mr.cooper69
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Welcome back to this week's edition of Coop's Corner.
Glutamine has long been consumed as a periworkout supplement due to its purported ability to aid recovery. The logic here is that glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in skeletal muscle tissue, as well as a major amino acid in the bloodstream. Unfortunately, studies to date that have examined free form L-glutamine have shown no benefit in athletes when it comes to recovery, performance, or body composition [1] [2].
So why doesn’t glutamine work if it is such an abundant amino acid in muscle tissue? The reason is that glutamine is non-essential, meaning the body can make its own glutamine and it is not “essential” to get glutamine via diet. Therefore, if the muscles are exercised to a state of glutamine depletion, a well-nourished individual should be capable of re-synthesizing their own glutamine to replenish skeletal muscle stores.
An interesting thing about glutamine is that studies show it is a strong substrate for gluconeogenesis when consumed in free form. So some of the recovery anecdotes from people megadosing glutamine may be secondary to the fact that glutamine is converted to glucose and either used for energy or stored, thus resulting in improved performance and recovery. This isn’t particularly exciting, since simply consuming glucose (aka carbs) can do the same thing.
The data at this point is largely irrefutable: free form L-glutamine is without benefit in athletes.
Now, there is a form of glutamine with some potential: L-alanyl-L-glutamine. The available data suggests a couple reasons that a dipeptide form of glutamine may be beneficial while free form glutamine is not. Here are the reasons:
1. Improved Muscle Retention of Glutamine [3] – Free form glutamine is extensively metabolized in the intestines and liver prior to entering systemic circulation. L-alanyl-l-glutamine bypasses a large part of this effect.
2. Improved Electrolyte Uptake and Hydration [4] [5] - L-alanyl-l-glutamine has 2 studies showing that it improves performance in high-level athletes, chiefly by maintaining superior level of hydration than what water alone can achieve. This is due to shifting the electrolyte balance in a favorable manner. Of note, the improved hydration did not only improve physical performance but mental performance and sensory-motor control, which is particularly useful for weightlifters all-around.
3. Optimizing the Lactate-Alanine Cycle – Alanine is a component of L-alanyl-l-glutamine, and alanine is also a major plasma transporter of nitrogen. Enhanced “recycling” of waste products would theoretically improve performance in the longterm.
So it looks like L-alanyl-l-glutamine has decent data showing it enhances performance. If I had to put my money on which one of the 3 suggested reasons is responsible for L-alanyl-l-glutamine’s ergogenic effect, I’d pin it on #2. The optimal way to consume this ingredient would be preworkout or intraworkout, since the performance-enhancing benefits are likely secondary to maintaining cell and plasma volume. Doses would range from 3g all the way to 15g on training days.
So there you have this week’s Supplement Spotlight. We revisited an old topic, but we added a new spin with new studies on a potentially useful glutamine counterpart. Whether or not the available literature translates into noticeably enhanced performance and “gains” remains to be seen, but it’s worth investigating.
More can be seen in this powerpoint:
http://www.sportsnutritionsociety.org/ArchivePDFS/ArchivePDFS-216.pdf
Summary:
L-Glutamine:
-What is it good for? Any utility in athletes?
It has great data for inflammatory bowel disease. It has usefulness in ultramarathon runners who train themselves to a point of immunosuppression.
-What dose to use and when to dose it?
5-20g daily, splitting the doses evenly throughout the day and making sure to take one dose postworkout.
-Products with L-glutamine: virtually every major company has an L-glutamine product.
L-alanyl-l-glutamine:
-What is it good for? Any utility in athletes?
It appears useful for weightlifting and cardio alike. It is even more beneficial during long workouts or in the heat where hydration status may become an issue. It may aid not only recovery but also performance.
-What dose to use and when to dose it?
3-15g spread across the preworkout and intraworkout windows.
-Products with L-alanyl-l-glutamine:
USPLabs Modern BCAA
iSatori Restoraid
ABB Performance Hydrodurance
Betancourt Glutamine Plus
Universal Nutrition Shock Therapy
BPI Gluta Alkaline
Metabolic Nutrition T.A.G.
For a complete listing of licensed L-alanyl-l-glutamine (“Sustamine”), see: Find Sustamine with L-Alanine & L-Glutamine in these products - Sustamine
1. Effect of glutamine supplementation combi... [Eur J Appl Physiol. 2001] - PubMed - NCBI
2. Glutamine: The nonessential amino acid for performance enhancement - Springer
3. L-glutamine absorption is enhanced after ingestion ... [Nutr Res. 2012] - PubMed - NCBI
4. L-alanyl-L-glutamine ingestion maintains performance during a competitive basketball game
5. Examination of the efficacy of acute L... [J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2010] - PubMed - NCBI
Glutamine has long been consumed as a periworkout supplement due to its purported ability to aid recovery. The logic here is that glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in skeletal muscle tissue, as well as a major amino acid in the bloodstream. Unfortunately, studies to date that have examined free form L-glutamine have shown no benefit in athletes when it comes to recovery, performance, or body composition [1] [2].
So why doesn’t glutamine work if it is such an abundant amino acid in muscle tissue? The reason is that glutamine is non-essential, meaning the body can make its own glutamine and it is not “essential” to get glutamine via diet. Therefore, if the muscles are exercised to a state of glutamine depletion, a well-nourished individual should be capable of re-synthesizing their own glutamine to replenish skeletal muscle stores.
An interesting thing about glutamine is that studies show it is a strong substrate for gluconeogenesis when consumed in free form. So some of the recovery anecdotes from people megadosing glutamine may be secondary to the fact that glutamine is converted to glucose and either used for energy or stored, thus resulting in improved performance and recovery. This isn’t particularly exciting, since simply consuming glucose (aka carbs) can do the same thing.
The data at this point is largely irrefutable: free form L-glutamine is without benefit in athletes.
Now, there is a form of glutamine with some potential: L-alanyl-L-glutamine. The available data suggests a couple reasons that a dipeptide form of glutamine may be beneficial while free form glutamine is not. Here are the reasons:
1. Improved Muscle Retention of Glutamine [3] – Free form glutamine is extensively metabolized in the intestines and liver prior to entering systemic circulation. L-alanyl-l-glutamine bypasses a large part of this effect.
2. Improved Electrolyte Uptake and Hydration [4] [5] - L-alanyl-l-glutamine has 2 studies showing that it improves performance in high-level athletes, chiefly by maintaining superior level of hydration than what water alone can achieve. This is due to shifting the electrolyte balance in a favorable manner. Of note, the improved hydration did not only improve physical performance but mental performance and sensory-motor control, which is particularly useful for weightlifters all-around.
3. Optimizing the Lactate-Alanine Cycle – Alanine is a component of L-alanyl-l-glutamine, and alanine is also a major plasma transporter of nitrogen. Enhanced “recycling” of waste products would theoretically improve performance in the longterm.
So it looks like L-alanyl-l-glutamine has decent data showing it enhances performance. If I had to put my money on which one of the 3 suggested reasons is responsible for L-alanyl-l-glutamine’s ergogenic effect, I’d pin it on #2. The optimal way to consume this ingredient would be preworkout or intraworkout, since the performance-enhancing benefits are likely secondary to maintaining cell and plasma volume. Doses would range from 3g all the way to 15g on training days.
So there you have this week’s Supplement Spotlight. We revisited an old topic, but we added a new spin with new studies on a potentially useful glutamine counterpart. Whether or not the available literature translates into noticeably enhanced performance and “gains” remains to be seen, but it’s worth investigating.
More can be seen in this powerpoint:
http://www.sportsnutritionsociety.org/ArchivePDFS/ArchivePDFS-216.pdf
Summary:
L-Glutamine:
-What is it good for? Any utility in athletes?
It has great data for inflammatory bowel disease. It has usefulness in ultramarathon runners who train themselves to a point of immunosuppression.
-What dose to use and when to dose it?
5-20g daily, splitting the doses evenly throughout the day and making sure to take one dose postworkout.
-Products with L-glutamine: virtually every major company has an L-glutamine product.
L-alanyl-l-glutamine:
-What is it good for? Any utility in athletes?
It appears useful for weightlifting and cardio alike. It is even more beneficial during long workouts or in the heat where hydration status may become an issue. It may aid not only recovery but also performance.
-What dose to use and when to dose it?
3-15g spread across the preworkout and intraworkout windows.
-Products with L-alanyl-l-glutamine:
USPLabs Modern BCAA
iSatori Restoraid
ABB Performance Hydrodurance
Betancourt Glutamine Plus
Universal Nutrition Shock Therapy
BPI Gluta Alkaline
Metabolic Nutrition T.A.G.
For a complete listing of licensed L-alanyl-l-glutamine (“Sustamine”), see: Find Sustamine with L-Alanine & L-Glutamine in these products - Sustamine
1. Effect of glutamine supplementation combi... [Eur J Appl Physiol. 2001] - PubMed - NCBI
2. Glutamine: The nonessential amino acid for performance enhancement - Springer
3. L-glutamine absorption is enhanced after ingestion ... [Nutr Res. 2012] - PubMed - NCBI
4. L-alanyl-L-glutamine ingestion maintains performance during a competitive basketball game
5. Examination of the efficacy of acute L... [J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2010] - PubMed - NCBI
