Glutamine

Glutamine is the most essential amino acid in the body needed to build slabs of muscle. The body produces it in low amounts, and we who are in the fitness industry want our levels to be higher than average because of the stress we put on our bodies by lifting weights & doing cardio. This little gem of supplement has been in every bodybuilder’s cupboard for decades. Let’s examine its benefits below.

Many of us hear all sorts of fancy words being thrown around in the gym. I am sure if you are a newbie to both the gym and supplements, one of these words is Glutamine or L-Glutamine. Glutamine is an essential building block of protein, and protein is how our bodies build muscle. Glutamine helps promote muscle growth by increasing levels of Branch Chain Amino Acid or Lucein in the muscle.

We get most of the glutamine in our bodies through diet sources like plant and animal proteins. Some examples of the proteins are beef, pork and poultry, milk, yogurt, ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, raw spinach, raw parsley, and cabbage.

Taking glutamine as a supplement helps prevent your muscle mass from being reduced like a prune. Taking it as a pre-workout, glutamine halts lactic acid build up preventing your muscles from getting fatigued too quickly and also promotes higher levels of GH (growth hormone) in the body making it as essential as a post workout supplement.

Glutamine is available in many forms. I prefer powder because I can just mix it in a protein shake. It also comes in capsule form usually in 500mg. If you don’t mind taking many pills then this might be the best for you. I have seen even liquid forms of glutamine pop up on the internet and supplement stores but I am not sure this would be the best option, because BCAA are bitter in taste and it is very hard to mask.

Dosing glutamine can be very confusing. Always follow the directions on the bottle regardless of what people tell you. As a standard I always go with 5-10 grams with breakfast, another 5-10 grams pre-workout and another 5-10 grams post workout, making it 15 to 30 grams per day.