FAQ Glutamine

[eeeeee!]

i am taking it, its not doing anything noticable. sore as shiet still. ill see how the rest of it works out. woooooooooooooooo

[narcsarge]

Originally Posted by aussieace06

is glutamine as important as creatine to have in ya exercise program?

Read this:

http://www.vitacost.com/science/hn/Supp/Glutamine.htm

In my opinion if you have your diet dialed in then you should not need to supplement individual ammino acids.

"Few healthy people are glutamine deficient, in part because the body makes its own. During fasting, starvation, cirrhosis, critical illnesses in general, and weight loss associated with AIDS and cancer, however, deficiencies often develop."

[NiteHawk]

I supplement with glutamine but if I had to choose one, I would keep the creatine.

[butchhusky]

I just bought Weider L-Glutamine 3000 (which is 4 tablets daily equaling 3grams) Is this going to do me any good? I am not hardcore, just working out recreationally to build. I'm eating 5-6 meals a day, probably getting 20-30g of protein at each meal. Is this stuff decent?

[Merk0135]

What kind of Glutamine do you guys use. I'm thinking of going with a peptide from German American Technologies.

[NiteHawk]

Glutamine peptides are a better choice. They are better absorbed.

[jlozan84]

Originally Posted by Merk0135

What kind of Glutamine do you guys use. I'm thinking of going with a peptide from German American Technologies.

go to trueprotein.com and get your glutamine pre-mixed w/ your protein shake......you will save money that way and don't have to dick w/ mixing it up.

[Merk0135]

Originally Posted by NiteHawk

Glutamine peptides are a better choice. They are better absorbed.

Is there a brand you know of that people have suggested and have had good results with, Nite?

[NiteHawk]

Originally Posted by Merk0135

Is there a brand you know of that people have suggested and have had good results with, Nite?

The 3 at the top of my head that I can think of are..

German American Technologies
Higher Power
ThermoLife


As far as which is the best, I dont know. I have not tried any of these.

[X_puritan_X]

Ive been using Glut for about 2 weeks. I didnt think it worked until today....I DESTROYED my shoulders and triceps 2 days ago and I feel absolutely no soreness.

[Traps]

To provide an alternative, and I believe current, view on oral glutamine supplementation

Read this, its interesting. There are some terms in here I didnt understand at first.......

In Vitro: made to occur in a laboratory vessel or other controlled experimental environment rather than within a living organism or natural setting.

In Vivo: occurring or made to occur within a living organism or natural setting.

A central issue in the debate over whether glutamine supplements are beneficial is whether or not they actually increase levels of glutamine in the bloodstream. Most of the studies in states of critical illness utilize IV glutamine, and are therefore inapplicable. When glutamine is orally administered, a significant portion of it is taken up by the gut, where it is primarily oxidized, but also used to form glucose and for other purposes [22]. After ingestion of L-glutamine, about 50-75% of it is used by the gut depending on circumstances [9, 13, 14]. The amount that is extracted by the gut appears to be inversely correlated with dose – as more glutamine is administered, relatively less is taken up by the gut [14]. Despite the amount that doesn't make it to the bloodstream, many studies have found that orally administered L-glutamine still significantly raises plasma glutamine levels. For example, one study found that 5 g of orally administered glutamine doubled plasma glutamine within 30 minutes in healthy humans [16]. On the other hand, protein-bound glutamine (such as glutamine from casein or carob protein) has failed to significantly increase plasma glutamine in both human and animal studies where free L-glutamine was effective [11, 20]. When this information is put together, it would seem a high dose (at least 5-10 g) of free-form L-glutamine is the most effective way to increase levels of glutamine in the bloodstream.

Although L-glutamine supplements can significantly increase plasma glutamine, this does not necessarily equate to an increase in exercise performance or recovery ability. Multiple studies have been done, and none have yet shown that glutamine significantly improves exercise performance. In one study, 31 subjects were administered ~45 g of glutamine or placebo (maltodextrin) daily for six weeks along with resistance training. Compared to the placebo group, the glutamine group had slight improvements in their one rep maximum for squat and bench press and knee extension peak torque, as well as increased lean tissue mass and decreased markers of protein breakdown, but none of the differences were statistically significant [18]. Another study found that acute ingestion of glutamine did not improve weightlifting performance [21], but only six subjects were used, and given that the proposed mechanisms of action for glutamine are recovery-related, one would not expect a difference after acute ingestion in the first place. It seems that if glutamine does make a difference in exercise performance, it is a small one, especially at practical doses.

Beyond the studies that directly assess performance, there are also a number of studies on the effects glutamine has on other variables. Some researchers argue that the fall in glutamine levels after exhausting exercise may be related to suppression of the immune system. One investigation of 14 studies found that the self-reported incidence of illness in marathon runners was 32% lower in subjects who had consumed glutamine [9]. However, the mechanism for this is unknown, as most studies have found that glutamine fails to effect exercise-related changes in immune parameters [7, 9, 15]. Two studies have found that glutamine slightly blunts the postexercise increase in circulating neutrophils, but it is unknown whether this is clinically significant [9, 15]. One study also found that among certain marathon runners, glutamine speeded the restoration of circulating lymphocytes [9]. The differences in findings is probably related to differences in study design. It could be that glutamine does not significantly alter the magnitude of postexercise immune changes, but does speed the rate of recovery, especially in the case of extremely taxing exercise such as marathon running.

Another area in which glutamine has been explored is glycogen resynthesis. In one study, glutamine increased postexercise muscle glycogen concentration compared to alanine plus glycine providing an equal amount of calories. It has been argued that glutamine increases the activity of hepatic glycogen synthase, based on in vitro studies [5]. However, it could also be that glutamine is more readily converted to glucose than other amino acids. Either way, carbohydrates are still about three times as effective at promoting glycogen synthesis [19], and when glutamine was added to a glucose polymer drink it did not further promote muscle glycogen storage, although it appeared to increase liver glycogen storage [5]. Another study found glutamine alone did not effect glycogen resynthesis after glycogen depleting exercise [18], so the effect of glutamine in this area is once again controversial.

A final contention made by glutamine advocates is that it increases protein synthesis. This is based primarily on in vitro experiments, which have found that glutamine stimulates protein synthesis and inhibits protein breakdown [14]. However, in vivo, it appears that supplemental L-glutamine does not affect protein synthesis or increase glutamine levels in muscle tissue in healthy humans, even after IV administration [14, 17]. Increased glutamine availability does increase glutamine flux in muscle tissue (i.e., both uptake and outflow are increased but tissue levels are not changed), but this may limit transport mechanisms for other amino acids [17]. These studies do not rule out the potential for a small effect on protein synthesis of supplemental L-glutamine combined with an exercise program, but do indicate that it is not likely to make a significant difference.

Finally, there are a number of facts that can make glutamine supplementation less appealing. To maintain continually elevated levels of glutamine, one would have to supplement at least every two hours [16]. Glutamine administration also inhibits de novo synthesis of the amino acid in humans, which may make long-term supplementation less effective [20]. In healthy individuals, supplemental glutamine may decrease glutathione levels in some tissues by causing negative feedback [10]. Also, glutamine decreases vascular nitric oxide (NO) production [4]. There is also some concern that the metabolic by-products of glutamine may be toxic in large amounts [18]. However, there have been few reports of adverse events in clinical trials, even with large amounts of glutamine [1, 18].

In conclusion, few studies have demonstrated any sort of conclusive benefit from L-glutamine supplementation in athletes, although the existing evidence does support a small benefit. The most promising effect is a reduced incidence of infection after exhausting exercise, and in this case 5-10 g preworkout and/or postworkout may be effective. It may be especially useful during times of overtraining or high stress, such as on a diet, but this is only in theory. There is little evidence for a direct anabolic or performance enhancing effect of glutamine.

[gforce219]

They have Glutamine in pill form on sale at my local GNC for 3 bucks a bottle. SHould i pick up 1 or 2 to try? Is pill form ok?

[gforce219]

went with the pill form...didnt do much...i'm graduating to the 1000 German Grade Glutamine Peptide tub thats only about 30 bucks figure that would last me awhile. What do u guys think? Good priceage and good quality peptides?

[macro]

alanyl-l-glutamine supremely better tasting option to glutamine peptides (3-4 times as much glutamine/gram as well)

[ambientdeath]

After doing some research, I decided to try glutamine. I happen to get VERY sore to the point where I am sore 6 days after working out sometimes. I got some Interactive L-Glutamine and tried only (like another sticky said in this forum):

5g glutamine 30-60min pre-workout
then protein and slow carbs 0-30min pre-workout

5g glut right after workout
30-60min after workout fast carbs and whey.

I didn't notice much improvement in terms of soreness, my workout seemed to go very well though. Tomorrow I will try 10-15g before workout and 10 after and see how it affects the DOMS.

[Bowditch124]

Just wondering how useful Glutamine actually is in building muscle and how much in how many servings i should take to gain the maximum muscle growth, also one other thing is Glutamine more useful for muscle growth than Arginnie?

Thanks for help