Athletic Performance: Glutamine
Pre and post workout supplements and typically packed full of ingredients that are designed to increase muscle strength, stamina, and help the body recover efficiently. While most ingredients have scientific evidence that support their efficacy, some do not. Some ingredients are “buzz words” that have a lot of hype around them, but very little scientific evidence. Glutamine is one of those ingredients.
At first glance, glutamine can be considered in the category of other muscle building amino acids (like branch chain amino acids—BCAAs). But it functions very differently in the body. Unlike BCAAs, glutamine is a conditionally essential amino acid, which means that the body does produce small amounts of it. Glutamine can also be found throughout the diet and is one of the most abundant amino acids in the body. In the diet it is found in high amounts in foods like meat, seafood, milk, cheese, eggs, and any soy-based product.
Because glutamine is produced by the body and common throughout the diet, deficiencies typically do not exist. The groups of people at risk for deficiency (and where supplementation would be beneficial) are vegans that participate in intense, endurance exercise (like marathon running) or those recovering from surgeries, burns, or other injuries. Others will have no issue getting glutamine through the diet when the body runs out of its natural supply. As such, studies on glutamine supplementation have not shown any benefits for healthy individuals. Pre and post workout supplements and beverages will claim that glutamine helps build and maintain muscle and aid in post-workout immune support. No studies have proven any muscle building benefits, however. Conflicting studies have shown that glutamine might provide immune support for endurance athletes, but more research is needed. Research has shown immune benefits for individuals who have major injuries, burns, and/or surgeries. These studies have shown that glutamine supplementation leads to faster recovery times. Research has also shown benefits for digestive health. Glutamine is one of the components that helps protect the very fragile and thin barrier between the gut and the rest of the body. As such, supplementation does prevent leaky gut syndrome and might reduce the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Diseases like Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis. There are also some studies that show a positive effect of glutamine on fasting blood sugar. However, these studies are only preliminary, and more research needs to be done.
Since glutamine does not support muscle recovery and strength, there is no standard effective dosage. Many pre and post workout supplements (like this one) will contain 5 grams of glutamine, but this dosage has not been proven effective. Studies on glutamine are in dosages between 5 grams to 45 grams per day. Long term supplementation in high (45+ grams) dosages is not recommended, however.
Do you take glutamine? If so, do you think it works?