By Tim Patterson
Glutamine?
I hate to ask another glutamine question, but here are a few:
1) Is it worth taking?
2) Does it help raise GH levels?
3) Does it have anti-catabolic properties?
4) When should it be taken—morning, bedtime, before or after workouts?
5) What should it be taken with?
6) How many grams?
7) Should it be cycled?
8) Does it matter if it is taken with protein after a workout?
9) How does it work?
Sorry for all the questions, but I have been reading so many different recommendations on your site since last year. Thanks for your time, your site is the best. Keep up the great work!
Sincerely,
Doug Parra
1) Yes, definitely.
2) Not likely.
3) Yes.
4) See below.
5) Water.
6) See below.
7) No.
8) No.
9) See below.
I highly recommend that all athletes take supplemental l-glutamine. Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in muscle; it improves immune-cell function, stimulates protein synthesis, and prevents catabolism of muscle from the effects of cortisol. When cortisol docks at its receptor, it stimulates an enzyme, called glutamine synthetase, to break down muscle to release glutamine. The end result is that you're in a catabolic state and you lose muscle mass.
Well, you can stop this process cold simply by keeping glutamine levels up in the blood. Circulating glutamine actually inactivates the glutamine enzyme, which prevents it from doing its job of making glutamine out of muscle tissue. Pretty cool, huh?
Now comes the problem—how much glutamine, how often? The short answer is that science isn't sure at this point. And I know I've been all over the place with my recommendations. I've said 40 grams a day; and I've also suggested taking 5 grams before workouts and 5 grams afterward. So what I'd like to do now is give a set of guidelines that are based upon what the experts (doctors and exercise physiologists) are doing in the field.
How much? Your body's requirements for glutamine are directly related to the level of stress that it's under. In other words, the more stress—mental or physical—you're under, the more glutamine you need. For example, at the extreme levels, surgical patients dramatically speed recovery while on 30 grams of glutamine a day; and athletes, undergoing severe dieting, lose mostly fat and almost no muscle when taking 40 grams a day. On the other hand, some sports experts have argued that you only need 10 grams of glutamine a day to be effective.
And of even greater importance than how much to take is timing—when to take glutamine. Like when you go to bed, for example; most of us are conked out for at least six hours, and that's a long time to go without nutritional support for the muscles. Or how about right before and right after training? Those are critical times, too.
So, until research comes out to show otherwise, I recommend that you vary glutamine supplementation based upon two factors: levels of stress that you're under, and certain critical times. Try using the following formula—but by all means, use your judgement and tweak it to meet your needs.
Minimal stress (10-15 grams a day): Five grams taken twice a day, especially before and after workouts, and before bedtime.
Moderate stress (20-30 grams a day): Five grams taken four to six times a day, especially before and after workouts, and before bedtime.
Extreme stress (35-40 grams a day): Five grams taken every three hours while awake, and ten grams right before bed.
tim patterson from tmag
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