L-Glutamine

Several posts on it recently. I was told perque's version was about the best I could do with it. Has PAK.

It's extremely important to help heal the gut and to help control diarrhea. It's also excellent for muscle building, since you're weight training, so you hit two birds with one stone.

Dr. Ronald Hoffman had this to say:

Specific benefit can be obtained from oral dosing with the amino acid L-glutamine. One study showed that seriously ill patients requiring intravenous feeding were more likely to wean themselves from dependency on nutritional supplementation by vein when given relatively high oral doses of L-glutamine on the order of one tablespoon three times daily, equivalent to 50 grams. L-glutamine may work as a direct "food" for intestinal cells in need of repair, as well as by virtue of the fact that it is a precursor for synthesis of the premier antioxidant glutathione.

Mitzo, how much were you taking?

Notice he's talking about "seriously ill" people who are given "relatively high oral doses." Fifty grams is definitely on the high end.

You'll need at least 2-5 grams per serving to see obvious effects. Anywhere from 10-40 grams daily in divided doses will provide benefits in muscle building and retention, immune support and gut healing. You want the powder, not the capsules as you'd have to swallow too many to make up an effective dose. You have to take into account your weight and current health and listen to your body. If you feel sick or start to get constipated, you need to lower the dose.

I was taking a teaspoon in a glass of water once a day for 3 weeks - no help, and I think I read somewhere that L glutamine may cause diarrhea in some cases?

After extensive research into many many things, I have found the following supplements are directly linked to help IBD:

VSL#3 or Natren Probiotic
L-Glutamin
Omega 3 Fish Oil
Vitamin D

That's what I now take and will keep everyone updated. I am also seeing a Homepathic on the UK Free Health Service. There has got to be a way out of this, God Willing.

Has anyone also tried Reiki? It is simply amazing but you must used a Reiki Master not just any one.

I have seen the literature re. 10-40 grams a day and to be honest, cannot fathom how that is possible without not having a bowel movement perhaps for many days, because even 5 grams or so is quite constipating, in my experience.  Glutamine acts as a powerful diuretic: it diverts body fluid flow to the bladder, away from the colon.  Hence it is powerful as an anti-diarrhea.  However, in my experience it had no anti-inflammatory effects whatsoever- purely the diuretic effect.  If I took more than 5 grams a day, I would often be blocked up for over 24 hours, all the while with no real stool forming.  So tremendous pressure would build up inside with gas, etc., and pain would actually be worse.   On top of this, I have come up on a couple studies in pubmed that indicated, paradoxically, that glutamine increased some measures of inflammation.  I am skeptical but I will see about digging up the links.  All I'd say is, be careful if you decide to try glutamine- start off with one or even half a minimal serving size a day- or less- and make sure it is not too constipating.  I used to take it in small amoutns to slow down heavy D days but I don't take it for maintenance because I never noticed any effect on inflammation.