In my interview, Glutamine, DPA & Tyrosine for Anxiety & Sugar Cravings, on the Anxiety Summit 5: Gut-Brain Axis, I share the story of a client of mine who described her sugar cravings as an “almost demonic urge to eat sugar and all things sweet.”
Before working with me she had been trying to control her blood sugar levels by eating the right foods at the right times i.e. healthy fats and quality protein (especially at breakfast). But this wasn’t enough to eliminate her sweet cravings. She would make and eat sweet treats all day long, using “healthier” sweeteners like monk fruit and maple syrup.
The solution was using 500mg of glutamine opened onto her tongue. I had the same conversation that I have with all my clients who would obviously rather eat something sweet than open a glutamine capsule onto their tongue: “If you have an intense craving for something sweet, tell yourself that you’re going to indulge, but also humor your nutritionist and take the glutamine anyway. You may be surprised to find your urge completely disappears.”
She did that and it worked – it stopped her demonic urge to eat something sweet every time and very quickly!
As a reminder here are the signs of low blood sugar –
Anxiety and mood:
- Nervous, anxious, panic attacks
- Irritable, shaky, headachey – especially if you go too long between meals
- Lightheaded if meals are missed
- Agitated, easily upset
- Eating relieves fatigue
Sugar cravings:
- Crave sugar, starch or alcohol any time during the day
- Very intense cravings for sweets/sugar
I also share an excerpt from this March 2021 paper, The role of glutamine in supporting gut health and neuropsychiatric factors, highlighting the role of glutamine in gut health and depression/anxiety, and the gut-brain connection:
Glutamine can positively affect gut health by supporting the gut microbiome, gut mucosal wall integrity, and by modulating inflammatory responses.
As modulated by the vagus nerve, via the enteric nervous system, the gut-brain connection can impact the brain’s neurochemical environment.
Poor gut health can disrupt the balance of neurotransmitters, which can result in neuropsychiatric based conditions such as depression [and anxiety].
Glutamine supplementation may provide significant adjunctive nutritional support in cases of depression [and anxiety] by promoting proper gut health.
Here are all the topics I cover in my interview:
- Sugar addiction: impacts on the microbiome, tryptophan metabolism, zinc & B vitamins
- Glutamine for intense sugar cravings, anxiety & support of the microbiome/mucosa
- DPA for comfort/reward cravings, pain & acute stress
- Tyrosine for focus & calm energy
Dr. Aimie Apigian, MD, kindly interviewed me. She is also a guest expert on the summit so be sure to tune into her excellent interview too: The Biology of Trauma and the Freeze Response.
I encourage you to tune in if you have:
- Anxiety & feel overwhelmed & stressed by little things
- Panic attacks &/or obsessive thoughts or behaviors
- Social anxiety/pyroluria
- Phobias or fears (flying, spiders or even driving on a highway)
And also if you suffer from…
- Food sensitivities, IBS/SIBO, parasites or gallbladder issues
- Constipation, diarrhea, bloating, gas, pain & other digestive issues
- Leaky gut, a leaky blood-brain barrier or vagus nerve issues
Join us if you are also an emotional eater with intense sugar cravings (and know you suffer from low blood sugar), experience insomnia, low mood, PMS, poor focus and/or low motivation.
This is THE online event to learn about the powerful individual amino acids – GABA, theanine, tryptophan, 5-HTP, glutamine, DPA and tyrosine – to quickly ease anxiety and help with gut symptoms while you are dealing with other root causes which take longer to address. (They also help with cravings as with this example, and sleep and immunity).
With research-based anxiety nutritional solutions and practical steps, you can determine your root causes, ease your anxiety and prevent it from coming back so you can feel on top of the world again!
If you are a practitioner, please join us too and find advanced solutions for your clients or patients too!
You’ve heard me say the Anxiety Summit has been called “a bouquet of hope!” My wish for you is that this summit is your bouquet of hope!
I hope you’ll join me and these incredible speakers, be enlightened and find YOUR solutions! More about this summit and other Anxiety Summits here.
Here’s to no more anxiety and you feeling on top of the world again!
Please share if glutamine has helped you with low blood sugar symptoms such as an intense desire for something sweet.
Feel free to post your questions here too.
Will glutamine also work for chocolate cravings? I can easily walk past sweets, but chocolate!! 🙂
Nina
Glutamine works if the craving happens as a result of low blood sugar. It’s typically intense and can happen at various times of the day.
Craving for chocolate and other sugar, sweets and/or carbs can also be caused by other brain chemical imbalances: low serotonin (typically afternoon/evening cravings with worry-type anxiety), low GABA (stress eating with physical tension type anxiety), low dopamine (eating sugar/choc for energy/focus and mood bump) and/or low endorphins (comfort/reward eating). It’s a matter of looking at the symptoms and doing a trial to figure it out.
Here is an example of where GABA helped – GABA for ending sugar cravings (and anxiety and insomnia) https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/gaba-for-ending-sugar-cravings-and-anxiety-and-insomnia/
I hope you’ll join us on the summit! I cover all 5 brain chemical imbalances in 2 of my interviews: #1 Glutamine, DPA & Tyrosine for Anxiety & Sugar Cravings; and #2 GABA & Tryptophan: Gut-Anxiety Connections.
You’ll find these interviews enlightening
– Chandler Marrs, PhD – Thiamine Deficiency in Anxiety and Gut Health (Part 1 and 2). You’ll hear how sugar/sweets/carbs/processed food depletes thiamine and the far-reaching ramifications
– Michael Collins – Sugar/Fructose Addiction: Anxiety, ADHD and Aggression.
Thanks so much & yep, am joining the summit!
Dear Trudy,
I would love to know where I can purchase the glutamine packets to take on the tongue during intense sugar cravings discussed in your above article. Are they sold on one of your websites, or is there a brand that you recommend?
Thank you so much,
Lisa
Lisa
I have clients use capsules and open them or purchase the glutamine as powder. You can find the products I use here https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/amino-acids-pyroluria-supplements/
I love the idea of glutamine packets by the way!
Can glutamine help for hypoglycemic episodes in the middle of the night? I have been following the advice to eat three balanced meals and snacks, and one of those snacks is before bed but this hasn’t resolved the middle of the night hypoglycemia. :/
Lena
Yes it can in some instances. For most people glutamine will work to help low blood sugar and also improve sleep via the production of GABA. For some people glutamine can be stimulating so it’s a matter of doing a trial.
Adrenal support is also going to be important and making sure it’s not high cortisol or low serotonin that is causing the night time waking
Thanks Trudy! I have tried tryptophan for the night wakings and it helped some, but then I figured out that I have symptoms of sleep disordered breathing, possibly due to having a narrow airway, so I am scheduled for a sleep study. In the meantime I hope the glutamine will help me get back to sleep more easily.
Lena
Thanks for sharing. Please let us know how it goes with the sleep study and glutamine.
And be sure to also look into the possibly of low thiamine too. More on that here https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/fatigue-sleep-disorders-depression-anxiety-fibromyalgia-and-cardiac-troubles-as-the-expression-of-a-classic-mild-thiamine-deficiency/
Hi Trudy, I would love it if you could talk about recovery from long term antibiotics. I was on azithromax and malarone for 11 months for Lyme and struggling to recover. Adding glutamine in the last week has helped. Thank you!
Jennifer
I’m sorry to hear but glad to hear glutamine has helped. May I ask how it’s helped and how much has helped? And why you tried glutamine?
I’d be focusing on gut health and restoring the microbiome and possibly addressing candida. Some antibiotics can cause nutrient depletions so addressing those too are key. I like to have clients do a full functional workup to see what needs to be addressed from a nutritional point of view – blood work, adrenal saliva testing, stool testing etc
Hi Trudy,
I’m enjoying the re-release of your Anxiety Summit this weekend. Thank you so much for sharing this information again! I have a question about using DPA, glutamine and tyrosine to addressing cravings in my 8-year-old son. Would the dosages be any different for a child? He currently takes one GabaCalm and one Serotrex 5-htp twice a day and they have really helped with what seemed like ADD symptoms — I’m really grateful to you for sharing that information! But now we need to address his gut health, and I desperately need some support.
He’s an extremely picky eater, just flat-out refuses to eat many of the healthier, whole food meals I try to offer, and so I end up giving him much more processed food just to get him to eat something. He also has pretty intense sugar cravings and will actually say at times that he needs a reward for doing something he considers difficult.
I know you can’t give individual medical advice, but some starting doses for a child would be really helpful. My goal for his summer break from school is to work on a healthier diet and I think that amino acid support will really help with that. Thank you so much for everything you do. You provide so much actionable information on your blog and in your summits and it really does give hope when things seem pretty bleak.
Warmly,
Kimberley
Kimberley
For children I start with 1/4 to 1/2 the adult dose and always trial one amino acid at a time and when there is reward eating DPA or DLPA are often gamechangers. We use the symptoms questionnaire to decide which ones to use https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/amino-acids-mood-questionnaire-from-the-antianxiety-food-solution/
Wonderful that GabaCalm and Serotrex 5-htp twice a day have “really helped with what seemed like ADD symptoms.”
There are many articles on the blog too so feel free to search and peruse. This ARFID topic may be of interest https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/how-to-alleviate-the-fear-and-anxiety-associated-with-choking-and-vomiting-in-avoidant-restrictive-food-intake-disorder-arfid/
My book “The Antianxiety Food Solution” is a great resource for amino acids and diet too. More here https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/the-antianxiety-food-solution-by-trudy-scott/
Thanks for your kind words! may I use this feedback to share as a testimonial in a post summit email and on the site – “I’m enjoying the re-release of your Anxiety Summit this weekend. Thank you so much for sharing this information again! You provide so much actionable information on your blog and in your summits and it really does give hope when things seem pretty bleak.” ~ Kimberley. If you have some specific feedback on this cravings topic/my cravings interview on the summit I’d appreciate that too 🙂
Do the amino acids lower blood pressure? DPA lower blood pressure?
I have low blood pressure to start with.
Diana
DPA does not affect blood pressure but GABA can so I have clients monitor BP when using GABA
When you are new to amino acids my book “The Antianxiety Food Solution” is an excellent resource and lists all the precautions https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/the-antianxiety-food-solution-by-trudy-scott/
I’d love your feedback on this interview?