Glutamine Overview

Learn about one of the most important - and underrated - diet supplements available...

Glutamine may be the most underrated diet supplement on the market. Why? Who knows... maybe it's just not 'flashy' enough for the supplement companies to put a lot of marketing muscle behind it. But one thing's for certain: most of the people worrying how much creatine to take, what the best brand of whey protein is, which of the hot new muscle-building supplements to buy, etc. should get back to basics and focus on one of the few supplements proven to work...

Most fitness pro's know how effective glutamine is and use it on a daily basis. In fact, many professional and amateur bodybuilders consider it to be second in importance only to whey protein powder (which, by the way, contains a good amount of glutamine itself!). Obviously, if you're working out and trying to gain muscle/lose fat you should seriously consider adding this low-cost supplement to your daily regimen.

What glutamine does

Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the body, representing about 60% of the amino acid pool in muscles. In a healthy person, the concentration of glutamine in the blood is 3-4 times greater than all other amino acids. It is found in nearly all of the body's tissues, with especially high concentrations in the brain, muscles, gut lining, lungs, heart, kidney, and liver.

A large amount of research show that regular Glutamine supplementation provides the following benefits to individuals trying to gain muscle and/or lose weight:

• Prevention of muscle breakdown
• Increase in growth hormone levels by over 400%
• Increase in protein synthesis
• Improved intestinal health
• Decrease in the risk of over-training
• Improved immune system function

Research also shows that glutamine may offer benefits even to people who aren't trying to build muscle or lose weight! Some of these benefits include:

• Improved athletic performance
• Improved brain functioning
• Stabilizes blood sugar
• Helps the heart function
• Strengthens the immune system
• Maintains the health and functioning of the gut lining
• Decreases alcohol cravings
• Decreases sugar cravings
• Helps with wound healing
• Helps maintain proper acid/alkaline balance
• Possible cancer benefits

It's been proven that after intense exercise available glutamine in the body is reduced by as much as 50%. Therefore it is especially important to replenish your glutamine stores soon after a hard workout. The sooner you get your stores back up the less muscle-breakdown that will occur (due to the body robbing muscles of glutamine for use elsewhere such as nitrogen transport or maintaining the immune system).


How much to take

People who are working out regularly - especially those lifting weights - can benefit greatly by taking 10 or more grams of L-glutamine per day. Many people like to take 5 grams right before working out and 5 grams right after. Also, some experts recommend taking 5-10 grams immediately before going to bed to help the body recover during sleep. There are no side effects associated with L-glutamine, because it is a nutrient naturally occurring in the body.