Patrick Holford frequently advises people to heal their gut with the use of glutamine. He particularly recommends the value of glutamine for gut-healing in children on the autistic spectrum.
Restoring a healthy gut by supplementing digestive enzymes and probiotics is known to produce positive results in autistic children. The amino acid glutamine is especially important in restoring the integrity of the digestive tract. Drinking 5g dissolved in water just before bedtime can help heal the gut.
[Emphasis added.]
Some version of that advice appears in a number of the Holford books and websites. Oddly enough, the advice on this topic on Food for the Brain (FFTB) has been modified to indicate that glutamine may be contra-indicated with children with ASD (autistic spectrum disorders), but Holford has yet to update any of his other writings to reflect those changes.
The amino acid glutamine is an important gut healing nutrient but may be contraindicated in autism because some autistics have protein deamination problems leading to production of ammonia which doesn’t mix well with glutamine.
[Emphasis added.]
It would be helpful if Holford were to make his advice consistent in this matter. It would be even more helpful if he would correct the errors and inconsistencies in the FFTB guide to Understanding Food Allergies that Holford Watch has previously discussed.
It almost goes without saying that there is no support for the gut-healing, glutamine, autism assumption in the indexed medical journals.
Of course, it would be best of all if Holford updated his claims about the theoretical underpinnings of his autism programme. There is no scientific reason to rely upon Dr Andrew Wakefield or his work as a justification for a treatment programme that assumes the need for gut healing or a restricted diet to prevent auto-intoxication by exogenous opioid peptides derived from gluten or casein. That work has been shown to be riddled with errors at best.
The following posts address various aspects of Wakefield and the MMR debacle and how Wakefield’s work and that of others has spawned some dubious treatment programmes for autism.
Outstanding article by Dr Michael Fitzpatrick: The MMR-Autism Theory? There’s Nothing in It
Patrick Holford and Dr Andrew Wakefield’s Discredited Findings: Part 1
Kevin Leitch on Andrew Wakefield and the death of the MMR debacle
Mike Stanton on Patrick Holford and his unusual views on vaccination, MMR and autism
Holford Watch: Holford believes Secretin is “Worth considering” as an autism treatment; however, there is no evidence that this treatment is effective and
Holford is sceptical about off-label prescribing, but thinks that secretin for autism is “Worth considering”
Patrick Holford alias Doctor Knock aka Holt Senior
4 responses so far ↓
UKdietitian // July 5, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Patrick Holford really does not know the first thing about glutamine.
Glutamine is a non-essential amino acid which is used by the cells of the small intestine as an alternative energy source to glucose. A ‘non-essential’ amino acid is one of the 22 ‘building blocks’ or protein that allows your body to construct whatever protein is needed. If glutamine isn’t present in your diet (a virtually impossible scenario, bar starvation) then your body can make glutamine for itself from other amino acids.
But back to the cells of the small bowel. These cells obtain glutamine from two sources - from the digestive products of dietary protein en passant through the gut into the body, OR from glutamine circulating in our blood supply as it provides the small bowel cells with oxygenated blood.
As long as you eat dietary protein, you will have sufficient glutamine for the small bowel cells (the enterocytes) to use. Thats it.
There are situations in clinical dietetics where you may consider using glutamine - but its usually in people who cannot be fed using the gut,and need to be fed intravenously. It may also prove useful in the really seriously ill patients - such as those on an intensive care unit.
Its typical of Patrick to misinterpret the limited spectrum of potential benefit of additional glutamine from the really seriously ill hospitalised patient, to exploit the ‘leaky gut’ theory of autism.
Comment by comment, Patrick really shows his ‘nutrition-lite’ credentials….
Shinga // July 5, 2007 at 8:39 pm
It did all seem very weird. Ignoring the fact that the only support for glutamine and the gut on Entrez Pubmed was for feeding post-surgery patients in ICU, it just seems unnecessarily confusing for those people who are guided by him to offer contradictory advice on something that seems so important to him.
Hellaciously long sentence.
potsmoker // January 7, 2008 at 8:24 am
I am interested in addictions and withdrawel symptoms, especially weed addiction.
When you stop smoking, there is an awful clammy sweating problem for about a week.
Plus exceesive dreaming and poor sleep.
The two supplements i find really help are glutamine and 5htp
Glutamine (5g) stops the sweating within 1hr and 5htp prevents the vivid dreaming and restless sleep.
Can you shed some light on how glutamine does this? Is it because it converted into gaba? what do you think?
Is glutamine supplemention dangerous in any way?
Hope you can help.
dvnutrix // January 7, 2008 at 9:52 am
From our disclaimer:
If you are engaged in addicition, withdrawal or similar, then please consult your health adviser and the relevant agencies.
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