How to take glutamine: Everything you need to know

As an athlete, you need the right nutrients, and this amino acid is essential; therefore, you must learn how to take glutamine. This amino acid is widely used by bodybuilders, but it is not always clear how to take glutamine. It is no wonder that you are asking yourself this, since it offers several benefits for overall health and muscle mass. In this article, we will discuss how it works and how to dose it properly, among other important aspects. But before learning about the types of compounds, delivery and administration formats, or combinations, let us get to know it.

• of the amino acid with other ingredients, you should know that it is an overrated supplement, but it is truly worth it.
• It has nothing to do with marketing when its properties are discussed in every circle, including sports nutrition.

What is glutamine?

Glutamine is one of the 20 amino acids, small structures that combine to form proteins. Each amino acid has specific characteristics, and they all perform certain functions in our bodies, particularly those related to athletes’ health. When our bodies metabolize proteins, ammonia is produced, which must be eliminated through the urine as urea, placing a corresponding burden on our kidneys. Well, glutamine is an amino acid with a high nitrogen content, which greatly helps clear ammonia. Thanks to this extraordinary nitrogen content, glutamine acts by neutralizing other acids found in the muscles, such as lactic acid (which is believed to be directly involved in muscle soreness). Reducing the level of acids found in the muscles helps control muscle fatigue. It is an amino acid that is highly prevalent in our muscles, making up 60% of them and directly participating in protein synthesis; therefore, it should be replenished after intense training, especially. The blue arrows indicate tissues that provide glutamine when adequately nourished, which raises blood plasma levels. The white arrows indicate tissues that require glutamine. In healthy states and/or when an athlete is well nourished, glutamine stores are balanced in the plasma/bloodstream and tissues, and are maintained primarily in the liver and skeletal muscles, the two main glutamine stores in the body. On the other hand, immune system cells are extremely dependent on glutamine consumption in all situations. Cruzat et al (Nutrients. 2018 Nov; 10(11): 1564)]

How does glutamine work?

Glutamine, like other alpha-amino acids, participates in regulating protein synthesis and breakdown. However, there is much more to it than that. It significantly affects BCAA metabolism, maintenance of the intestinal barrier, normal immune function, glucose formation, water transport, neurotransmission, and more. Your kidneys are a primary consumer of this amino acid; this is where ammonia cleaved from glutamine works to maintain your body's acid-base balance.

Wherever ammonia is found, glutamine will be found.

As you increase metabolic acidosis, such as in response to intense training or a high-protein diet, renal glutamine uptake increases sharply. If all these competing demands begin to exceed your body's ability to produce glutamine, you start to show signs of deficiency, including muscle atrophy, depleted energy, and increased susceptibility to infections.

What are the benefits of glutamine?

As we have seen, it plays a fundamental role in ammonia metabolism, muscle composition, and protein synthesis.

• Reduces muscle fatigue during intense exercise.
• Prevents muscle loss.
• Allows you to increase training duration and intensity.
• Reduces recovery time after an injury.
• Preserves muscle volume.
• Keeps the stomach healthy.
• Stimulates the immune system.

The human body stores more glutamine than any other amino acid, and for good reason. We use a great deal of it all the time. The immune system, kidneys, pancreas, gallbladder, and liver constantly require glutamine, and during exercise, demand increases even further. Its primary reservoir is found inside muscle cells, where it accounts for nearly two-thirds of the total pool of free-floating amino acids. Even at rest, its turnover is so high that the body's entire supply would be depleted within seven hours if it were not resynthesized.

Is glutamine essential when training?

When you start exercising, the demand for glutamine will increase dramatically. When glutamine synthesis can no longer meet demand, both muscle and plasma glutamine are “borrowed” by the body, and their levels can become depleted within hours to days, depending on the duration and intensity of an exercise session. This is undesirable because glutamine is involved in maintaining proper cell volume; as cell volume decreases, catabolism (muscle breakdown) sets in. Not only that, but there is increasing evidence that reduced plasma glutamine also suppresses immunity and inhibits muscle glycogen synthesis, neither of which is desirable for athletes in training.

Improve your performance?

Despite glutamine's various functions, little evidence suggests that it will directly result in increased muscle mass, reduced body fat, or increased muscle strength or power in normal, healthy people. However, given how stressful intense training is for the human body, athletes should know how to take glutamine.

• One study found that when athletes experienced mild dehydration, exercise performance increased and fluid and electrolyte absorption improved when it was combined with a glucose and electrolyte drink.
• It has also been shown that supplementation raises growth hormone levels in response to endurance training to exhaustion.
• It has also been shown that extracellular glutamine concentrations activate the mTOR signaling pathway, which is known to be responsible for increasing muscle size.

However, once again, isolated benefits must meet other conditions: mTOR signaling in the presence of BCAAs (leucine being the most important), as well as some threshold level of cellular hydration; therefore, it works synergistically with branched-chain amino acids or in sports drinks. Likewise, it works perfectly when combined with creatine, as this can stimulate gains in lean muscle mass compared with using creatine alone.

Does it improve recovery?

Frequent high-intensity training can make you more susceptible to illnesses such as the common cold and other respiratory tract infections. Proper recovery from exercise is a fundamental component of overall fitness, and it appears that glutamine can help those fatigued muscles while strengthening defenses to keep athletes from getting sick. Research and experience indicate that taking glutamine is effective for reducing muscle soreness and speeding up recovery time.

• It plays a vital role in controlling glucose (energy) absorption after exercise, helping restore energy stores for your next workout.
• When the muscles have sufficient glucose stores, this helps improve performance and maintain energy for longer, which will lead to better results.

One way it can speed recovery is by stimulating glycogen synthase, an enzyme needed for glycogen storage in the muscles and liver. Glycogen is a form of carbohydrate storage that serves as the primary fuel for high-intensity exercise. The more you have, the harder you can run and the more weight you can lift. Remember that when its levels are very low, inflammation and muscle damage increase, hindering proper recovery in response to exercise.

 health, how does it strengthen it?

As the most abundant amino acid in the body, one of glutamine’s primary responsibilities is to provide fuel for immune cells so they can protect against infections. In stressful situations, such as clinical trauma or starvation, its concentration in the blood decreases, often substantially. The additional stress of intense physical training also results in glutamine depletion after exercise.

 immune cells absorb glutamine to handle the workload.

This may explain why bouts of strenuous exercise, such as running marathons and weight training, are often associated with immune suppression and, in turn, an increased risk of infections such as the common cold or flu. Therefore, taking glutamine may help bring your immune system out of its suppressed state, allowing you to stay on track and follow your training program most of the time. A 2009 study summarized in the European Journal of Applied Physiology found that glutamine supplementation increases macrophage function (a type of white blood cell that plays a key role in the immune response to infectious microorganisms) after exercise, lending support to the amino acid’s ability to boost immunity. There is also growing evidence that it helps prevent exercise-induced destruction of neutrophils, other white blood cells that seek out and destroy the foreign invaders that cause infections.

Does it help with the mind-muscle connection?

We know that maintaining a strong mind-muscle connection is essential for exercise and even more so for bodybuilding and fitness. An interesting study published in 2021 states that, as a precursor to the neurotransmitter glutamate in your brain, glutamine is key to improving mental health because a disruption of the glutamine–glutamate cycle can cause all kinds of brain problems, including disorders, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and difficulty concentrating, as well as other problems that can progress to mental illness. The amino acid may also help slow brain aging. Mitochondrial dysfunction causes abnormal increases in the neurotransmitter glutamate and, once again, puts the brain at risk of developing the problems mentioned above.

How do you take glutamine?

Glutamine is currently available in powder, capsule, and “chewable” form, or even as part of sports drinks. Your daily intake should be high (at least 20–30 g per day, consumed frequently) to increase your plasma concentrations.

• For some perspective, consider that critically ill patients generally receive a continuous intravenous infusion of between 20 and 30 g of glutamine per day.
• However, the bioavailability of the infused glutamine they receive is 100 percent. It is no more than 30 percent of the glutamine consumed orally.

In general, up to 20 to 30 g of glutamine per day is recommended in divided doses throughout the day when bodybuilding, preferably with meals or snacks containing carbohydrates to support glucose utilization. On training days, you should consume glutamine before or during exercise to support hydration, electrolyte transport, and BCAA metabolism.

• You can take 10 g before, during, and after your workout, or you can reduce those doses to 5 g if you also take a dose in the hours before or after exercise.
• On rest days, consume at least 5 g of glutamine at frequent intervals, at least every 2–3 hours, to maintain elevated plasma glutamine concentrations.

There seems to be no need to cycle glutamine. In fact, there is more evidence supporting the need for frequent intake during periods of extreme physiological stress.

Can it be combined with other supplements?

Glutamine transport occurs through a sodium-dependent mechanism, significantly increasing cell volume, electrolyte absorption, and hydration; therefore, it can be consumed with sodium. This could be useful for both endurance athletes and bodybuilders, because cellular water volume is one of the many aspects of muscle hypertrophy. Remember that lower cellular water volume can also inhibit mTOR pathway signaling.

• It is ideal to take it with BCAAs because ammonia concentrations directly affect their metabolism. Secondly, extracellular glutamine mTOR signaling first requires the absorption of BCAAs, mainly leucine.
• Glutamine also functions as a precursor for the synthesis of arginine and NO through the transport of citrulline between tissues. When combined with citrulline, it could increase citrulline’s ability to stimulate nitric oxide production, which could lead to improved oxygen delivery and nutrient transport to skeletal muscle, resulting in a better pump, faster recovery, and greater growth.
• Like glutamine, AKG (alpha-ketoglutarate) serves as a precursor to glutamate and has been shown to prevent glutamine degradation in a dose-dependent manner and increase mTOR signaling pathways, as well as glutathione. Combined with AKG, it could increase the potential for muscle growth and glutathione production, a powerful antioxidant.
• Glucose deprivation reduces glutamine absorption and negatively affects cell growth and survival. If you follow a low-carbohydrate diet, it appears that the glycoprotein N-acetylglucosamine (NAG) combined with glutamine could restore glutamine absorption and metabolism, which could boost recovery and cellular function.

When should you take glutamine?

Many people are confused about when to take glutamine for muscle growth or other goals. And, although there is a guideline we described above, doubts may still remain.

• The best time to take glutamine to build muscle is immediately after a workout, generally 30 minutes after finishing for efficient nutrient absorption.
• After vigorous training, your body requires amino acids in abundance; therefore, you should take glutamine, which is quickly absorbed by the stomach.

Bodybuilders and athletes who train hard incorporate glutamine supplements thanks to their ability to help repair muscles.

• During exercise, many microtears occur in muscle fibers.
• Taking glutamine benefits bodybuilders by repairing torn muscles and preventing further muscle damage.
• Additionally, because glutamine draws salt and water into muscle cells, faster protein synthesis may occur. Enlarged, swollen, and hydrated cells mean a higher rate of protein synthesis, which is also important for muscle development.
• This will help the athlete prepare for the next training session or athletic competitions.

With this supplement, you can push your limits further and achieve better personal records, as it will repair your muscles and increase your strength.

Conclusions

We obtain glutamine naturally through our diet, but cooking destroys its content. In this situation, we end up ingesting an insufficient amount if we want to take advantage of all its benefits. However, consuming fresh cheese, nuts, and dairy products helps maintain good levels of this amino acid naturally. Athletes who engage in moderate- or high-intensity endurance or strength activities do need to take glutamine as a nutritional supplement. These supplements specifically contain a form of this amino acid called L-glutamine and are sold as powder or capsules. To take these supplements properly, you should consider the following:

• You should always begin supplementation with the minimum dose and increase it after confirming your tolerance.
• The recommended daily dose of glutamine is approximately 0.33 mg x kg of body weight.
• During a period of intense training, the dose can be doubled to 0.50 or 0.66 mg x kg, divided between meals, and never exceeding 10 g per serving.
• The daily dose should be divided into several servings, with particular recommendation to take it at the following times: while fasting, after finishing your workout, and before going to bed.
• It is always recommended to take it on an empty stomach.
• It is not recommended in cases of liver or kidney disease, or disorders related to ammonia metabolism.

If you take it in capsule form, since the amount varies depending on the brand, you must strictly follow the recommendations specified on the packaging. As with any nutritional supplementation, it is advisable to establish rest periods.