L-glutamine

What Does L-Glutamine Do?

L-Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in your body, acting as a critical building block for proteins and a primary fuel source for your immune and intestinal cells. While your body produces it naturally, intense physical exertion can deplete your stores faster than you can synthesize it, making supplementation vital for high-performance athletes.

• Accelerated Muscle Recovery: It plays a pivotal role in nitrogen balance, helping to repair muscle fibers damaged during training and significantly reducing the duration of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).
• Gut Health Optimization: It serves as the preferred energy source for enterocytes (gut cells), strengthening the intestinal lining and preventing systemic inflammation caused by exercise-induced gut permeability.
• Immune System Defense: Heavy training is a stressor that can suppress the immune system; L-Glutamine provides the necessary fuel for white blood cells to maintain a robust defense.
• Anti-Catabolic Effects: By maintaining high cellular glutamine levels, you signal to your body to preserve muscle tissue rather than breaking it down for energy during fasted or long-duration workouts.

Clinical vs. Gym Bro Dosing

Key Insight: While many pre-workouts include a small dose, the clinical benefits for muscle recovery are most prominent at the 5g mark. For best results, ensure your total daily intake from supplements and protein powder reaches this threshold consistently, rather than relying on a single pre-workout serving.

Side Effects & Warnings

• Gastrointestinal Distress: Taking very large doses (above 20g) at once can occasionally lead to bloating, gas, or mild nausea in sensitive individuals.
• Water Retention: Some users may notice slight intracellular water retention, though this is generally considered beneficial for muscle fullness and hydration.
• Metabolic Balance: Excessive long-term supplementation of a single amino acid can theoretically interfere with the transport of others, though this is rarely seen with glutamine at standard doses.

Tip: If you have a history of kidney disease or liver issues, consult a physician before using high doses, as these organs are responsible for processing amino acid metabolites.