Sholiz

We all know the Glutamine dosen't work, Glutamine is a waste of money, Glutamine is this this and this ... well, is it that?

This week, let's see what everyones opinions are on Glutamine. Whether it be peptides or L-Glutamine, it's effectiveness, and it's role in Bodybuilding.

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toughnuts

Well they sell it at ***********.com so it must work lol.

First of all L-Glutamine is a non-essential, neutral, genetically coded amino acid.

"When supplemented, it may help bodybuilders reduce the amount of muscle deterioration that occurs because other tissues that need glutamine will not rob the glutamine stored in the muscle cells."
bodybuilding.com Glutamine listing page

Glutamine can help you by replenishing declining Glutamine levels during intense workouts.

I am not very good at this, but I will like to see where this goes........

warriors

I dont have any scientific studies as to why glutamine may/may not work right off hand but from my experiences with it, glutamine was a waste of money. Ive take L-glutamine and glutamine peptides and neither one was worth a damn. Ive even experimented with high dosages(20-25g daily) and still didnt notice anything worth accounting for. It MIGHT have helped me recover a little faster when on high dosages but it's way too expensive to keep taking it like that. There are quite a few over at bb.com that feel the same way about glutamine as i do. IMO bulk BCAA's are a better choice for anything glutamine has to offer.

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EME

Although oral supplementation of Glutamine has been demonstrated in several scientific studies to be innefective at increasing strength or muscle mass, it has been shown to positively affect many facets of health related to immune system response and disease.

Supplementation of Glutamine during contest preparation may not do anything to build or recover muscle, but it may give your immune system a boost at a time when your body is under significant stress.

This immune system boost may prevent you from becoming sick during your contest prep, and this small benefit may very well be worth the relatively low cost of Glutamine supplementation.


Listed below are several areas of health and wellness where supplementation, both oral and in some cases intravenous, has been shown to have positive benefits, along with a list of supporting research.



Wound Healing
When the body is stressed (such as from injuries, infections, burns, trauma, or surgical procedures), steroid hormones such as cortisol are released into the bloodstream. Elevated cortisol levels can deplete glutamine stores in the body. Since glutamine plays a key role in the immune system, a deficiency in this nutrient can significantly slow the healing process. Studies have shown that glutamine supplements enhance the immune system and reduce infections (particularly infections associated with surgery). Glutamine supplements may also aid in the recovery of severe burns.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
Glutamine helps to protect the lining of the gastrointestinal tract known as the mucosa. Because of this, some experts speculate that glutamine deficiency may play a role in the development of IBD, namely ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. These conditions are characterized by damage to the mucosal lining of the small and/or large intestines, which leads to inflammation, infection, and ulcerations (holes). In fact, some preliminary research suggests that glutamine may be a valuable supplement during treatment of IBD because it promotes healing of the cells in the intestines and improves diarrhea associated with IBD. Not all studies have found this positive benefit, however. For this reason, more research is needed before conclusions can be drawn. In the meantime, follow the advice of your healthcare provider when deciding whether to use glutamine for IBD.

HIV/AIDS
Individuals with advanced stages of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) often experience severe weight loss (particularly loss of muscle mass). A few studies of individuals with HIV have demonstrated that glutamine supplementation, along with other important nutrients including vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, selenium, and N-acetylcysteine, may reduce the severe weight loss associated with this condition.

Obesity
Results from animal studies suggest that glutamine may help suppress appetite. Large-scale research trials of humans would be needed to determine if glutamine supplements are useful in treating obesity in people.

Peritonitis
Glutamine supplementation has long been known to maintain the health of the mucosa (inner wall) of the gastrointestinal tract and inhibit muscle wasting in critically ill patients. Keeping the intestinal mucosa healthy helps prevent infections such as peritonitis (inflammation of the peritoneum, the thin membrane that lines the abdominal wall and covers most of the organs of the body).

Animal studies indicate that a diet supplemented with glutamine may protect the lining of the intestine, inhibit the growth of bacteria, and improve survival rates in animals with peritonitis.

Additional studies of people at high risk for peritonitis infection suggest that diets high in glutamine, arginine, and omega-3 fatty acids may lower the risk of infection by more than 50% and significantly shorten the length of hospital stay. These results are somewhat controversial, however, as the way that these supplements appear to work involves an inflammatory response in the peritoneum -- a reaction known to cause peritonitis.

Cancer
Many people with cancer have abnormally low levels of glutamine. For this reason, some experts speculate that glutamine may prove to be a good addition to conventional treatment of cancer under certain conditions. In fact, nutritional support with supplemental glutamine is often used in malnourished cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiation treatments and sometimes used in patients undergoing bone marrow transplants.

Glutamine is used to protect the lining of the small and large intestines from damage caused by chemotherapy or radiation. Glutamine may also protect against the development of mucositis (breakdown of the mucosal membranes of the mouth and nasal passages) caused by therapy for head and neck cancer.

Other
Glutamine can aid in healing stomach ulcers and prevent inflammation of the stomach that is caused by chronic use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDS).

Supporting Research

Abcouwer SF, Souba WW. Glutamine and arginine. In: Shils, ME, Olson JA, Shike M, Ross AC, eds. Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease. 9th ed. Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins; 1999:559-569.

Abcouwer SF. The effects of glutamine on immune cells [editorial]. Nutrition. 2000;16(1):67-69.

Akobeng AK, Miller V, Stanton J, Elbadri AM, Thomas AG. Double-blind randomized controlled trial of glutamine-enriched polymeric diet in the treatment of active Crohn's disease. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2000;30(1):78-84.

Alexander JW, Ogle CK, Nelson JL. Diets and infection: composition and consequences. World J Surg. 1998;22(2):209-212.

Amores-Sanchez MI, Medina MA. Glutamine, as a precursor of glutathione, and oxidative stress. Mol Genet Metab. 1999;67(2):100-105.

Antoon AY, Donovan DK. Burn Injuries. In: Behrman RE, Kliegman RM, Jenson HB, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. Philadelphia, Pa: W.B. Saunders Company; 2000:287-294.

Bellows CF, Jaffe BM. Glutamine is essential for nitric oxide synthesis by murine macrophages. J Surg Res. 1999;86(2):213-219.

Berger M, Spertini F, Shenkin A, et al. Trace element supplementation modulates pulmonary infection rates after major burns: a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 1998;68:365-371.

Bozzetti F, Biganzoli L, Gavazzi C, et al. Glutamine supplementation in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy: a double-blind randomized study. Nutrition. 1997;13:748-751.

Buchman AL. Glutamine: commercially essential or conditionally essential? A critical appraisal of the human data. Am J Clin Nutr. 2001;74(1):25-32.

Cao Y, Kennedy R, Klimberg VS. Glutamine protects against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity. J Surg Res. 1999;85:178-182.

Castell LM, Newsholme EA. The effects of oral glutamine supplementation on athletes after prolonged, exhaustive exercise. Nutrition. 1997;13:738–742.

Charland SL, Bartlett DL, Torosian MH. A significant methotrexate-glutamine pharmacokinetic interaction. Nutr. 1995;11:154-158.

Clark RH, Feleke G, Din M, et al. Nutritional treatment for acquired immunodeficiency virus-associated wasting using beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate, glutamine, and arginine: a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study. JPEN: J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2000;24(3):133-139.

Daniele B, Perrone F, Gallo C, et al. Oral glutamine in the prevention of fluorourcil induced intestinal toxicity: a double blind, placebo controlled, randomized trial. Gut. 2001;48:28-33.

Decker GM. Glutamine: indicated in cancer care? Clin J Oncol Nurs. 2002;6(2):112-115.

Decker-Baumann C, Buhl K. Reduction of chemotherapy-induced side-effects by parenteral glutamine supplementation in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Eur J Cancer. 1999;35:202-207.

Den Hond E. Hiele M, Peeters M, Ghoos Y, Rutgeerts P. Effect of long-term oral glutamine supplements on small intestinal permeability in patients with Crohn's disease. JPEN: J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 1999;23:7–11.

De-Souza DA, Greene LJ. Pharmacological nutrition after burn injury. J Nutr. 1998;128:797-803.

Dieleman LA, Heizer WD. Nutritional issues in inflammatory bowel disease. Gastroenterol Clin North Am.1998;27(2):435-451.

Duffy MM, Regan MC, Ravichandran P, et al. Mucosal metabolism in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Dis Colon Rectum. 1998;41(11):1399-1405.

Erickson R, Ross D, Medina J. Effects of glutamine on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1999;121(4):348-354.

Field CJ, Johnson IR, Schley PD. Nutrients and their role in host resistance to infection. J Leukoc Biol. 2002 Jan;71(1):16-32.

Fujita T, Sakurai K. Efficacy of glutamine-enriched enteral nutrition in an experimental model of mucosal ulcerative colitis. Br J Surg. 1995;82(6):749-751.

Furukawa S, Saito H, Fukatsu K, et al. Glutamine-enhanced bacterial killing by neutrophils from postoperative patients. Nutrition. 1997;13(10):863-869.

Furukawa S, Saito H, Inaba T, et al. Glutamine-enriched enteral diet enhances bacterial clearance in protracted bacterial peritonitis, regardless of glutamine form. JPEN: J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 1997;21(4):208-214.

Furukawa S. Saito H, Inoue T, et al. Supplemental glutamine augments phagocytosis and reactive oxygen intermediate production by neutrophils and monocytes from postoperative patients in vitro. Nutrition. 2000;1695):323-329.

Garlick PJ. Assessment of the safety of glutamine and other amino acids. [Review].
J Nutr. 2001 Sep;131(9 Suppl):2556S-61S.

Gianotti L, Alexander JW, Pyles T, Fukushima R. Arginine-supplemented diets improve survival in gut-derived sepsis and peritonitis by modulating bacterial clearance. Ann Surg. 1993;217(6):644-654.

Grimm H, Kraus A. Immunonutrition--supplementary amino acids and fatty acids ameliorate immune deficiency in critically ill patients. Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2001 Aug;386(5):369-376.

Jebb SA, Osborne RJ, Maughan TS. 5-fluorouracil and folinic acid-induced mucositis: no effect of oral glutamine supplementation. Br J Cancer. 1994;70: 732-735.

Levy J. Immunonutrition: the pediatric experience. Nutrition. 1998;14(7-8):641-647.

Medina MA. Glutamine and cancer. J Nutr. 2001;131(9 Suppl):2539S-2542S; discussion 2550S-2551S.

Meyer NA, Muller MJ, Herndon DN. Nutrient support of the healing wound. New Horizons. 1994;2(2):202-214.

Miller AL. Therapeutic considerations of L-glutamine: a review of the literature. Altern Med Rev. 1999;4(4):239-248.

Naka S, Saito H, Hashiguchi Y, et al. Alanyl-glutamine-supplemented total parenteral nutrition improves survival and protein metabolism in rat protracted bacterial peritonitis model. J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 1996;20(6):417-423.

Napoli M. Chemo effect alleviated. Health Facts. October 1998;23:6.

Neu J, DeMarco V, Li N. Glutamine: clinical applications and mechanism of action. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2002;5(1):69-75

Noyer CM, Simon D, Borczuk A, Brandt LJ, Lee MJ, Nehra V. A double-blind placebo-controlled pilot study of glutamine therapy for abnormal intestintal permeability in patients with AIDS. Am J Gastroenterol. 1998;93:972–975.

Okuno SH, Woodhouse CO, Loprinzi CL. Phase III controlled evaluation of glutamine for decreasing stomatitis in patients receiving fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapy. Am J Clin Oncol. 1999;22:258-261.

Opara EC, Petro A, Tevrizian A, et al. L-glutamine Supplementation of a high fat diet reduces body weight and attenuates hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia in C57BL/6J mice. J Nutr. 1996;126:273-279.

Pizzorno JE, Murray MT. Textbook of Natural Medicine. Vol 1. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone; 1999:527-528.

Reeds PJ, Burrin DG. Glutamine and the bowel. J Nutr. 2001;131(9 Suppl):2505S-8S.

Rouse K, Nwokedi E, Woodliff JE, et al. Glutamine enhances selectivity of chemotherapy through changes in glutathione metabolism. Ann Surg. 1995;221: 420-426.

Rowbottom DG, Keast D, Morton AR. The emerging role of glutamine as an indicator of exercise stress and overtraining. [Review]. Sports Med. 1996;21(2):80-97.

Rubio IT, Cao Y, Hutchins LF, et al. Effect of glutamine on methotrexate efficacy and toxicity. Ann Surg. 1998;227:772-780.

Shabert JK, Winslow C, Lacey JM, Wilmore DW. Glutamine antioxidant supplementation increases body cell mass in AIDS patients with weight loss: a randomized, double-blind controlled trial. Nutrition. 1999;11:860-864.

Shabert JK, Wilmore DW. Glutamine deficiency as a cause of human immunodeficiency virus wasting. Med Hypotheses. March 1996; 46:252–256.

Skubitz KM, Anderson PM. Oral glutamine to prevent chemotherapy induced stomatitis: a pilot study. J Lab Clin Med. 1996;127:223-228.

Tavares DC, Cecchi AO, Antunes LM, et al. Protective effects of the amino acid glutamine and of ascorbic acid against chromosomal damage induced by doxorubicin in mammalian cells. Teratog Carcinog Mutagen. 1998;18:153-161.

Turowski GA, Rashid Z, Hong F, Madri J, Basson MD. Glutamine modulates phenotype and stimulates proliferation in human colon cancer cell lines. Cancer Res. 1994;54:5974-5980.

Vahdat L, Papadopoulos K, Lange D, et al. Reduction of paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy with glutamine. Clin Cancer Res. 2001;7(5):1192-1197.

Wilmore DW. The effect of glutamine supplementation in patients following elective surgery and accidental injury. [Review]. J Nutr. 2001;131(9 Suppl):2543S-9S; discussion 2550S-1S.

Yoshida S, Matsui M, Shirouzu Y, Fujita H, Yamana H, Shirouzu K. Effects of glutamine supplements and radiochemotherapy on systemic immune and gut barrier function in patients with advanced esophageal cancer. Ann Surg. 1998;227:485–491.

Ziegler TR. Glutamine supplementation in cancer patients receiving bone marrow transplantation and high dose chemotherapy. [Review]. J Nutr. 2001;131(9 Suppl):2578S-84S; discussion 2590S.

- EME

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johnsbod

I've used it before and honestly never noticed any benefit from it at all. I don't have any studies to back up my claim, but I know what does and does not work for me. It's cheap enough though that people can buy it once and decide for themselves whether it is worth the money.

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Misc Perv #69

Actual Size

Great read EME Thanks.

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nomuscle

Gluatmine is good for you yeah maybe u dont see any effect on it but its good for your Body maybe no in muscle wise but its good for you

toughnuts

Great post USMuscle

johnsbod

Why discount other people's opinions though? I hardly ever get sick to begin with and glutamine never did anything for me. I know a lot of experienced weightlifters that have the same experience and opinion about glutamine as I do and our opinions are no less valid than the others posted here.

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Misc Perv #69

johnsbod

Fair enough bro. The only reason I brought that up is that you seemed to be dismissing other people's opinions on the subject. One thing I've learned over the years is that you can pretty much find studies to support your opinion on virtually anything. I do think glutamine is cheap enough though that people can take it and decide whether or not they think it is worthwhile for themselves.

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Misc Perv #69

Diab0lic

If you took glutamine as an IV infusion while you slept you'd get some awesome benefits from it

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builtbeast

Study suggesting Glutamine supplementation does not benefit in short-term weight reduction:

http://www.jssm.org/vol2/n4/7/v2n4-7.htm

crazycacti

agree with this! glutamine taken orally isn't as effective as the above...

but since 60% of the amino acids in your blood are glutamine it is a highly valuble supplement