Coop's Corner #8: Glutamine - Untapped Potential?

mr.cooper69

Legend
Welcome back to this week's edition of Coop's Corner.

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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.


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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:
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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: Invalid Link Removed


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Thanks bro

I mentioned this briefly in the summary section. If you have a true inflammatory bowel disease, aka either ulcerative colitis or crohn's, then it can be beneficial. Otherwise, it is of little use even in the setting of IBS

Thanks for always sharing your knowledge. I always find your posts helpful.
 
Thanks man
 
Thanks Mr. Cooper. Would L-alanyl-L-glutamine cause an insulin spike? Could I stack it with alphamine before my fasted cardio?
 
theres an old school guy who still thinks its an important staple at my gym, i feel bad for older guys who dont really use the internet, they're stuck on certain things and new research can take years to funnel down to them, then they refuse to believe
 
Thanks Mr. Cooper. Would L-alanyl-L-glutamine cause an insulin spike? Could I stack it with alphamine before my fasted cardio?

I don't think it would cause an insulin spike, especially fasted, so yes it could stack well with Alphamine. Coop may have further thoughts on this though.

Great work again Cooper.
 
theres an old school guy who still thinks its an important staple at my gym, i feel bad for older guys who dont really use the internet, they're stuck on certain things and new research can take years to funnel down to them, then they refuse to believe

Don't think its that....most older guys understand that the world doesn't revolve around pubmed. I for one think there is something to recovery in older men with glutamine simply by personal observation.

I took it when it did nothing in my 20's, and I do see some reduced DOMS with it over 40....how much is it actually doing? Don't know...but waking up every morning with less aches and pains is a good thing.

Also wondering if HMB would help...haven't tried that in ages.
 
Thanks Coop. :thumbsup:
 
Don't think its that....most older guys understand that the world doesn't revolve around pubmed. I for one think there is something to recovery in older men with glutamine simply by personal observation.

I took it when it did nothing in my 20's, and I do see some reduced DOMS with it over 40....how much is it actually doing? Don't know...but waking up every morning with less aches and pains is a good thing.

Also wondering if HMB would help...haven't tried that in ages.

^ That’s very well put. The science gives us some guidance but one also has to take real world practical application that also includes various other variables which are also in play as well. So where science typically likes to look at the actions in isolation, real world we are talking about complete environments with various variables all playing together.
 
Coop, nice post. I just noticed that Sustamine is included in Universal Nutrition's new product, Juiced Aminos. Do you think this ingredient will see increasing popularity with time?
 
Hey Coop what about glutamine peptides? It's supposed to have improved absorption to the muscles just like sustamine as well as faster uptake.
 
Coop on top all the time

looks like it could be something to add into my intra woulda been cool to see it in the new intra md


also idk about you guys but when i was super sore i would take l-glutamine and it would seem to help with doms

so lglutamine could be helpful say with an athlete on low carbs such as precontest?
 
Coop on top all the time

looks like it could be something to add into my intra woulda been cool to see it in the new intra md


also idk about you guys but when i was super sore i would take l-glutamine and it would seem to help with doms

so lglutamine could be helpful say with an athlete on low carbs such as precontest?

Possibly. The thing with DOMS is, its really hard to judge. For the most part people are not sore anymore within 2, 3 days max after training unless they did something new or are new to lifting. I think a lot of people confuse things that help with DOMS with their bodies adapting to training and becoming better are recovering, with or without supplementation
 
Coop, nice post. I just noticed that Sustamine is included in Universal Nutrition's new product, Juiced Aminos. Do you think this ingredient will see increasing popularity with time?

I doubt it. It has been on the market for a while. Most people just do not understand the benefits of the blend of glutamine/alanine, or the dipeptide sustamine, over regular l-glutamine

Hey Coop what about glutamine peptides? It's supposed to have improved absorption to the muscles just like sustamine as well as faster uptake.

That is a good question, interested to hear what coop thinks. I would tag him in this post but I have no idea how to do that
 
I doubt it. It has been on the market for a while. Most people just do not understand the benefits of the blend of glutamine/alanine, or the dipeptide sustamine, over regular l-glutamine That is a good question, interested to hear what coop thinks. I would tag him in this post but I have no idea how to do that

I got you Boss :)
mr.cooper69
 
It does indeed look like a peptide would share similar utility to sustamine, but I think alanine can provide some ergogenic benefits in and of itself by promoting the lactate-alanine cycle. So I'd prefer sustamine over a glutamine dipeptide
 
I doubt it. It has been on the market for a while. Most people just do not understand the benefits of the blend of glutamine/alanine, or the dipeptide sustamine, over regular l-glutamine



That is a good question, interested to hear what coop thinks. I would tag him in this post but I have no idea how to do that

Natty, thanks. Is this something you recommend using? Until Coop's post, I never heard of it...
 
Coop. I've been working with a coach who has a long history of training elite boxers/MMA fighters. He's even lived with and coached/been coached by Flex Lewis. Dude has insane anecdotal knowledge in this sport. Anyways. He was talking to me about mega dosing glutamine with his boxers. He found that when their training increased to maximal levels, their reaction time dropped. Dosing BCAAs was helping a little, but when he mega dosed glutamine their reaction times went back to normal. Any info on glutamine working at the neural level which would explain this?
 
Yes, at the neurons glutamine converts to glutamate which we know to be neuroexcitatory. But of course there could be something else going on.
 
Coop, what are your thoughts on magnesium glycyl glutamine chelate?

Looks like it can work for improved glucose uptake from the gut.

Rhadam, I don't have a good enough explanation because despite its role in neurotransmission, it is ultimately non-essential in this regard
 
Coop. I've been working with a coach who has a long history of training elite boxers/MMA fighters. He's even lived with and coached/been coached by Flex Lewis. Dude has insane anecdotal knowledge in this sport. Anyways. He was talking to me about mega dosing glutamine with his boxers. He found that when their training increased to maximal levels, their reaction time dropped. Dosing BCAAs was helping a little, but when he mega dosed glutamine their reaction times went back to normal. Any info on glutamine working at the neural level which would explain this?

Rhadam, there is one study recently released on A-L-G with reaction time, I'm not sure if it will help in regards to your question, especially in terms of regular glutamine but maybe you'll get some benefit out of it. in line with the info in point #2

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The dose (5-20G) listed in the Summary section of the 1st post seems out of reach since the products mentioned and a brief search has revealed that the common dose is around 500mg making it impractical to use and difficult and/or expensive to achive even the 5G level.
 
The dose (5-20G) listed in the Summary section of the 1st post seems out of reach since the products mentioned and a brief search has revealed that the common dose is around 500mg making it impractical to use and difficult and/or expensive to achive even the 5G level.

The products listed are for products which contain sustamine (l-alanine-l-glutamine dipeptides).
 
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