Skip to content

Educational purposes only — not medical advice. Consult your gastroenterologist before changing any regimen. Full disclaimer We may earn a commission on recommended products, at no extra cost to you. Disclosure

Crohn’s Wellness Natural Gut Health
Menu
Supplements Nutrients Emerging Community Diet Alternatives to Biologics Our Mission
Anecdotal: patient-reported

L-Glutamine

Also known as: Glutamine · Glutamine powder

An amino acid popular for “gut-lining repair”. Forum experiences range from better nights to no effect, and a Cochrane review found too little evidence.

Why people try it

Glutamine is a preferred fuel for the cells lining the small intestine, and it’s widely promoted for healing a “leaky gut”. Many people with Crohn’s try it as a powder, sometimes alongside other gut-support supplements.

What people report

  • One Crohn’s Forum member described their first night in a long time without waking, after taking a large dose.

Counter-reports & downsides

  • Several members reported no benefit; one listed it among the supplements that did nothing for them.
  • A member taking it alongside Humira concluded it hadn’t helped much and stopped buying it.
  • Reported side effects included anal pressure and pain, and itchy, puffy hands that settled when the dose was reduced.
  • An IBS forum member found an L-glutamine product made their diarrhoea worse.

Where it’s discussed

Public threads we drew from. Read them in full for the context around each experience.

What the research says

A 2016 Cochrane review found only two small randomised trials (42 patients in total) of glutamine for active Crohn’s disease. They suggest it may not help bring on remission, but the studies are too small for firm conclusions, and larger trials haven’t been done.

  1. Glutamine for induction of remission in Crohn’s disease

    Akobeng AK, Elawad M, Gordon M. · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · 2016

Forms people mention

Powder mixed into water or drinks. Amounts people mention vary widely, from a teaspoon to around 15 g a day.

Amounts people mention online are personal choices, not recommendations.

Safety

  • If you have liver or kidney disease, check with your doctor before taking it.
  • Introduce it gradually and watch for the side effects members describe above.

If you decide to try it

Talk to your gastroenterologist first, especially if you take prescription medication. If you go ahead, these quality markers help:

  • Pure L-glutamine powder without added sweeteners or fillers
  • Third-party tested (for example NSF or Informed Sport)

Coming soon

Tried L-Glutamine? Your experience matters.

Our Community Symptom Tracker will let you log what you take and how you feel — and see what’s working for people like you. Alongside it, our wellness store will offer curated, third-party-tested protocols.

Learn about the tracker Store launching soon

Phase 2 — in development

Where traditional research stops, our community begins

Natural compounds can’t be patented, so they rarely get the multi-million-dollar trials that drugs receive. That leaves people with Crohn’s without answers to the questions that matter most: what actually helps, at what dose, and for whom? Our Community Symptom Tracker will crowdsource those answers from real people living with Crohn’s, and our upcoming wellness store will make it easy to find quality, third-party-tested products.

  • Log your symptoms, supplements and doses in a private daily tracker
  • See what’s working for people with the same disease location and medications
  • Contribute to the largest real-world dataset on natural Crohn’s support
  • Shop curated, third-party-tested protocols from our upcoming store

Be one of the first to join

Early access is opening soon. Bookmark this page and check back — we’ll announce sign-ups here first.

Early access opening soon Read our mission