- If you think L-glutamine is only for athletes, think again. Indeed, L-glutamine powder and supplements have long been promoted in the fitness industry because they help to build healthy and lean bodies. Yet, L-glutamine is possibly one of the most vital but underrated supplements for everyone. This powerful amino acid provides many essential health benefits for gut and brain health, immune function, and more.
So, what are the benefits of L-glutamine? L-glutamine powders and supplements offer a number of health benefits for everyone, not just athletes. These include, but are not limited to:
- Promotes a healthy gut
- Boosts the immune system
- Stabilises blood sugar
- Reduces the symptoms of stress
- Boosts muscle recovery
Top 5 Benefits of L-Glutamine
L-glutamine is the most abundant amino acid found in muscle tissue and a significant building block of protein. Your body requires a lot of L-glutamine, therefore, supplementing with L-glutamine powder is an excellent way to ensure that your body gets enough to provide the following benefits.
1. L-glutamine Promotes a Healthy Gut
Hippocrates declared over 2000 years ago that “all disease begins in the gut”. Today we know even more about the gut-health connection and how your gut impacts your health in many ways.
L-glutamine is the primary fuel source for the intestinal mucosa, making it a fantastic supplement to support the intestinal lining’s health and integrity. It also helps to seal and maintain the gut lining. Decreasing intestinal permeability helps heal leaky gut, a condition that can cause autoimmune diseases and other serious health issues.
Because L-glutamine supports gastrointestinal health, it’s also known to relieve excess bloating and could help you banish that post-cheat day bloat!
L-glutamine is crucial for a healthy gut; it’s my top go-to supplement for any gut repair protocol. I recommend the HPH GI Regenerate Powder as an all-around supplement to support and improve your gut health.
2. L-glutamine Boosts the Immune System
L-glutamine plays a vital role in gut health. It also directly benefits the immune system since about 60 to 80% of the immune system lives in the gut.
Intense training sessions, illness and general lack of wellbeing places the body under a great deal of stress that naturally suppresses the immune system. However, supplementing with L-glutamine powder provides the body’s immune system with an immediate fuel source to keep functioning optimally.
3. L-glutamine Helps to Stabilise Blood Sugar
When you experience a craving for carbohydrates, your brain usually wants sugar or glucose. L-glutamine works as a healthy alternative to sugar as it fuels similar brain receptors.
L-glutamine helps suppress insulin levels and stabilise blood glucose benefits, which benefits people with diabetes and those with sugar and carb cravings. Lowering cravings for sugar and processed carbs, and by extension, eating less of them helps control blood sugars and inflammation that would slow down your recovery.
So if you find yourself reaching for a late-night cookie when you know you shouldn’t, consider taking L-glutamine instead, and the sugar craving will soon pass.
Tip:
Here’s my favourite for sugar cravings: Mix 1 heaped tablespoon of L-glutamine powder with 50 ml of heavy organic cream or coconut cream. Drink or spoon it as a dessert, mixing in a handful of fresh raspberries or blueberries – delicious!
4. L-glutamine Helps Reduce Symptoms of Stress
In part, L-glutamine is used by the brain to build and balance the neurotransmitter GABA. There is growing evidence that L-glutamine and GABA play a significant role in mood and anxiety disorders.
Over time, chronic stress can cause serious health problems. For example, chronic stress can suppress your immune system leaving you vulnerable to infections and other illnesses and inhibiting your body’s ability to repair itself and absorb vital nutrients. However, L-glutamine is known as the “calming amino acid” for its effectiveness in reducing stress-related anxiety symptoms.
Increasing L-glutamine levels may also reduce symptoms of stress-related IBS. When the body is stressed, it releases the hormone cortisol, which can lower L-glutamine levels stored in the muscle tissue.
5. L-glutamine Boosts Muscle Recovery
Your body needs lots of protein and amino acids to help your muscles recover after a workout. L-glutamine is the perfect post-workout supplement as it boosts muscle recovery by increasing protein intake to build muscle, up-regulate the immune system, and improve the gut to help lean out and build muscle.
Heavy workout sessions can deplete your glutamine levels and, due to the stress placed on your body after working out, your muscles and tendons need significant amounts of glutamine. Supplementing with L-glutamine post-workout hydrates your muscles and triggers a boost in growth hormone. More growth hormone helps your body synthesise protein to build muscle, reduce recovery time, and mobilise fat from storage to make it available for energy.
Supplementing with just 80g of L-glutamine throughout the day provides a protein intake equivalent to 400g of meat!
How Much L-Glutamine to Take Per Day
If you’re new to L-glutamine, I recommend starting with a 10g serving in the evening between your evening meal and going to bed. This should be taken with Magnesium Bisglycinate. After a while, you can then increase your intake with another 10g in the morning, mixed with lime, salt and water. Eventually, you should be able to increase your intake to 8 X 10g servings of L-glutamine per day.
Takeaway
L-glutamine powder may traditionally be used to burn fat and build muscle, but evidence shows that there are far wider benefits. This amino acid promotes gut and brain health, boosts immunity and athletic performance, and improves your overall health.
You may also want to consider L-glutamine powder if you have symptoms like anxiety, sugar or alcohol cravings, a poor immune system, low muscle mass, poor wound healing, or slow recovery after workouts.
Human Performance Hub recommends these pharmaceutical-grade L-glutamine powders:
FAQs
What is L-Glutamine?
L-glutamine is the most abundant amino acid found in muscle tissue and a significant building block of protein. The musculoskeletal system is made up of around 60% glutamine, therefore, it won’t surprise you to learn that your body needs a lot of it.
Your body naturally produces L-glutamine. You can also get L-glutamine from your diet in animal and plant protein foods like beef, chicken, fish, eggs, and beans.
However, many people don’t consume enough in their diet to reap the benefits. In fact, inadequate L-glutamine levels in your body can have harmful effects on your health. Some recent studies have associated glutamine depletion with increased mortality on the extreme side. For this reason, critically ill patients are often given a glutamine supplement.
