Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid that you have. It’s actually called L-glutamine and its purpose is to help repair the gut.
In today’s episode, Dr. Martin talks about several reasons that L-glutamine is important for your gut. The study that came out is showing 5 things that L-glutamine does.
One thing it does is stop dysbiosis, which is the invasion of the third army in your gut. It builds up your good army to prevent yeast, fungus and candida from thriving. This is the reason why Dr. Martin likes bone broth, because it’s packed with L-glutamine.
Listen in as Dr. Martin goes over the 4 other benefits of glutamine.
TRANSCRIPT OF TODAY'S EPISODE
Announcer: You're listening to The Doctor Is In Podcast, brought to you by MartinClinic.com. During the episode, the doctors share a lot of information. As awesome as the info may be, it is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. It's strictly for informational purposes.
Dr. Martin: Well, once again, welcome to another Live here this morning, and hope you're having a wonderful start to your day. I am going to talk to you this morning about your gut, just because I was reading a new study on glutamine. Glutamine. Now, what is glutamine? Glutamine is an amino acid. Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid that you have. But people that got a bad gut... IBS, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's, diverticulitis, diverticulosis, inflammatory bowel disease. You know what they have in common? Very low levels of L-glutamine. L-glutamine is in amino acid. It is very important. It's used to manufacture proteins, and you need it. Your gut needs it. Now I'm going to talk to you about several reasons that L-glutamine is important for your gut. Think of it as the repair mechanism for your gut.
You know, I often think of this, but how often do we see people that have bloating, belching, burping, gas, diarrhea or constipation? It's no fun having a bad gut, isn't it? It's no fun at all. I mean, you want to take away from your quality of life. Thousands and thousands of patients would come in, their plumbing wasn't working properly, and very sensitive gut. And one of the reasons for that is their lack of glutamine, L-glutamine. And it was always part of my repair mechanism for gut. Now, don't come after me for this, okay? Don't come after me for this. But I just want to lay it out there a little bit, okay? Because this is me when someone had a bad gut. You know what I called it? Plant toxicity. You're eating too much fiber. Okay?
Now I know that goes against the grain. I know it goes against everything that's on the internet. I know that goes against all the gurus you might be following. I know that that just goes against almost everyone because we have been given misinformation. We got duped. And I often told my... You don't win a prize for going to the bathroom several times a day. You don't. There's no prize at the end. And I mean, not only were they low in L-glutamine, but secondly, they usually were under plant toxicity, too much salad. And I always explain to them, you're not a rabbit. You're an omnivore. Don't live on plants. Wasn't meant to be. And especially if your gut is irritated. Well, first of all, they'll start irritating your gut for a lot of people.
One of the epidemics... I hate to use the word. Maybe it's a little bit overblown. But one of the things that I saw more frequently than almost anything else when it came to digestive issues was a condition called diverticulosis. And it was very specific to women. Guys, you got to understand how I think, okay? You just have to follow me here. Try not to tune me out until I make my case. Don't tune me out. A couple of conditions that are more common than they ever were. One, diverticulosis. That is little pouches, especially on the transverse part of the colon.
Now, when they get infected, which I saw many a time, when that bowel really gets irritated, it goes from diverticulosis to diverticulitis. And literally, can I say a thousand women? I used to tell them, stop eating fiber. It caused the diverticulosis. You scrape the gut. Because cows have four stomachs. There's a reason for that, because they eat the grass. And when they eat grass, they mulch it all day long. It comes back up. They do it again. That makes for great steaks. But not for you. Salad is glorified grass. That's what it is. I know it's popular. It's fat free. You know how many times I heard that? "It's good for my cholesterol." Do you know how many times I heard that? I said, "It's killing your gut. Stop. Give your gut a break."
Now the second thing. And I've talked to you about this in the past, like I said, I'm a simple guy. I've talked to GI specialists. GI specialists. They called it an epidemic. They never were thinking why, but they're always busy. So many people have trouble with their gut. Well, one of them is the amount of fiber people eat. Stop. You don't need much fiber. I mean it, okay? Brought to you by the cereal companies. But the second thing, the second condition that has a lot to do with your digestive tract. Ladies, why does it happen to you? Why does diverticulosis about 90% women? Number two. Why is gallbladder 90% women? I'm waiting. Why? Salad. God give you a gallbladder. You need to use it. It's a little reservoir for bile, and bile is used when you eat fat. Don't go fat free. That's the craziest thing in the world. You not only need a gallbladder, you need to use it. Use it or lose it.
It's amazing how many women... Again, because guys can get gallbladder problems, okay? But they get gallbladder problems when they eat fat free. Inuit, they never get a gallbladder problem, ever. How do you form little stones in that little pouch? "Oh, Dr. Martin, my doctor said I was eating too much fat." No, you weren't eating enough fat. It's the exact opposite. And when you don't have enough bile going into your gut, bile is used, really important, not only to emulsify fat, for fat soluble vitamins and that. It's really important. And that's why I used to scream blue murder at the fat-free craze. "Oh, Doc, it's fat free." That's stupid. That's what the problem in milk is. Milk's fat free today. They take the fat out of it. How stupid is that? You're denaturing it.
There’s nothing guys... listen to me. There's nothing that will irritate your gut more than fiber and carbohydrates, sugars because they feed the bad guys. Now, what does L-glutamine do? L-glutamine is the repair of the gut. This is one of the reasons I love bone broth. Bone broth, protein, collagen, protein is loaded with L-glutamine. And the study that came out that I wanted to bring to you, the benefits of L-glutamine. It decreases dysbiosis in the gut. Does five things. In this study, it showed five benefits of L-glutamine for the gut.
One, it decreases dysbiosis. Now, you know what that is. Dysbiosis, again, I like using illustrations so that I understand it and you understand it. Remember the war that goes on inside your body, especially in your gut. When you get on a scale, take three pounds off. You have my permission. So you go on the scale and, "Oh, I weigh 127 pounds." No, you weigh 124. Why is that? Take three pounds off. Tony Jr. would allow you to take five pounds off. Him and I argue about that, how many pounds of bacteria you have. Well, everybody has three to five pounds of bacteria. Take three pounds. I'm not giving you more than that. Take it right off the scale and go subtract.
But the war that goes on in your gut, again, guys, good bacteria, bad bacteria, two armies, watching each other all day long. I remember when I went to Korea, I was fascinated to go to what they call the demilitarized zone. I went there and I watched. Again, I was fascinated. There was nothing happening, but I was fascinated by the fact that I could go there, a little Canadian guy from Northern Ontario, and watch two armies, separated by a fence. Watch two armies stare each other down. The South Koreans, that's where I was on the south side of Korea, and the North Koreans. And it's interesting. You can look at it. And for years, since the 1950s, they've been staring each other down. But that's what happens inside your gut, guys. You got a good army, South Korea, bad army, North Korea. And they watch.
But with antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, feeding the wrong army, sugar, pesticides and herbicides, and all these things that get in and they disrupt. They kill your good side. What happens? You got what medicine calls dysbiosis. It's the invasion of the third army, yeast, fungus, candida. Call it what you want. It invades your body. You always have a little bit around, but they can't grow, grow, grow, unless you don't have enough good, good, good bacteria. Got the picture? So it's really important, guys. And what L-glutamine does, it helps repair the gut and it helps your good army. That's why I love bone broth. It's the best form of L-glutamine.
Now, number two, it helps reline the gut, so you're getting repaired. Because what happens? What leaky gut is, I talked to you about the invasion of the yeast, but you have a lining. It is so microscope, guys. I mean, we didn't even know this in the 70s when I was in school. We didn't know any of it. We had a guess, but we were guessing. We didn't know. But today we know there's a little lining there, a special form of cells that keep bad guys, along with good bacteria, keep the bad guys out of your bloodstream. Because what leaky gut is, leaky gut is when the bad, like that yeast or bacteria or viruses or undigested food and poop. Poop, poop belongs in your toilet, not in your bloodstream. Yeast, you can have a little bit in your gut, but don't let it get your bloodstream. It'll go everywhere. It spreads. It's a bad weed. It goes everywhere from your brain to your sinuses, to your skin, to your lungs. It loves moisture. It's the cousin of mold. And it gets in when that little lining, that is the barrier between your gut and your blood, is compromised.
Can I use another illustration? The US has two borders. To my American friends, you're well aware of them. You have the border between Canada and you guys, but you also have a Mexican border. Right? Now, the Canadian border has got lots of border guards, but the American southern border to Mexico is pretty wide open. That's leaky gut. Because right now, with the COVID and that the travel restrictions, Canadians, they can get across if they fly across, but we can't drive across the US border yet. They shouldn't be so scared of us, I didn't think, us snowbirds and that. We're pretty friendly people. But you know what's happening in the world. But all I'm saying is that's like an illustration of leaky gut, the southern border.
So L-glutamine helps with that. It helps repair that little lining. It helps with dysbiosis, and it helps reduce inflammation in the gut, the IBS, inflammatory bowel syndrome. Very good for that. It heals. It patches, it heals, it fights yeast. And when you reduce the inflammation in your gut, it's interesting, isn't it? That it actually helps with muscle soreness in that. There's a connection there. Glutamine is a real anti-inflammatory. So it helps with, this study was saying, muscle soreness.
Here's another one that was interesting, it's part of the study. It said that glutamine is very, very good for those people who are taking chemo and radiation. It really helps to protect the gut during that time, because you can imagine chemo and radiation would just strip away all your good bacteria. And this is why I always have people on probiotics. And if they're taking chemo or radiation... It's funny because sometimes doctors... Of course, they don't know anything about probiotics, really. Very few of them do.
It's funny, the GI people know about probiotics, but the radiologist and the oncologist and that, "You better stop that stuff. We don't want that." Why? You need that. If you're taking chemo or radiation, for heaven sakes, you really need it. And this is why I like Dr. Martin's Perfect Smoothie as a repair mechanism and the nutrition. For people, they're getting chemo and they got hardly an appetite, he said, "Well, make yourself a Dr. Martin's Perfect Smoothie with bone broth." Give your kids Dr. Martin's Perfect Smoothie. It is so good for them. They'll think they're at McDonald's getting a milkshake. You're better off sending them to school with that in their body than sending them with cereal, because Frosted Flakes ain't great. You'd be shocked how many people would tell me, "Doc, if I don't have my All Bran..."
That's an interesting study, isn't it, on L-glutamine and your gut? You need to do a plant detox. And this is why The Reset, guys, is so good. I think there was someone on the private Facebook group the other day and just saying, "Well, I found it hard. I was nauseous and that the first week." Yeah, well you're detoxing, man. You changed fuels and your body, it's going to appreciate it, but it's going through a little bit of a withdrawal from your toxic carbs. Plants are good for you, although 98% of all plants are inedible. But no, they're all right. Look, I'm being facetious to some extent, but not if you have digestive issues. If you have steak and salad, okay, you can't have that on the Reset. But if you have a steak and salad, you're going to get Dr. Martin's approval. If you insist, okay?
Eggs, meat... And by the way, where is L-glutamine found in food? In plants? Yeah, enough for a mouse. It's in eggs, meat and cheese. That's why it's so abundant in bone broth. Okay, thanks guys for paying attention. For me, when I teach, I got to make it simple because it's just me. I'm trying to make you understand how your body works. So sometimes it's a little simplistic, but I'm trying to use illustrations that work. I'm very visual. I'm very visual. When I was learning I'd often... And I can't draw. I flunked art. But I would draw things in my mind. For me, that's how my mind thinks. I need illustrations. They make stuff simple for me. You need to break it down so I can chew on it and then teach it after. So sometimes I'm a little simplistic, but I'm not aiming at doctors, although they could learn. I'm aiming for a lay audience.
Now, Friday Question and Answer. We've got questions coming in already, and don't be shy. Send in your questions for Friday. We appreciate that. And we try and answer all of them, as much as we can, unless I get off on rabbit trails. Speaking of rabbits, I get on rabbit trails. The book, The Reset, makes a great Christmas gift. And thirdly, the Martin Clinic Facebook group. Again, we love you guys. Thank you for coming in on that. You can invite your friends and family. And if they cannot watch this live, they can certainly listen. Download podcasts. The Doctor Is In Podcast and The Doctor Is In newsletters. The Doctor Is In newsletters. Wonderful. Teaching. Sign up. Okay, love you guys, will talk to you soon.
Announcer: You've reached the end of another Doctor Is In Podcast, with your hosts, Doctor Martin Junior and Senior. Be sure to catch our next episode and thanks for listening!