L-Glutamine
As the most abundantly found amino acid in your body, glutamine plays a major role in your muscle health. One of glutamine’s primary functions is to support tissue health and repair. Sore muscles are a common occurrence when you first start out in the gym or when you overexert yourself, and glutamine can help reduce muscle soreness and speed up recovery times. L-glutamine works to quickly repair muscular damage, which enables you to work out more often while developing increased strength.
Muscle Soreness
One of the main causes of muscle soreness is overtraining. Working out too hard causes stress on your muscles, which in turn can cause your body to release the hormone cortisol. This hormone depletes stores of glutamine. Taking glutamine supplements may help reduce muscle soreness, but it will not completely eliminate it from happening. Sore muscles are a natural part of weightlifting, and the only true way to overcome it is rest.
Food Sources
L-glutamine is found naturally in beef, chicken, fish, eggs, milk, dairy products, wheat, cabbage, beets, beans, spinach, parsley and pineapple. Small amounts of free L-glutamine are also found in vegetable juices and tofu.
Your body can produce its own glutamine, but athletes and physically active individuals may need additional glutamine to compensate for glutamine-loss during exercise. Glutamine supplements, also called L-glutamine, can help restore glutamine in the body. Without enough glutamine, your body is more susceptible to injury and prolonged muscle fatigue.
Supplementation
L-Glutamine is available in powder, tablet and capsule form. We recommend the following:
1000 mg from Optimum Nutrition
1500 mg from Now Sports
L-Glutamine Powder from Muscle Pharm
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