Over the last few years, perhaps the most fascinating new issue to emerge in gut health
has been that of intestinal hyperpermeability.
Which is just a fancy term for what is more commonly known as ‘leaky gut’.
This refers to when things go through your intestinal wall and
and into your bloodstream that shouldn't
such as undigested food particles, bad bacteria, toxins
and other harmful particles.
And given the number of issues that can develop from a leaky gut,
including digestive disorders like IBS, the question becomes
what can we do about it?
Hi, I'm registered dietitian Bailey Franzen and I've been fascinated with gut health
ever since learning how profoundly it relates to our overall health and well-being.
And in this video I'll be joined by Dr. Joe Haynes MD and fellow gut health specialist and registered
dietitian Richelle Godwin. Together we're going to look at exactly what leaky gut is
why an amino acid called L-Glutamine may be able to support our intestinal health,
and we'll also look at the smartest ways to get more of this helpful amino acid through nutrition.
As a doctor I always like to explain how the human body works by using a simple analogy.
And so before we can understand the importance of L-Glutamine for our intestinal health, we should take a moment
to realize that the wall of our intestine or gut if you will, is kind of like the fine mesh on a strainer.
Now, as we all know, strainers are really helpful for when we want to separate
the good from the bad.
For example, if we're making bone broth, a strainer will help us separate the
nutritious broth from all the stuff we don't want like the leftover bones.
Of course, to do its job properly the strainer can't be damaged.
After all, if it has too many big holes for example
we might end up drinking fragments of bone.
And so it is the same for our intestinal wall.
You see like a good strainer a healthy intestinal wall will have some small openings
so that it can let certain particles through and into your bloodstream
such as vitamins, minerals, fatty acids and amino acids.
While it won't have openings so large that it lets other things through such as
particular toxins, undigested food particles and bad bacteria.
This role of gatekeeper between the outside world and your bloodstream is crucial
because if your intestinal wall starts letting
unwanted particles through which the body doesn't recognize
this can cause an immune response and result in inflammation.
And this can in turn cause additional and more serious health problems.
Now we know how important the health of our intestinal wall is.
But here's the really cool thing; it turns out the connections between the cells lining the mucosa of
our intestinal wall which regulates its opening and closing to decide what travels through to the bloodstream,
can utilize L-Glutamine to repair and regrow.
In fact, these cell connections, known as tight junctions, work better when L-Glutamine is present
- and by contrast are more permeable or "leaky" when there is a lack of it.
So in other words, L-Glutamine is not only an important nutrient involved in controlling what gets through the gut wall,
but it also stimulates the growth of healthy intestinal cells.
Just as interesting L-Glutamine is also required
for the production of the protective layer of mucus
that coats the intestine and
works hard to keep harmful particles from directly contacting the intestinal wall and therefore irritating it.
With so many benefits for gut health I know it can sound like a mysterious wonder substance.
but L-Glutamine is actually just a natural amino acid,
which is a type of building block for our cells.
And in fact, it happens to be the most abundant amino acid naturally found in our blood.
Unfortunately many people today find themselves with an overly permeable or leaky intestinal wall.
And just like a damaged strainer it is letting more things through than it should
leading to more food intolerances, inflammation and autoimmune reactions.
Now there are many potential reasons for a damaged intestinal wall.
This can include frequent exposure to allergens
consuming a poor diet or even excessive use of common drugs that irritate the intestinal lining such as nsaids.
No wonder so many people are experiencing gut related issues.
Whatever the underlying cause, the reality is we really need to wake up to this issue and start supporting
our gut barrier again by giving it more of the food it loves, such as amino acids,
in particular L-Glutamine.
Given the many benefits of L-Glutamine, the question becomes, how can we get more?
Well, as a doctor who sees food as medicine, naturally I'm always going to look to food first.
And if we're looking at someone's diet, we're going to start thinking about adding in more glutamine-rich foods,
such as eggs, dairy and lentils.
Unfortunately, many patients are sensitive to these types of foods.
But even more importantly, the amount of glutamine in them is quite low for an individual who may already have a weak GI tract.
For example a normal size egg contains
just 0.3 grams of glutamine
and so seeking out extra L-Glutamine in supplement form can be a worthwhile idea.
So what are the supplement options?
Well, first up, there's L-Glutamine in capsule form.
But it's rather easy for us to rule this out,
since we'd have to be taking about eight to ten capsules every time
to get something like a five gram dose. So powder is the way to go.
Now, there are two main powder options. On the one hand, we've got pure L-Glutamine powder,
and on the other hand we've got powders that combine glutamine with other ingredients for gut health
such as slippery elm and licorice DGL.
The mixed powder products can be worth considering
especially since many of these other ingredients can potentially help with gut support.
But the clear problem with them is that by trying to cram all these other ingredients
into one supplement, the key ingredient, which is glutamine actually ends up getting reduced to a very low amount.
And the other big challenge is that many of these other ingredients often have
a strong smell or taste making them difficult to consume. And so in order to mask these issues
some companies add in artificial sweeteners or even sugar.
Here at Essential Stacks,
we believe that a pure L-Glutamine powder
is definitely the way to go.
Unfortunately, not all L-Glutamine powders are created equal.
In fact, many companies source their L-Glutamine powder from China,
where quality manufacturing practices can vary greatly.
In addition, a number of these manufacturers do not conduct independent third-party testing
for major potential gut irritants such as gluten, dairy and soy.
And many people also complain that these mass-market powders can taste awful and smell even worse.
With all of this in mind our research team at Essential Stacks decided to get together
to develop a world-class quality L-Glutamine powder to address all of these problems once and for all.
And so it's our great pleasure to introduce to you
Gut L-Glutamine
Gut L-Glutamine is a pure free-form L-Glutamine powder
and it has no other amino acids, ingredients or fillers
making it ideal for absorption and utilization by the cells lining our intestinal tract.
Just as importantly it uses the highest grade L-Glutamine available
and it is manufactured in a world-class NSF-certified facility
right here in the USA.
As a registered dietitian I'm experienced in helping clients meet their health goals with food and supplements
And the one thing I know is that if a product doesn't taste good
or is hard to mix
people stop using it.
Which is why I'm so happy that Gut L-Glutamine
comes as a very fine powder
that stirs easily in water and has a neutral flavor.
Importantly, Gut L-Glutamine meets the highest purity standards I can ask for.
Not only is it verified
as gluten, dairy and soy free by an independent third party
But it is also free of GMOs, nuts
fish, shellfish, eggs, corn, starch
yeast, artificial colors and flavors.
With a smarter and cleaner formula
we believe this is the optimal L-Glutamine supplement for gut health.
So try gut L-Glutamine today and get ready to experience
the benefits of this remarkable amino acid for gut support!