosis has been associated with conditions such as depression, weakened immune system, obesity, and other health problems. Read more on our blog more information on the role of our gut bacteria to our health.
Gut health vs brain health
Another significant point we want to highlight before getting into l-glutamine and its role for our gut health is the relationship between our gut health and mental health. There is growing research in exploring this fascinating relationship, particularly how our gut health can influence the balance of neurochemicals in our brain that affect our mood and cognitive function.
The gut and brain are connected through the vagus nerve, forming what is known as the gut-brain axis, and the gut microbiome has a direct link to our brain chemistry. Situations that trigger a stress response can disrupt not only our gut microbiome but also the balance of our brain health. Read more about the gut-brain axis on our blog.
Gut health vs diet:
Another major factor that plays an important role to our overall gut health is our diet and lifestyle choices. Poor diet choices, such as consuming foods high in sugar, overly processed fast food, or lacking healthy fibre, can disrupt the balance of our gut microbiome. For instance, overly processed food can lead to gut inflammation, dysbiosis and contribute to symptoms of leaky gut or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) for example. You can read more about the impact of diet and our gut health on our blog.
What is L-glutamine?
Now that we’ve covered the basics of our gut health and what it impacts, let’s delve into l-glutamine and why it’s turning heads. L-glutamine is an amino acid that our body can produce naturally, but during times of stress or illness, we may need more of it. It is the most abundant free amino acid in our bloodstream and it is essential for the function of intestinal cells in our gastrointestinal tract.
What is l-glutamine good for?
There is research to suggest that l-glutamine can be beneficial for gut health and for brain health, so taking supplements containing this amino acid could help you to look after your overall wellbeing.
L-glutamine for gut health
L-glutamine plays a crucial role in supporting gut health through three key ways:
- It helps maintain the balance of the gut microbiome, which is essential for overall gut health.
- It strengthens the integrity of the intestinal lining, providing protection against potential damage.
- It helps minimise inflammatory responses in the gut.
The intestines have a higher dependency on l-glutamine compared to other organs. During times of stress, the body increases l-glutamine production to safeguard the gut lining, but when levels are depleted, the lining becomes vulnerable. Supplementing with l-glutamine has shown positive effects on the gut microbiome composition and supports intestinal function. Additionally, l-glutamine has been associated with reducing inflammation in conditions like Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease. You can read more about UC or Crohn’s disease on another blog.
L-glutamine for brain health
As mentioned above, recent research has revealed a strong connection between our gut function and the balance of neurotransmitters, which directly influence our mood, including depression and anxiety. An unbalanced gut microbiome, can be characterised by increased gut permeability and inflammation. Considering l-glutamine’s role in protecting the intestinal lining from damage and inflammation, it is plausible to suggest that it plays an indirect role in supporting brain health.
L-glutamine in aguulp for gut
Research has suggested that L-glutamine supplementation has the benefits to our gut microbiome, gut integrity and inflammation which has the potential to indirectly affect our brain health too. Our aguulp for gut supplement contains ingredients, including l-glutamine, and is designed to provide optimum digestive health.
Reference:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213453021000112
