What is glutamine and will it help build muscle and support immunity

What is glutamine

Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the human body. It is producedA. Y. Coqueiro, M. M. Rogero, J. Tirapegui. Glutamine as an Anti‑Fatigue Amino Acid in Sports Nutrition / Nutrients in skeletal muscle, adipose tissue and lungs.

Glutamine makes up about 20% of all amino acids in the body and performs many important functions:

1. Serves as a source of energy for cells of the immune system, intestinal mucosa and pancreas.
2. Carries the toxic substance ammoniaW. W. souba. Interorgan ammonia metabolism in health and disease: a surgeon’s view / Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition from tense muscles, helps to process it and remove it from the body.
3. Promotes protein synthesis in skeletal muscles. Glutamine isA. Y. Coqueiro, M. M. Rogero, J. Tirapegui. Glutamine as an Anti‑Fatigue Amino Acid in Sports Nutrition / Nutrients about 50-60% of the total amino acid composition of the muscles.
4. Involved in the creation of glucose from protein.

Glutamine is produced in sufficient quantities by the body, but with injuries and long exhausting workouts, its level decreases.

How glutamine can help in sports

Supplement manufacturers indicate that glutamine maintains and builds muscle, strengthens the immune system and accelerates recovery. At the same time, scientific data on this subject are limited and often contradictory.

Below, we will look at at least partially proven benefits that supplementation with this amino acid can provide.

Delay the onset of fatigue during intense and heavy loads

In the process of work, energy sources - phosphocreatine and glycogen - end in muscle cells, protons and ammonia accumulate, and oxidative stress occurs. As a result, burning increases in the muscles and pain, so that a person is forced to stop and rest.

Glutamine canA. Y. Coqueiro, M. M. Rogero, J. Tirapegui. Glutamine as an Anti‑Fatigue Amino Acid in Sports Nutrition / Nutrients delay the onset of fatigue by stimulatingJ. L. Bowtell, K. Gelly, M. L. Jackman. Effect of oral glutamine on whole body carbohydrate storage during recovery from exhaustive exercise / Journal of applied physiology glycogen production, preventing 1. J. Carvalho Peixoto, R. C. Alves, L. Cameron. Glutamine and carbohydrates reduce ammonemia increase during endurance supplement field exercise / Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism
2. A. Bassini-Cameron, A. Monteiro A. Gomes. Glutamine protects against increases in blood ammonia in football players in an exercise intensity‑dependent way / British journal of sports medicine accumulation of ammonia in working muscles and reducingG. H. Koo, J. Woo, S. Kang. Effects of Supplementation with BCAA and L‑glutamine on Blood Fatigue Factors and Cytokines in Juvenile Athletes Submitted to Maximal Intensity Rowing Performance / Journal of physical therapy science their damage.

Some studies indicate that supplements with this amino acid have a positive effect on the performance of athletes. For example, in one experimentA. Favano, P. R. Santos-Silva, E. Y. Nakano. Peptide glutamine supplementation for tolerance of intermittent exercise in soccer players / Clinics glutamine with carbohydrates helped footballers run better intervals on the track and at the same time transfer the test easier; in a differentM. Khorshidi-Hosseini, B. Nakhostin-Roohi. Effect of glutamine and maltodextrin acute supplementation on anaerobic power / Asian journal of sports medicine - increased power in the sprint test (six times 35 meters).

In the studyR. C. Nava, M. N. Zuhl, T. A. Moriarty. The Effect of Acute Glutamine Supplementation on Markers of Inflammation and Fatigue During Consecutive Days of Simulated Wildland Firefighting / Journal of occupational and environmental medicine with simulation extinguishing a fire in a hot room (38°C and 35% humidity), the supplemented group also felt far less tired and tolerated the experiment more easily than those who drank the placebo.

However, there are also the opposite results. For example, in the experimentJ. W. Krieger, M. Crowe, S. E. blank. Chronic glutamine supplementation increases nasal but not salivary IgA during 9 days of interval training / Journal of applied physiology in 13 runners, two weeks of glutamine supplementation provided no benefit in high-intensity interval training.

In reviewA. Y. Coqueiro, M. M. Rogero, J. Tirapegui. Glutamine as an Anti‑Fatigue Amino Acid in Sports Nutrition / Nutrients scientific papers, researchers have concluded that an amino acid supplement may be beneficial for athletes who participate in long and exhausting competitions, as well as those whose sport includes short intermittent stretches of work from all forces.

However, it is noted that, given the small number of experiments and conflicting data, the effectiveness of glutamine for these purposes has not been proven.

Accelerate muscle building

In one studyM. Hakimi, M. A. Mohamadi, Z. Ghaderi. The effects of glutamine supplementation on performance and hormonal responses in non‑athlete male students during eight week resistance training / Journal of human sport & exercise young men who took glutamine (0.35 g per 1 kg of body weight) for 8 weeks gained 2 kg more muscle mass than those who used placebo-additives. In addition, participants in the amino acid group lost 1.24% fat, while the rest lost only 0.4%.

There is also some evidence that glutamine can 1. A. Cordova‑Martinez, A. Caballero‑Garcia, H. J. Bello. Effect of Glutamine Supplementation on Muscular Damage Biomarkers in Professional Basketball Players / Nutrients,
2. T. C. Welbourne. Increased plasma bicarbonate and growth hormone after an oral glutamine load / The American journal of clinical nutrition reduce muscle damage, increase testosterone and growth hormone and reduce the amount of cortisol, which is useful for anabolism.

But at the same time, it will not be possible to call it a proven means for increasing muscle mass, since there are few experiments and not all of them confirm the benefits of the supplement.

For example, in one studyD. G. Candow, P. D. Chilibeck, D. G. Burke. Effect of glutamine supplementation combined with resistance training in young adults / European journal of applied physiology in young men, 6 weeks of glutamine supplementation at 0.9 g per kg of body weight did not provide benefits in muscle building and increased strength compared to the placebo group.

And in the reviewM. Gleeson. Dosing and efficacy of glutamine supplementation in human exercise and sport training / The Journal of nutrition scientific papers have noted that one hour of moderate to high intensity training raises growth hormone levels by a factor of 20, while glutamine only increases it by a factor of four. Therefore, it makes no sense to drink supplements for this for those who are actively engaged.

Support immunity after long exhausting workouts

Since glutamine is important for immunity, and intense exercise reduces its amount, supplementation in the long term mayM. Gleeson. Dosing and efficacy of glutamine supplementation in human exercise and sport training / The Journal of nutrition protect from colds during hard training periods.

However, in order for the level of the amino acid to decrease at all, you need to either practice for a really long time - about 3.5 hours without a break, or work hard all the time.

For example, in elite swimmers, after two weeks of intense exercise, the amount of glutamine in the blood plasma fell.L. T. MacKinnon, S.L. Hooper. Plasma glutamine and upper respiratory tract infection during intensified training in swimmers / Medicine and science in sports and exercise by 23%. Interestingly, they caught cold even less often than athletes with normal amino acid levels.

Several experiments 1. T. Rode, D. A. MacLean, b. K. Pedersen. Effect of glutamine supplementation on changes in the immune system induced by repeated exercise / Medicine and science in sports and exercise
2. K. Krzywkowski, E.W. Peterson, K. Ostrowski. Effect of glutamine supplementation on exercise‑induced changes in lymphocyte function. / American journal of physiology
3. N. P. Walsh, A. K. Blanin, N. C. Bishop. Effect of oral glutamine supplementation on human neutrophil lipopolysaccharide‑stimulated degranulation following prolong exercise /International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism showed that although supplementation before and after intense exercise protected athletes from falling glutamine levels, immunity it doesn't affect. He still remains depressed for a while after training.

And only one studyL. M. Castell, J. R. Poortmans, E. A. Newsholme. Does glutamine have a role in reducing infections in athletes? / European journal of applied physiology and occupational physiology revealed at least some benefit from glutamine for immunity.

In it, marathon runners received a drink with 5 g of glutamine before the race, and then drank the same after the finish. Over the next week, 81% of runners who took the supplement did not experience a single symptom of a cold. And in the placebo group, only 49% of them were.

Therefore, glutamine supplementation may be beneficial for those who run. marathon or engages in another sport that involves intensive work for three hours or more.

In other cases, this measure is unlikely to help maintain immunity.

Who Should Try Glutamine

So, glutamine can be useful:

1. Marathon runners and other athletes whose sport involves long exhausting loads. The supplement is able to support immunity after a race or race.
2. Athletes doing intense interval training. Glutamine supplementation can increase power and reduce perceived effort during exercise.

However, it should be borne in mind that there is no reliable evidence of the benefits of supplements even for these purposes. Apparently, it would be more rational to spend money on quality products.