Glutamine And Fat Loss

Are sugar cravings sometimes driving you nuts? Strong mindset and commitment to your goals always come first, but sometimes you just need an external boost. Glutamine is a natural supplement that can help you prevent food cravings and maintain optimal body composition.

Glutamine is most abundant free amino acid in the body. Not only it can help you avoid unhealthy food cravings, improve your digestion and nutrient absorption, and speed up recovery from training, it also helps decrease the insulin response to food, hence, preventing fat gain.

Glutamine And Sugar Cravings

Glutamine can improve the messages sent by the neurotransmitters to and from the brain, helping you to deal with food cravings. It has even been used as a treatment for alcoholism because it can calm compulsive feelings. Taking 10g of glutamine first thing in the morning, and with your pre- and post-workout meal would be a good start. Also, mix it in a cup of water and have a shot whenever you feel like you’re about to go on a sugar binge. You’ll see the unhealthy urges disappear in no time.

Glutamine, Immunity, Digestion And Stress

Glutamine is used along with the amino acids cysteine and glycine to make glutathione, which is a powerful antioxidant that needs to be made internally by the body instead of being supplemented to be most effective. Glutathione boosts the immune system and helps you avoid everything from a cold to cancer.

Despite that some of us may have adequate glutamine since the body makes it and you get it in your diet, intense exercise, nutrient deficiencies or stress can deplete the body’s stores of this amino acid. High levels of cortisol are especially harmful to glutamine levels, and every time you fall ill your levels will get used up. Research supports glutamine as a supplement for sick children and adults to speed recovery. If you feel like you are getting sick, try taking a large dose of glutamine e.g. 20g four times per day with meals, and recovery will be dramatically accelerated.

The reason for the high dose is to ensure that all the cells of the intestines have sufficient fuel. Glutamine is the number one source of energy for these cells, which use up large quantities of it in the process of digestion and absorption. You may be surprised to hear that we have an entirely new lining of our gut every 3 days because these cells work very hard, and then new ones replace the old ones (as a comparison, your bones take 7 years to accomplish the same turnover.) Glutamine supports the growth, repair and fast turnover of these cells.

Glutamine also supports the function of the pancreas, liver and kidneys, which are essential organs for digestion and elimination. In times of stress you should supplement with glutamine, as the body can't make enough of it.

Glutamine And Muscle Recovery

Taking all of this into consideration, it seems consequential that it would also support recovery from intense training. A new study in the Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism shows that it really is the case. Researchers found that glutamine is crucial in tissue repair, and if there is a shortage, recovery from training will be impaired. Glutamine also speeds up muscle glycogen resynthesis making it beneficial for strength athletes but totally essential for endurance athletes whose performance is limited by glycogen stores and quick replenishment of this energy source.

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