Everything You Need to Know About Glutamine: The Benefits for Athletes and Bodybuilders
Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in humans and major substrate for energy supply to physiological functions. Conditionally essential amino acid,this means the body can product enough to meet what is needed under normal condition. Demand outstrips supply when the body is under intense physical stress during illness or injury. Glutamine supplementation has gotten some attention in the sports world among athletes, bodybuilders and people seeking to boost muscle recovery, improve health, or burn fat. This article is going to break down the ins and outs of glutamine, specifically relating to structure, advantages, applications in sports performance and hypertrophy capabilities.
What is Glutamine?
Glutamine is a non-essential amino acid, which means the body can typically produce it from other molecules. It is most abundant in the muscles, comprising 60–70% of free amino acids in skeletal muscle. Glutamine Amino acid has a vital part to play at various stages like Protein synthesis, as an energy source for cells, maintanance of blood sugar levels etc. It is also a major source of energy for cells in the gut and immune system.
L-glutamine and D-glutamine with each two forms of glutamine. L-glutamine is the biologically active form found in food and supplements, while D-glutamine is a synthetically derived form with no significant physiological meaning.
Sources of Glutamine
Although glutamine is available in both plant and animal-based foods, it is generally much more abundant from animal sources. Other natural glutamine sources which are some of the richest include;
Animal protein: beef, pork and chicken.
Fish (wild salmon, cod, haddock)Lamb
Milk, yogurt and cheese
Eggs
Leafy Greens such as cabbage
Nuts Seeds Legumes (peas, beans, lentils)
Almonds, peanuts, pistachio nuts
To keep our glutamine repository satisfied, some individuals who are under heavy physical stress - for example athletes - need to add glutamine supplements on top of their diet.
Glutamine and Muscle Recovery
Muscle Recovery – Perhaps the most noted positive effect of glutamine is its ability to speed up muscle recovery. Glutamine is especially depleted in the muscle cells during states of intense exercise. In turn, this can leave your body struggling to restore and repair muscle tissue optimally. Supplementation boosts you with a large amount so that your glutamine levels can be restored, and muscle recovery can be accelerated as it is involved in protein synthesis, lessening waste production in the muscles, and causing improved repair in the post-workout state.
For example, according to a study published in the Journal of Exercise Science & Fitness, glutamine supplementation can help you recover faster after intense resistance training. It also improved salivary markers of muscle soreness, a common complaint among extremely active people. Because of its significance in muscle metabolism, athletes and bodybuilders use glutamine post-workout supplement to increase muscle recovery and growth.
Glutamine and Immune Function
Important also, is that glutamine supports the immune system. Overexertion with exercise can result in suppression of the immune system, leaving you susceptible to more infections and illness. Glutamine is the primary fuel used by cells of the immune system and therefore also white blood cells, mammary epithelial cells, intestinal epithelial cells as well as pre-neoplastic and neoplastic cells in vitro. In fact, the need for glutamine increases during times of stress, injury or any kind of very hard training.
Research has proven that glutamine supplementation can strengthen the immune system in intensely or for an extended period of time training athletes. Supplementing with glutamine can decrease infection rates in endurance athletes by aiding the immune function of many immune cells according to research published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Hence, there is a recommendation of glutamine on the end to combat immune suppression in an individual who regularly fills their day up with exercise.
Overview: Glutamine and Your Gut
One of the main benefits of glutamine is for gut health, particularly in its role at maintaining and repairing the intestinal lining. Glutamine is the preferred fuel for the cells which constitute the lining of your intestine. Exercise can cause the gut to become inflamed and lead to permeability aside from opening up capillaries in other areas, such as the intestines which make it even more crucial for athletes.
Glutamine helps to preserve and repair the barrier function of the small intestine, prevent leaky-gut and protect against 'glandular fever syndrome' as your gut membrane blocks pathogens/infections after which these infections tries to penetrate several minutes/hours later. This can then lead to toxins and bacteria moving into the bloodstream, where they trigger inflammation and potentially a host of other health issues. A convenient published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed adequate reliability of glutamine as a nutritional supplement reducing intestinal permeability levels on pressured patients.
A benefit of glutamine for bodybuilders and athletes maybe during the intense training or compititions this may help with preventing any gut inflammination to occur while taking in that gnarly protein without squiting your eyes after you finish it!
Glutamine and Muscle Growth
Glutamine and Protein Synthesis: Ahhh, protein synthesis, the Holy Grail of all gains, if you will. While glutamine does not elicit a direct anabolic effect like BCAAs, such as leucine (which we will discuss later), it provides the raw materials needed in protein synthesis. One such purpose is muscle repair and under conditions of low glutamine, the body will direct resources towards other bodily functions instead the muscles may not grow as efficiently.
Another benefit of glutamine is that it assists to hydrate the cells, which increases muscle cell volume. A muscle cell that is hydrated will act more anabolically (increased affinity for protein synthesis and gains). This explains why lots of athletes routinely supplement their post-workout food. to provide the essential foundation for optimum muscle building.
Dosage of EPA for Mental Health
Glutamine is another amino acid that many people probably get enough of without needing supplementation, especially for general health. But supplementing may be beneficial for athletes, bodybuilders or those subject to high levels of physical stress. The usual dose for supplementing with glutamine is between 5-10g per day. In some instances (e.g heavy training loads, injuries and/or immune suppression) higher doses (20g+) may be useful. Ideally, the dose should be taken at various times of day as the body is doing its rebuilding work: for example post workout or before going to bed.
Side effects/Risk/Overall Considerations
In simple english, if taken in reasonable doses, glutamine is safe for most people. But over consumption might result in gastrointestinal issues like bloating or diarrhea especially when taken in large quantity. Certain health conditions, including liver or kidney damage might also contra-indicated taking a supplement without first seeing a doctor.
Conclusion
Takeaway: Glutamine is great for athletes, bodybuilders or those coping with physical stress in general. Recovery There are plenty of things about glutamine that make it beneficial, such as its effectiveness at aiding muscle recovery, and the positive changes on immune function and digestive health which can only contribute to overall well-being. It is possibly not a muscle grower by definition, however glutamine does in part what it needs to being almost anything recovery relatedGutathione makes up nearly the entire bodys immune system and detox as the key antioxidant (fighting free radials) so almost all would agree that these two are things you want more of on top of everything else from looks conscious reasons for deeper cellulars health optimizer throughout.
Especially if you are spending hours at the gym pumping iron or have a chronic disease, glutamine can help top-up your reserves so that when the time comes for you to recover around the clock and keep blasting through those squats, your body will be READY. Like anything affecting your health and fitness, use caution when considering whether or not glutamine supplementation is suitable for you.