BY CLAIR WHITTY
Glutamine, what’s it all about? It’s an amino acid one of the building blocks of protein, the most common one in the human body. L-Glutamine is used in the body in the intestinal wall, immune cells and muscle cells.
The times I most often get asked for glutamine on the shop floor are for the gut and for recovery after intense training. L-Glutamine is used in the intestinal wall. Leaky gut is a common condition that causes gut permeability, resulting in little holes in the gut wall. When this happens the gut becomes permeable, this literally allows the food proteins to leak out of the gut into the blood stream through these holes or gaps. This can then cause inflammation and increase the risk of developing intolerance to foods that you never had a problem with before. Part of the process in supporting the gut can include dietary changes and the addition of a glutamine supplement alongside microbiotics to replenish gut bacteria.
If you are doing a lot of intense exercise and workouts glutamine can be a useful supplement to consider. This is because glutamine may help to clear waste products and toxic build-up of acidic chemicals that exercise can produce. These toxins that can contribute to pain in your muscles if allowed to build up.
Another time you might need to top up on glutamine can be during times of intense stress or illness. Because during times of stress or illness your body’s need for glutamine outstrips the body’s ability to manufacture it from diet. Glutamine plays an important role in muscle recovery and immune support. It could be useful to top up on during times of convalescence.
Glutamine is dominantly found in meat, fish, dairy, and eggs. If your vegan or you don’t eat much of these foods it might be an interesting supplement to take a look at. Bone broth is a natural source of glutamine but an easier option could be to take it in supplement form.
One Nutrition is one of our most popular brands and they have a Vegan L-Glutamine supplement. This comes in a powder from and is a highly purified source. You simply take 1 teaspoon (5gm) a day, take it away from meals.
I think you’ll agree this is an interesting supplement.
Natural Health Store, Market Cross Shopping Centre
Phone: 056 7764538
Email: info@naturalhealthstore.ie
Shop online at www.naturalhealthstore.ie
