Fitness Essential or Myth: Glutamine

Fitness Essential or Myth: Glutamine

Is it beneficial to supplement glutamine? The main benefits of glutamine are reduced muscle soreness and increased muscle building. But is this a supplement you should add to your diet or is it something you can leave out?

What is Glutamine?

Glutamine is an amino acid that is mainly used for transporting substances in the blood and fighting off harmful viruses and bacteria. It is the most abundant amino acid in the body and can be created by the body or derived from food. It plays a major role in the transport of nitrogen, carbon, and energy between tissues. It also acts as an anabolic signal promoting cell growth. 

How much Glutamine does your body need?

Given that this is partially produced in the body everyone is different depending on your body’s ability to produce glutamine. Athletes are suggested to intake between 5-15 grams of Glutamine per day and for most athletes, this likely would come from their diet. 

What foods contain Glutamine?

Being an amino acid glutamine is found in protein on average 5-6% of a gram of protein is glutamine. Depending on the food this can be a higher or lower percentage. Meats, dairy, eggs, nuts, red cabbage, leafy greens, and beans are all high in glutamine. To find glutamine you do not have to look very far, because almost everyone has it in their diet. Here are some levels in higher glutamine-containing foods:

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Studies

It is apparent that glutamine plays a major role in recovery and delivering nutrients to your cells for growth (i.e. muscle growth). Let’s see what the studies suggest.

Study of Glutamine on Resistance Training (2013)

This study had half the participants blindly take either glutamine or a placebo over four weeks. The results were that there was no real difference in perceived soreness or injury muscle markers between the glutamine group and the placebo.

Performance in Athletes (2019)

This study took 11 studies with glutamine to determine the effects on athletic performance. The results were that glutamine had little to no effect on physical performance. There were studies where it was effective, but also supplemented carbohydrates and/or creatine to show similar or better results. There was a consistent effect on endurance athletes showing reduced muscle damage when supplementing glutamine.

Immune Response (1998)

Once again endurance athletes who took an oral glutamine supplement did have a beneficial immune system response post-race. This is likely due to the improved response markers similar to the above study.

Overall Conclusion

This leans towards a MYTH rather than an essential supplement. While glutamine is very important in the process of reducing soreness and building muscle, there is likely so much in your diet already that you probably do not need to supplement it. You most likely could just eat more glutamine-rich foods and get the other added benefits of the food rather than supplementing it. It may be more beneficial if you are on a calorie-restrictive diet or an endurance athlete running longer races such as marathons. 

If you would rather be safe than sorry, It is not an expensive supplement, therefore if you are worried, go for it. It is recommended that any amount under 40 grams a day is safe.