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Supplement Savvy for Cancer: Glutamine

Reduces Cancer Treatment Symptoms

By Jill Place, MA, RD

What It Is . . .

Glutamine is the most plentiful protein in your blood. Your body normally makes enough but under stressful conditions like cancer it's necessary to get extra. And the best way to get all you need under stressful conditions is with a supplement.

What It Does . . .

Glutamine has many benefits. First, Glutamine keeps your gut working right. And having a healthy gut also boosts immunity because about 65% of your immune system is in your gut. Second, Glutamine may actually stop the growth of tumors by boosting glutathione, a protein that's important for maintaining cell health and preventing oxidative stress. Third, Glutamine may slow weight loss and muscle wasting. Fourth, Glutamine might reduce the symptoms of chemotherapy and radiation, such as diarrhea, aching, numbness, swallowing difficulties, and mouth sores. Fifth, extra Glutamine may actually help your treatments work better. Lastly, Glutamine feeds and protects normal, intestinal, and immune cells but doesn't feed or protect cancer cells. With all these pluses, Glutamine might be first on your list when you are considering what supplements to take during treatment.

What To Do . . .

Research studies show that you need to take 30 grams or more of Glutamine for best results. This large amount is very expensive and difficult to take if you're buying commercial-grade, low-dose tablets or capsules at the Health Food Store. Also, commercial Glutamine, which is used mainly for bodybuilding, is mixed with other ingredients such as creatine. It's better to take a pure pharmaceutical powdered form of Glutamine.

Glutamine loses potency when it's mixed ahead of time, so the best way to take it is to mix it with a liquid or moist food and eat or drink it within 30 minutes of mixing. The powder is odorless and tasteless so it won't spoil the flavor of foods. Try it with any thing listed below or be creative with your own food or drink choices:

Juices, such as apple or cranberry	Nectars, such as apricot or pear
Ginger ale (also for nausea)	Mineral water (plain or flavored)
Iced herbal teas	Cafix, Postum, or other cereal coffee substitutes
Sugar-free Carnation Instant Breakfast (with soy or regular milk)	Custard
Tapioca	Individual pudding cups
Shakes, homemade or canned	Low-fat regular or soy yogurt
Canned supplements (low-sugar like Glucerna and dmChoice)	Instant pudding made with rice, soy, almond, or regular milk
Berries, granola, and yogurt	Mori-Nu tofu pudding mix
Individual fruit-in-juice cups	Applesauce
Soft-serve frozen yogurt	Hot cereals, such as oatmeal
Mashed potatoes with gravy	Sauces, such as marinara
Pureed winter squash	Chili or other soups or stews
Refried beans	Vegetable juices, such as carrot
Green or black hot or iced tea	Soup or potatoes-in-a-cup

How Much To Take . . .

You want to take at least 30 grams of Glutamine in three divided doses a day as far apart as you can, like at 6am, 2pm, and 10pm, to keep Glutamine and glutathione levels high all day. That's easy to do if you have a scoop already in the can, but if you don't you might want to take about a Tablespoon or whatever the 10-gram equivalent is on the label of the Glutamine supplement you're taking mixed into any in snack-size Ziploc bags. of the foods or drinks above three times a day. It might be easier to pre-measure and store individual servings

Studies have shown that Glutamine works best with specific chemo and radiotherapies and specific symptoms. But it also can generally reduce moderate to severe symptoms of any treatment. Have your dietitian or Supplement Savvy Specialist choose from one of the options on the next page for you to follow:

If your chemotherapy is TAXOL (paclitaxel) and/or _____________________________, you may get relief from muscular aches, pain, and numbness if you take 30 grams of Glutamine per day divided into three ten-gram doses at ___am, ___pm, and ___pm on the day of your chemo and 4 days following.

If your chemotherapy is CAMPTOSAR (irinotecan) and/or________________________, you may get relief from diarrhea if you take 30 grams of Glutamine per day divided into three ten-gram doses at ___am, ___pm, and ___pm on the day of your chemo and 4 days following.

If your chemotherapy is 5-FLUOROURACIL and/or_____________________________, you may get relief from mouth sores if you take 30 grams of Glutamine per day divided into three ten-gram doses at ___am, ___pm, and ___pm with 4 to 6 ounces of water, non-acid juice such as apple, or any other mild liquid swished in the mouth in small amounts 10 to 20 times and then swallowed beginning one week prior to your first treatment and continuing through one week after the last treatment.

If you are having ABDOMINAL OR HEAD AND NECK RADIATION, you may get relief from mouth sores, stomach or intestinal problems, and/or damage to your mucous membranes if you take 30 grams of Glutamine per day divided into three ten-gram doses at ___am, ___pm, and ___pm beginning one week before your first treatment and continuing for one week after your last treatment.

Other treatment:__________________________________________________________ take ___ grams of Glutamine per day divided into three ___-gram doses at ____ am,__pm, and ___pm_____________________________________________.

There are also supplements that combine Glutamine with other substances that protect the gut, such as aloe and licorice. Ask your Supplement Savvy Specialist about alternatives and a possible gut maintenance program after you finish treatment.

What To Watch Out For . . .

If you're pregnant, nursing, or have kidney or liver failure you may not want to use Glutamine supplements. Also, you may experience constipation and bloating, but these symptoms are rare.

Glutamine makes human growth hormone, indomethacin, methotrexate, paclitaxel, and most chemotherapies and radiotherapies work better.

If you're taking supplements with Licorice Root and Aloe here's some extra considerations. There are many people who shouldn't use licorice, including those with kidney and liver problems, diabetes, arrhythmias, high blood pressure, and low potassium levels. edema, high sodium levels, heart problems, and those who are pregnant. You also shouldn't use licorice if you're taking furosemide/thiazide diuretics, digitalis glycosides, or anti-arrhythmic agents such as procainamide and quinidine, or corticosteroids. Deglycyrrhizinized licorice root extract supposedly does away with the side effects above. Doses greater than 50 grams a day are not recommended, and much less is needed if blended synergistically with other compounds.

Aloe shouldn't be used if you have intestinal obstruction and intestinal inflammations such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Prolonged use may cause albumin and blood in the urine, and potassium loss, which may increase the action of glycosides and antiarrhythmic drugs. There may also be a potassium deficiency when aloe is used with thiazide diuretics, loop diuretics, licorice, and corticosteriods. There are other side effects with aloe use, but these usually occur only with very high doses.

© Copyright 2002 Jill Place, MA, RD