Amino acids are important building blocks that our body uses to carry out a whole variety of functions. These supplements were traditionally used in the fitness industry to promote better muscle recovery and growth, however it can benefit us in more ways than just that.
Glutamine is one of the most abundant amino acids found in the body, and one that the body uses to control our metabolism, maintain the proper weight, and also helps to improve mental health.
The science is pretty definitive in the benefits that this amino acid can provide, hence why it is becoming so popular among the mainstream.
Scientifically Proven Ways That Glutamine Can Benefit Your Health
1-Glutamine Helps Build Muscle
As mentioned prior, glutamine is one of the most abundantly used amino acids in the body, and because of this the availability of this essential nutrient can be low depending on our activity.
In regards to bodybuilding or weight training, your glutamine levels will drop during and after your training due to expenditure. This means that your availability of glutamine for muscle regrowth and repair is low, and hence your muscles will waste more than they should be.
Studies have shown that glutamine supplementation improves recovery time after heavy lifting sessions, in its ability to help heal the tears to the muscle tissue due to exercise. Restoring your glutamine levels back to normal has shown to take up to a week in some individuals, so supplementation on a regular basis is important if you want to improve your muscle mass.
2-Effective in Burning Fat and Improving Metabolism
Glutamine is beneficial when it comes to burning fat because of its relationship with human growth hormone. Human growth hormone, or HGH is what our body produces to improve our metabolism and in return to grow tissues faster.
Research has shown that HGH levels skyrocket in individuals who supplement their diets with glutamine, which in turn boosts the resting metabolic rate. Resting metabolic rate or RMR is the measurement used to determine how many calories we burn without activity.
This means that glutamine supplementation can improve the body’s fat burning ability at rest, meaning that someone can lose weight using this supplement without the need to exercise more.
3-Can Improve Mental Health
When it comes to stress and our mental health, it can be really easy to fall in a rut yet it is really difficult to get out of. This is because the hormones involved in these processes can work against us in a negative feedback loop, which can lead to things spiraling out of control.
For example, many people both suffer from mental problems and weight problems, which both negatively influence each other. This mainly has to do with the hormone cortisol, which is the hormone that the body releases when we are stressed and is also one that is tied to weight gain.
Higher levels of cortisol in the body means more weight gain, and more weight gain means more stress. Our fat cells produce this hormone as well, and the more weight we gain the more we produce, hence the spiraling out of control.
Glutamine supplementation can help to improve mental health, however it is important to know that just the presence of the hormone cortisol in the body depletes the glutamine reserves. This means that the amount of this supplement you should be taking is going to be dependent on how much body fat you have, the more body fat, the higher dosage.
4-Glutamine Improves Digestion
Another very common issue many people experience is inefficient digestion. Some of us suffer from minor digestive issues on occasion, while others of us have to deal with a food allergy or chronic illness which affects us daily.
This is an issue because all of the nutrients we are eating are not being digested and absorbed by the body, which means we are losing out on all that nutrition. The problem is because of too much inflammation within these tissues, which glutamine can help resolve.
There have been studies documenting this for years now, as one stemming back from 1993 found that glutamine supplementation can reduce intestinal permeability. This is great news for people who not only suffer from diseases like Crohn’s, but also the general population that suffers from nutrient deficiency.
