Glutamine Powder - Gold or Garbage?

[gjohnson5]

It seems that I will be changing my position on oral glutamine. Thanks to some studies at which I have just found , it appears that oral glutamine is not worthless at all and the first pubmed study showed that blood concentrations of glutamine actually rose post exersize

So I have to disagree with both Kain and MikeMartial

There are also studies to suggest that glutamine is not totally worthless

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10368336&dopt=Abstract


http://www.ijp-online.com/article.a...7;issue=3;spage=148;epage=154;aulast=Kulkarni

Well, there's enough studies out there now that have debunked L-glutamine. It's well know that supplement manufacturer's used intravenous studies of high-dose glutamine to fuel sales of oral L-glutamine.

The only thing that's keeping L-glutamine on store shelves is 1) Supplement companies pushing it, and 2) Anecdotal evidence.

'nuff said about that, since we've been through this before. But on to peptides.....

I was actually about to order some glutamine peptides from Trueproteincanada.com, to try for myself. Like I've said before, if peptides are actually able to do what l-glutaime can't, I'd be one happy camper, since I beat the shit outa my body weekly.

But it looks like the pH tolerance of glutamine peptides, while much better than L-glutamine, doesn't cut it in the stomach enviroment.

 

[gjohnson5]

Here's another one for your asses

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10683095&dopt=Abstract
1: Int J Sports Med. 2000 Jan;21(1):25-30. Links
The effect of free glutamine and peptide ingestion on the rate of muscle glycogen resynthesis in man.

* van Hall G,
* Saris WH,
* van de Schoor PA,
* Wagenmakers AJ.

Department of Human Biology, Maastricht University, The Netherlands. [email protected]

The present study investigated previous claims that ingestion of glutamine and of protein-carbohydrate mixtures may increase the rate of glycogen resynthesis following intense exercise. Eight trained subjects were studied during 3 h of recovery while consuming one of four drinks in random order. Drinks were ingested in three 500 ml boluses, immediately after exercise and then after 1 and 2 h of recovery. Each bolus of the control drink contained 0.8 g x kg(-1) body weight of glucose. The other drinks contained the same amount of glucose and 0.3 g x kg(-1) body weight of 1) glutamine, 2) a wheat hydrolysate (26% glutamine) and 3) a whey hydrolysate (6.6% glutamine). Plasma glutamine, decreased by approximately 20% during recovery with ingestion of the control drink, no changes with ingestion of the protein hydrolysates drinks, and a 2-fold increase with ingestion of the free glutamine drinks. The rate of glycogen resynthesis was not significantly different in the four tests: 28 +/- 5, 26 +/- 6, 33 +/- 4, and 34 +/- 3 mmol glucosyl units x kg(-1) dry weight muscle x h(-1) for the control, glutamine, wheat- and whey hydrolysate ingestion, respectively. It is concluded that ingestion of a glutamine/carbohydrate mixture does not increase the rate of glycogen resynthesis in muscle. Glycogen resynthesis rates were higher, although not statistically significant, after ingestion of the drink containing the wheat (21 +/- 8%) and whey protein hydrolysate (20 +/- 6%) compared to ingestion of the control and free glutamine drinks, implying that further research is needed on the potential protein effect.

PMID: 10683095 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

It seems that I will be changing my position on oral glutamine. Thanks to some studies at which I have just found , it appears that oral glutamine is not worthless at all and the first pubmed study showed that blood concentrations of glutamine actually rose post exersize

So I have to disagree with both Kain and MikeMartial

There are also studies to suggest that glutamine is not totally worthless

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10368336&dopt=Abstract


http://www.ijp-online.com/article.a...7;issue=3;spage=148;epage=154;aulast=Kulkarni

 

[MikeMartial]

Huh. I haven't popped onto this board in a while; I didn't expect this thread to be resurrected.

The rate of glycogen resynthesis was not significantly different in the four tests: 28 +/- 5, 26 +/- 6, 33 +/- 4, and 34 +/- 3 mmol glucosyl units x kg(-1) dry weight muscle x h(-1) for the control, glutamine, wheat- and whey hydrolysate ingestion, respectively. It is concluded that ingestion of a glutamine/carbohydrate mixture does not increase the rate of glycogen resynthesis in muscle.

Glutamine IS an insulin secretagogue and an alkaline pH buffer, but I still question the efficacy vs cost benefit of either. For guys who have been loading heavy PWO, the glycogen repletion would explain the decreased DOMS; but honestly, solid PWO nutrition does the same, and acetic acid has been shown to be superior to glutamine in that department---for a fraction of the cost.

As far as pH buffering, NaHC03 works a helluva lot better, and once again costs a fraction. Not many people delve into this, though.

Is it totally worthless? To the average athlete, yes. To the elite athlete? IMO, still yes. To the critically ill? No. To supplement companies looking to make a huge profit? It's gold.

 

[OMEGA]

PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING I SAY

try G-covery and tell me it does not work.............

asshats

 

[MikeMartial]

Hehe, no offense taken.

In all seriousness, Omega, I did offer to test G-covery a long time ago, and report my findings back here. Like I said then, I'm the perfect candidate: I resistance train, I do HIIT, I train in two completely different martial arts (Muay Thai and No-gi jujitsu), I have a very physical job as firefighter/paramedic, and I do shiftwork. If anyone needs better recovery, it'd be me.

Offer still stands: You send me some G-covery, and I'll log my findings on EF.

PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING I SAY

try G-covery and tell me it does not work.............

asshats

Offer still stands. L-glutamine and glutamine peptides are perfectly legal in Canada, so border issues aren't an excuse.

 

[Pweeb]

Do you seriously think the pro's use Glutamine? C'mon! It's the juice that gets ya big....better recovery? Maybe......maybe not.....the fact is that in reality....the average joe with average genetics can gain 5-10 pounds of LEAN body mass a YEAR! Dat's it! Regardless of what sups you use.....saturating with proteine....is a good eg......body wont care....so you may feel fuller....so what? 5-10 lbs....remember dat....unless you use juice...

 

[joe d]

i would say its neither. it helps but not much. your body doesnt get much from it. it doesnt break down well.

 

[joe d]

Do you seriously think the pro's use Glutamine? C'mon! It's the juice that gets ya big....better recovery? Maybe......maybe not.....the fact is that in reality....the average joe with average genetics can gain 5-10 pounds of LEAN body mass a YEAR! Dat's it! Regardless of what sups you use.....saturating with proteine....is a good eg......body wont care....so you may feel fuller....so what? 5-10 lbs....remember dat....unless you use juice...

i think they use every available tool including glutamine. obvously they use all the illegal stuff but you would not make it to a pro status without trying it all and seeing what works then adding it to their schedule. how about coleman with his tackle box full of caps. do you think thats all oral aas and vitamins? its sups. some of them work.

 

[SouthernLord]

I'm gonna be trying some powerchews glutamine chewys soon!

Check them out PowerChews.com : Home

 

[gjohnson5]

I have also gathered the understanding that AKG ( Alpha Ketoglutarate or Alpha Ketoglutaric Acid) once combined with ammonia from your workout will create glutamine. So one way to build cellular glutamine stores is to workout hard and supplement with the deemed useless AKG's ( especially Orthnine AKG) But my understanding is that this is a slow process