PlainPill

Digestive Enzymes vs L-Glutamine for digestion

Short answer: For digestion, users rate them about the same: 90% report improvement with Digestive Enzymes (21 reports) and 92% with L-Glutamine (26 reports).

Digestive Enzymes has 18 meta-analyses and 31 randomized trials on PubMed; L-Glutamine has 19 and 117.

Based on 62 reports about Digestive Enzymes and 141 about L-Glutamine. Not medical advice.

Digestive Enzymes
Supplement
L-Glutamine
Supplement
Users say it helped72%helped27 reports · medium confidence60%helped59 reports · medium confidence
Verdict
Mostly positive
Mixed
ResearchAResearch: StrongAResearch: Strong
Meta-analyses / RCTs18 / 3119 / 117
Mainly used for
Digestion
% reporting improvement
90% (21)92% (26)
Mood
% reporting improvement
—88% (17)
Anxiety
% reporting improvement
—71% (14)
Recovery
% reporting improvement
—78% (9)
Energy
% reporting improvement
—83% (6)
Common side effectsstomach issuesstomach issues, anxiety, weird feeling, glutamate spikes
Typical dose reported1 capsule / 3x daily5 g
Digestive Enzymes
Latest review conclusion

In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: applied behavioural analysis; auditory integration training; Autism Preschool Programme; casein-free diet; chelation; Child's Talk programme; cognitive behavioural therapy; digestive enzymes; EarlyBird programme; facilitated communication; Floortime therapy; gluten-free diet; immunoglobulins; melatonin; memantine; methylphenidate; More Than Words programme; music therapy; olanzapine; omega-3 fish oil; picture exchange communication system; Portage scheme; probiotics; relati

BMJ Clin Evid, 2010 ↗
What a user said
“Digestive enzymes before every meal. I take NOW FOODS Super Enzymes. ... Noticed I was calm af. Stopped taking them. Anxiety came back in about three days.”
Full Digestive Enzymes profile →
L-Glutamine
Latest review conclusion

Dentoxol mouthwashes, Plantago major extract, thyme honey extract, zinc oxide paste, vitamin B complex combined with GeneTime, and the consumption of L-glutamine are effective in diminishing the severity of OM. Pain intensity was lower with doxepin mouthwashes and diphenhydramine-lidocaine-antacid mouthwashes.

Acta Odontol Latinoam, 2023 ↗
What a user said
“I tried out L-glutamine. It worked! I saw some real results taking 15g a day.”
Full L-Glutamine profile →

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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate