Glutamine keeps the first place among amino acids that our muscles and blood contain: it amounts half of all amino acids. Our organism requires so much glutamine because this amino acid fulfils vitally important functions.
One of the main features of glutamine is its influence on the processes of protein synthesis and decomposition. Glutamine intake stirs up protein synthesis and slows down its decomposition. It’s connected with the process of cell hydration: cells deprived of water ‘fall into’ catabolic state while cells well ‘impregnated’ with water on the contrary ‘launch’ the process of anabolism.
Addition of glutamine powder into your nutrition ration is useful in case of low-carbs diets that cause 25% reduction of glutamine level in our organism. Glutamine suppresses ketone formation (ketones are sub-products of fat metabolism) that increases when you stick to a low-carbohydrate diet.
Glutamine is characterized by anti-catabolic effect: it blocks cortisol (the main reason of disintegration of muscle proteins) activity in our muscles. Researches show that glutamine directly suppresses cortisol interference into muscle protein synthesis processes.
Our organism usually contains a large supply of glutamine in muscle tissues: muscles are specific ‘tanks’ for this amino acid. 50% of free amino acids that are present in muscle cells are synthesized from glutamine. When our bowels, immune system and other ‘glutamine eaters’ cannot receive enough quantity of this amino acid from food products they start using muscle supply of glutamine and this leads the organism directly to catabolism (disintegration) of muscle tissues. Special intensification takes place during physical exercises: thus, just one workout session can reduce glutamine level in blood in 20%.
Glutamine is not an essential amino acid because our organism can produce it on its own. Professional sportsmen, though, consider it irreplaceable because intensive trainings lead to increase of glutamine usage by our liver in 5 times. Scientists think that it happens due to the fact that our liver needs glutamine for glutathione (it’s the main antioxidant) synthesis. That’s why it’s a matter of principal importance for athletes to receive required amount of this substance each day.
Our organism synthesizes for about 50-120gr of glutamine a day. An athlete weighing 80kg needs additional 20-50gr of glutamine a day; and this problem becomes especially relevant in case you consume little animal proteins (meat, fish, eggs).
How should we take glutamine powder?
First: we take it in split portions (3-5gr) several times a day (before and after a workout session and before going to sleep);
Second: combination of glutamine powder and glycine grants stronger effect of muscle cell volume increase in comparison with taking just glutamine. Addition of alanine helps to keep glutamine concentration in muscles; it transforms in blood into glucose during periods of limited calorie intakes: for example, in case of a strict diet or just during long intervals between food intakes, in case of starvation diets and during the time we sleep.
You need to take glutamine powder regularly; the dose depends on workout loads. In any case, 30gr of glutamine powder a day is quite enough because otherwise it will be used as an energy source.
source:gymper.com