tuneTypical Dose
5-10 g/day
Amino Acid
Glutamine
L-Glutamine
Evidence TierCWADA NOT PROHIBITED
watchEffect Window
days to weeks
check_circleCompliance
WADA NOT PROHIBITED
Overview
Clinical Summary
Glutamine is a conditionally essential amino acid used as a fuel for enterocytes and immune cells. It is taken for gut barrier support and recovery from catabolic stress.
Human evidence supports glutamine most clearly in selective gut-barrier and clinical-stress settings rather than as a general recovery or nootropic supplement. A 2024 meta-analysis found a favorable pooled effect on gut-permeability markers in adults, but protocols and clinical contexts were heterogeneous. Benefits in healthy users remain uncertain, and routine supplementation is usually unnecessary when protein intake is adequate.
Conditional substrate support under stress/recovery. No robust direct cognitive mechanism.
Outcomes
What This Is Expected To Influence
Primary Outcomes
- Recovery-related response in selected populations
- No consistent cognition performance signal
Secondary Outcomes
- Gut-support proxies
- Indirect energy/tolerance outcomes
Safety
Contraindications and Interactions
Contraindications
- Severe liver disease
- Renal failure
- Ammonia-sensitive disorders
Side effects
- Bloating
- Nausea
- GI upset
Interactions
- High-dose amino acid stacks
- Critical care metabolic therapies
- Heavy protein-loading plans
Avoid if
- Decompensated liver disease
- Chronic kidney disease
- Unmonitored critical illness
Evidence
Study-level References
glutamine-SRC-001Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials
Sourceopen_in_newAbbasi F, Haghighat Lari MM, Khosravi GR, Mansouri E, Payandeh N, Milajerdi A. A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials on the effects of glutamine supplementation on gut permeability in adults. Amino Acids. 2024;56(1):60. PMID:39397201.
Population: Adults enrolled in clinical trials evaluating oral glutamine and gut permeability.
Dose protocol: Review of oral glutamine versus placebo across adult gut-permeability trials
Key findings: Meta-analysis found an overall favorable effect on gut-permeability markers, but with marked heterogeneity across contexts and dosing strategies.
Notes: Supports gut-barrier framing, not general healthy-user performance or cognition claims.
Paper content
Modern pooled human evidence suggests glutamine can improve gut-permeability markers in adults, but the signal is context-specific and heterogeneous rather than a universal performance or wellness effect.