After writing about the connection of glutamine to both leaky gut and autism, I decided to experiment upon myself and start taking glutamine supplements. I have been taking them since shortly after I posted that article -- two weeks, now -- and I must say that psychologically I do feel a bit different. By definition I could not tell you what feeling neurotypical feels like, so I can't say I feel that way, but I do feel a bit calmer, more relaxed.
Now, as for the gut issues, I only tested the effects of the glutamine this week. Wednesday I had one cinnamon roll. No gut problems. Yesterday, I tried two cinnamon rolls. Again, no gut problems. When I told my wife, she suggested we go eat at CiCi's Pizza.
Now, the last time I ate at CiCi's, I had a horrendous reaction. I had gut problems for three days. Acid reflux, the whole works. It was one of the worst reactions I'd ever had against gluten. But this time, after taking glutamine for two weeks, I did not have near the reaction. I felt uncomfortable, with a little gas, but it was not a full-blown allergic reaction.
What glutamine does is reduce the diameter of the pores in the small intestines. Leaky gut occurs when the pores in the intestines open up too wide, allowing things like whole proteins through. This can trigger an allergic reaction. But glutamine causes the pores to tighten up. Food then has to be broken down more before it can cross over into the bloodstream. Gluten broken down into its constituent amino acids is no different from any other protein, so if you can prevent it from crossing over as a whole protein, you can eliminate the immunological response to it.
So I'm definitely going to continue taking glutamine. I'm not going to go out of my way to eat things with gluten in it, of course, but it's nice to know I don't have to continue obsessively avoiding it as I've been doing.
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