What are the benefits of glutamine?
What are the benefits of glutamine?
What does glutamine do?
Glutamine is an amino acid that is a non-essential amino acid. It is produced in the muscles and helps your body perform a variety of functions. Glutamine is actually the most abundant amino acid in the body, and we usually get everything we need from substances produced by the body and our diet.
Glutamine is a colorless, odorless, crystalline powder with two functional groups: one is an amino group (NH2) and the other is a carboxyl group (COOH). It is highly soluble in water and can be dissolved in water at room temperature. It is relatively stable under acidic conditions, but hydrolyzes under alkaline conditions.
Glutamine is a type of amino acid. It is produced in the muscles and helps your body perform a variety of functions. Glutamine is actually the most abundant amino acid in the body, and we usually get everything we need from substances produced by the body and our diet.
The useful form of glutamine in the human body is L-glutamine, hereinafter referred to as glutamine, which the human body can produce on its own. Glutamine is an amino acid that can be used to synthesize proteins. It is a free amino acid that is abundant in muscles and blood, accounting for 60% of the total free amino acids in the human body. Glutamine is not an essential amino acid. It can be synthesized from glutamic acid, valine, and isoleucine in the human body. When the body is in poor physical condition or undergoes high-intensity exercise, the body's demand for glutamine increases, so that the body's own synthesis cannot meet the demand, and it will temporarily become an essential amino acid.
Which foods have the highest glutamine content?
Foods with high glutamine content include various lean meat products (such as lean beef, lean lamb, etc.), aquatic products (fish, shrimp, crab, etc.), eggs (chicken eggs, duck eggs, goose eggs, etc.), pasta products, rice products, and soy products (tofu, soy milk, etc.). Among meats, cooked red meat contains the highest glutamine in the form of glutamic acid; among fish, white saltwater fish such as mahi-mahi have a higher content; among eggs, goose eggs contain the most glutamine.
How does glutamine affect protein synthesis?
Glutamine is a non-essential amino acid in the human body, which means that the human body can synthesize enough glutamine by itself under normal circumstances. However, under certain stress conditions, the body's demand for glutamine may increase, so it is necessary to obtain enough glutamine through diet or other supplements.
Glutamine has an important effect on protein synthesis. First, it is a key factor in muscle growth and protein synthesis in muscle cells. In addition, glutamine is also involved in the synthesis of glutathione, an important antioxidant that has a positive effect on maintaining the health of the immune system and improving brain function.
Protein biosynthesis is a complex process involving multiple steps, including the activation of amino acids, the initiation of polypeptide chain synthesis, the extension of polypeptide chains, the termination and release of polypeptide chains, and the processing and modification after protein synthesis. This process is carried out according to the genetic information on the messenger RNA (mRNA) transcribed from DNA, that is, the sequence of bases in the mRNA molecule is converted into the sequence of amino acids in the protein or polypeptide chain.
The role of glutamine in protein synthesis is mainly reflected in its ability to provide the body with an essential nitrogen source, thereby promoting protein synthesis in muscle cells. Additionally, glutamine has powerful effects that can increase strength and improve endurance.
What is the function of glutamine?
Protein synthesis
Glutamine is one of the important raw materials for protein synthesis. It can be converted into other amino acids and participate in the synthesis and metabolism of proteins. This plays an important role in maintaining the health of muscle tissue and repairing damaged tissues.
Immunomodulation
Glutamine can affect the proliferation and activity of white blood cells, promote the synthesis of immunoglobulins, improve the body's immune function, and enhance the ability to resist pathogens.
Intestinal health
Glutamine can promote the growth and repair of intestinal mucosal cells, maintain the integrity of intestinal mucosa, help improve intestinal barrier function, reduce intestinal inflammation and increased permeability, and has certain value for the treatment and prevention of intestinal diseases.
Energy source
Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in human blood and free amino acid pools. It is an energy source and carrier of nucleic acid synthesis for various tissue cells such as immune cells, intestinal mucosa, liver, and kidneys.
Promote muscle growth
Glutamine provides the body with an essential nitrogen source, promotes the synthesis of protein in muscle cells, prevents muscle protein decomposition, increases cell volume, and promotes muscle growth.
Antioxidant
Glutamine participates in the synthesis of glutathione, which is an important antioxidant that can improve the body's antioxidant capacity.
Sports nutrition
Glutamine can promote the growth and repair of muscle tissue, reduce muscle damage after exercise, and help improve athletes' physical fitness and recovery ability.
Liver protection
Glutamine can reduce the burden on the liver, promote the metabolism and repair of liver cells, and has a certain effect on the auxiliary treatment of patients with liver disease.
How does glutamine promote muscle growth?
Glutamine is an amino acid component of protein and can provide the body with an essential nitrogen source. Nitrogen is one of the basic elements for protein synthesis. By providing a nitrogen source, glutamine can directly participate in the synthesis of protein in muscle cells, thereby promoting muscle growth.
Under exercise or stress, muscle protein is easily broken down to provide energy. Timely supplementation of glutamine can effectively prevent the breakdown of muscle protein and maintain muscle integrity and quality.
Glutamine also has a cell volume expansion effect, that is, it increases the volume of cells through cell hydration. This effect helps promote the growth and differentiation of muscle cells, thereby further promoting muscle growth.
Some studies have shown that glutamine can stimulate the activity of an enzyme called nitric oxide synthase, thereby promoting the growth of muscle fibers. This enzyme plays an important regulatory role in muscle growth and repair.
Glutamine can also be used as an energy substance to provide energy support for muscle cells, which is particularly important during intense exercise or high-intensity training. It can provide energy molecules such as ATP to muscle cells by participating in metabolic pathways such as the tricarboxylic acid cycle.
