Bodybuilding and fitness blog

Glutamine – the most important amino acid for bodybuilders

For tens of years, the scientists have marveled at the variety of functions and possible of application of various amino acid drugs. Since the early eighties the bodybuilders also “played” with these building blocks, trying to gain more muscle mass. With the passage of time there came and went a lot of amino acid drugs and more recently glutamine has become especially popular and not by accident. Glutamine, if I may say so is the mother of all amino acids.

Technically speaking, glutamine is not among the “essential” amino acids. It can be synthesized in the body from some other amino acids – glutamic acid, valine and isoleucine. But during disease and stress (weight lifting is also a stress), some parts of the body need so much glutamine that the body cannot cope with it. In such cases the glutamine drugs come to the aid. In fact, many European hospitals glutamine is prescribed in addition to a course of treatment for the patients suffering from stress or trauma (post-surgery, burns, various diseases etc.). The studies show that such use of as it has a strong anti-catabolic effect.

Definitely, our body uses a lot of glutamine during the day. For example, glutamine is required in large quantities to maintain the proper functioning of the immune system, kidneys, pancreas, gall bladder and liver. Glutamine also serves an important function in transporting the nitrogen, it removes ammonia from certain parts of the body (brain and lungs, in particular) and carries it to the others (kidney and intestine). In addition, glutamine is used as feedstock for a powerful natural antioxidant – glutathione (it is obtained from glutamine, cysteine and glycine). It is also believed that glutamine is important for proper digestion of muscle glycogen, although I honestly do not understand why it is so. I do not believe that this is because glutamine improves the insulin release and I do not think that it is converted to the amino acid that can bind glucose, like alanine.

In addition to all the pleasant things, glutamine is among the few amino acids, which cause the extra release of the growth hormone, in fact, two grams of glutamine taken orally, cause a fourfold elevation of the growth hormone. Ii is still uncertain whether it is good or bad, but it certainly has not hurt anyone. I could go on and on, but to bring some up, I can only say that this amino acid is needed by the body in large quantities for a number of important functions, including the proper muscle metabolism.

Types of diets.

Today there exist diets to all tastes and wallet – low-carb, high-fat etc. etc. Thousands and thousands of American people have tried Atkins or Zone diets which imply that you take 60% fat, 30% protein and 10% carbohydrate. The percentage of carbohydrate in such diets is the lowest so you can eat only 10% of vegetables a day. This is because low-carb diets lead to the reduction of insulin. The fat and protein you take or have already stored in your body will be used for energy that you need to survive. So these diets imply that you can eat meat, cheese, butter unlimited but be careful about carbohydrates.

But if you look at such diets closer you will see the other side of the coin. Yes, you will definitely lose great amounts of weight but it is not a permanent loss. You do not burn the fat that you do not need, you lose the muscle tissue and water that you need. Besides, these diets eliminate some of the essential products and make your diet high in fats that is why your level of cholesterol increases and so does the risk of heart diseases. These diets also suggest that you take in a lot of protein which might cause problems to your kidneys.

Then come moderate fat diets like weight watchers, Jenny Craig and the USDA Food Guide pyramid. Such diets imply that you take in 60% carbohydrates, 25% fat and 15% protein. These diets also make the dieters eat such products as fruit, whole grains, vegetables and products rich in fatty acids like salmon and olive oil. The dieters should keep the amount of nutrients that they take in from all the categories. Let’s take weight watchers as an example. This diet is based on a specific amount of points that you get for what you eat. These points are counted according to the number of calories, fiber and fat. So, the dieter might chose to eat more carbohydrates and this could lead to serious problems like the deficiency of zinc, iron and calcium. Though such diets if followed correctly are the best among the existing ones.

The last group of diets includes low and very low fat diets like the Dr. Dean Ornish’s Diet and the Pritkin Plan. These diets imly that you should eat 70% carbohydrates, 16% protein and 13% fat. As you can see they are almost vegetarian diets where you cannot eat a lot of meat. So, as you understand there aill be a deficiency of B12 vitamin, zinc and fatty acids.

There are two categories of people failing in the attempt to lose weight. The first lose their weight, but soon return to their original weight. The second, exposing themselves to all kinds of restrictions in food, cannot, however, lose their weight, writes Corriere della Sera. The latter have the hardest time of all – they are denied even the temporary pleasure of seeing themselves slimmer. The latest issue of the Italian magazine Salute OK is dedicated to them.
Andrea Gisella, the author of a popular book about the Mediterranean diet explains why very often the scales remain on their original weight, “despite the fact that many people, as they claim, eat like birds”, and what to do to get into the pants. The author of the book offers the pictures of obese people, which are processed by a computer program.
As a result there is a picture, which depicts the same people, but less fat. For example, Giuliano Ferrara, the “thinner” up to 70 kg: “I’ve tried everything – he says – but could not achieve anything”; Giampiero Galeatsi, “having lost” 45 kg; Valeria Marini, almost a thin person and Antonella Clerici in such a condition, as if she eats only greens, fish and other low-carb food.
And here is the reverse example: Renee Zellweger ate huge amounts of ice cream and fried potatoes, because according to the script was supposed to be plump. “Having said good-bye to potatoes and having reduced the portions, she immediately lost her weight,” – says the author of the article.
One can lose weight, others cannot. Andrea Strata, the assistant professor for clinical nutrition at the University of Parma, analyzes the causes of unsuccessful attempts to lose weight. “The basis is always one and the same error. People eat a little, but wrong. The defeat in the fight against excess weight negatively affects both the mental state and the desire to continue to try to lose weight.
The main problem is that the main focus is on food rather than exercises. Everyone should consider not only how much he ate, but how much he spent. The doctor, for his part, must prescribe the mode of physical activity with the same accuracy as the mode of nutrition “- says the expert.
Andrea Strata insists that the organization of the weight loss program should have an individual approach. There are diets, she says, which are conceptually incorrect and scientifically unacceptable. In her view, these include the split meals, the Atkins diet, separate food, as well as soup and grapefruit diets.
The slogan of these diets is: “Eat with no limits”. And the essence of the Mediterranean diet “is not endless pasta but eating lots of greenery, moderate consumption of fruits, reducing the consumption of fats and carbohydrates. “