Glutamine (also called l-glutamine) is one of the most abundant non-essential amino acids found in the human body. It is found circulating in the bloodstream and stored in the skeletal muscles. In fact, more than 55% of the free-form amino acids in skeletal muscle is l-glutamine.
However, there is evidence that l-glutamine becomes a conditionally essential amino acid with strenuous exercise, such as intense weight training or aerobic/cardio exercises. Up to 50% of your body's glutamine can be depleted during intense weight training for muscle building or burning fat. As a result, the benefits of glutamine are numerous for people who want to build muscle and burn fat.
In its supplement form, l-glutamine generally comes in a flavorless, odorless white powder, in capsules, or mixed into your protein powders and shakes. In addition to glutamine supplements, this amino acid can be found from many dietary sources such as beef, chicken, dairy products, eggs, and several vegetable sources such as beets, beans and spinach.
Benefits of L-Glutamine
One of the most important benefits of L-Glutamine, particularly for those who want to build muscle, is its ability to slow the rate of muscle breakdown.
This results in increased strength and endurance during intense exercise, meaning that you can lift heavier weights, longer, and train more often. This anti-catabolic effect is one of the most important glutamine benefits.
By preserving muscle tissue, glutamine also enhances your ability to burn fat. Your metabolism is directly related to the amount lean body mass. The more lean body mass (muscle, skeleton, etc.) that you carry, the faster your metabolism burns, and the easier it becomes to burn fat.
However, when losing weight, we often lose muscle as well. The ability to slow this muscle loss is another of the glutamine benefits.
Another fat burning benefit of l-glutamine is that it may act to suppress appetite. There is some evidence in animal studies that glutamine supplementation may help control appetite.
Another of the benefits of l-glutamine is its effects on the immune system. Intense training puts stress not only on your muscles, but also on your immune system as well. Glutamine helps your body to recover more efficiently after a workout, which benefits your immune system as well as your muscles.
Also on the list of glutamine benefits is its ability to enhance growth hormone levels. This obviously has implications to those wanting to build muscle. There have been studies suggesting that 2 grams of L-Glutamine supplementation may increase growth hormone levels by up to 400%.
L-glutamine is made up of approximately 20% nitrogen. This makes it one of the best suppliers of nitrogen to your muscles. As a result, a popular muscle building/preserving supplement stack is l-glutamine with l-arginine.
Not only is this amino acid important for people looking to build muscle, but its muscle building and preserving effects are exactly the reasons that it is important for people who want to burn fat as well.
If you want to build muscle and burn fat, then you cannot overlook the many benefits of glutamine.
