San Antonio Personal Training

2/9/09

As most of you know, I am skeptical of most supplement products. 

One of the products that has been hyped a lot lately is the amino acid Glutamine.

Glutamine is used by the body to help repair muscles.  It is a non-essential amino acid though, which means the body produces it in ample supply that you shouldn't have to get it from your diet or from supplements.

Well, recently the hype about glutamine has been that your body needs extra amounts of glutamine after a workout because your muscles can get so broken down that the body can't replenish enough of the glutamine to service the muscles inside of the critical 45 minutes after a workout.

I read reviews about the glutamine and really bought into the marketing of various glutamine products.

Here are a few examples:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/inmag6.htm

http://www.powersupplements.com/glutamine.htm

Well this weekend, I got in a debate with someone about glutamine and its benefits and he pointed me to a few studies that have shown that glutamine does not have an effect on muscle recovery or growth.

He pointed me to this study (http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/nrc/apnm/2006/00000031/00000005/art00006) as well as a few others that argue against glutamine.

Well I went and looked at these studies and while they seem conclusive, they are both short term studies, so the jury is still out on the long-term benefit of glutamine.

The reason I posted this was just to remind you not to buy into some nutritional product or supplement just because of the marketing.  I can't believe I fell for it!  Next time I will be sure to do my research.

If you are going to use a supplement, use the proven supplements such as protein and creatine to help you replenish your muscles.

Make it a great day San Antonio!

Nicholas Wood

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