Glutamine: Why I'm Sold!

[BawdyWench]

For anyone following my saga of late, you'll know that I've been suffering from myriad weird symptoms. Some folks are sure it's hypothyroidism, others are sure it's adrenal burnout, others think it's Vitamin D deficiency, food allergies, menopause, the stars being out of alignment . . . you see my dilemma.

One close friend said he thought it might be Candida. So I did some research. I did the spit-in-the-glass test, which confirmed I have at least a mild to moderate case.

Then I did more research, first in the Eades' Protein Power Lifeplan book and then in Dr. Atkins Vita Nutrient Solution book. Candida, yeast, leaky gut. All related.

The Eades recommended doing three days of nothing but 4 whey protein shakes (unsweetened), each supplemented by 10 grams of powdered glutamine. The shakes added up to 720 calories, but with 136 grams of protein, which is more than adequate for me.

By the end of the first day, I was feeling "better." I even slept a bit better that night. The next day (yesterday) I felt even better, and slept the entire night (ok, I woke up a couple times, but not in pain and not for long). This morning I felt AMAZING!

I was in the car driving down main street and the song "Footloose" came on. Now, I love that song anway, but I had to keep myself from jumping out of the car and DANCING down main street!

So, was it the protein shakes or was it the glutamine? I've done protein-only before, though not just the whey shakes. I think it was the glutamine.

I'm so thrilled with this, I wanted to post some of what Dr. Atkins says about glutamine in his book:

“Glutamine, the most abundant protein constituent in the body, may also be the most important …



“To recover successfully from any of a variety of illnesses and injuries, the body needs certain proteins. No matter which are needed, all can be made with the help of L-glutamine. It possesses an extra nitrogen atom, which it readily offers for the synthesis of other amino acids. In this way it works as a kind of molecular Robin Hood that directs the distribution of our amino acid rishes….



“No other nutrient is as important for gastrointestinal health . . .



“The immune system’s primary source of energy is glutamine. While always high, the need for fuel skyrockets whenever we’re subjected to stress, trauma, or injury. Many forms of cancer, for instance, deplete the body of glutamine, one reason that people with the disease lose lean tissue and muscle mass…..



“Viral infections also deprive the immune system of glutamine. When our reserve is low, a standard measurement of immune activity, the number of T cells declines, while our toxic particle-attacking white blood cells, called macrophages, lose strength. But when L-glutamine is given in dosages of 20 – 40 grams daily, the immune system responds, as demonstrated by the extra infection safeguard it provided in studies of patients with bone marrow transplants.



“Glutamine can inhibit fatty buildups inside the liver and aid treatment of cirrhosis.



The book goes on to talk about the benefits of glutamine in fighting addictions (alcohol and sugar, most notably), obesity, mental instability, and as an aid in exercise recovery.



I’m sold!

[kebaldwin]

Congrats on finding something to make you feel better!

There are a lot of things that conventional medical wisdom says there is nothing you can do about. "Middle aged" was considered normal and nothing you can do about it. But we are finding that is not true and there is a lot you can do.

http://www.vitacost.com/store/products/ProductSearch.cfm?SearchText=Candida&SearchBy=HL&ss=1&.x=18&.y=6

http://www.worldhealth.net/p/anti-aging-search;search,Candida.html

I was thinking the experts also recommended Garlic at night and probiotics in the morning for candida.

[tabookitty]

I ordered Glutamine Powder after seeing a PBS special on the Perricone diet, which recommends glutamine. I can't wait til it gets here. How much do you take, or did you get pill form?

[tabookitty]

Never mind, sorry. I notice you mention how much you take. Silly me!

[BawdyWench]

No, not silly! I was wondering the same thing myself! Let me rephrase that. I was wondering how much I should be taking on an ONGOING basis. I've been taking 40 grams per day, which is what the Eades recommended with the shakes.

Atkins suggests 5 to 20 grams per day. I think I'll probably do 30 grams yet for at least several days, and then stick with 20 grams for a while.

What's the Perricone diet anyway? Do they give any recommendations for amounts of glutamine?

[angel47]

what type of whey protein drink do you use if I may ask,, I used to take them but haven't in a while and I am on the atkins diet and I am not sure what kind I am able to take on this diet....where can I buy the Glutamine Powder in Ontario Canada??
It sounds like it is a good product. My daughter has fybermyalgia and can't sleep would this help her??

[m1whowaits]

I don't know where you all have been getting your glutamine, but you can get the powder form by the kilo and iherb.com for a very reasonable price. Just thought you'd like to know. That's where I got mine when I did MY cleanse. First time in my life I had NO spring hayfever.

[angel47]

Is that why you take the glutamine?? For a cleanse and what does that mean??? Sorry I haven't heard of it before

[sevie]

what is the "spit in the glass test"?

does the glutamine have any taste? is it expensive?

nice sum up of Glutamine at Wikpedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutamine

[BawdyWench]

Anagel, I take glutamine for yeast overgrowth and leaky gut syndrome. Atkins discusses yeast overgrowth in his book, and leaky gut is discussed at length in the Protein Power Lifeplan book. I see you're on the Atkins plan, so you can at least check out his book.

Sevie, here's a link to the "spit in the glass" test: http://www.candidasupport.org/candidatests.html#SALIVA%20TEST

The glutamine has no taste, especially when you put it in a shake. Mine was about $30 for the container, but it has 100 teaspoons, each the equivalent of 5 grams. I was taking 40 grams a day, but now I've cut it down to 30. I'll probably maintain at around 20 a day.

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.

[Kristine]

Angel, you can get glutamine at any sports nutrition place, or even a health food store like Nutrition House in the malls.

I highly recommend getting the powder, not the pills. Pills are usually just 500 mg each, and gram for gram the price works out to be four times as expensive as the powder.

[lizzyLC]

Glad your feeling better Bawdy !
My whey powder has glutamine and a bunch of other amino acids in it.
I take whey with my ground flaxseeds for a snack.

[Nancy LC]

Bawdy, are you still feeling better? Since I've stopped eating gluten I've had the most terrible constipation. The gluten was giving me diarrhea, so I never had constipation! Maybe it was disguising some other problem going on with me.

[BawdyWench]

On the third day of the protein shakes with glutamine, I had a die off and felt kind of lousy in the afternoon. Thursday was iffy, and yesterday sucked. I had the mother of all migraines.

Today I'm feeling better. I'm still retaining fluid, but I believe it's starting to go down, albeit slowly. I feel more "awake," if that makes sense.

So yes, I believe I am feeling better. Thanks for asking!

[angel47]

Kristine why would a person use glutamine??

[BawdyWench]

Kristine why would a person use glutamine??
See first post in this thread. ;)

[tabookitty]

Perricone diet is just like Atkins basically. Only it goes a little further into "controversial" supplementation. Glutamine Powder is #1 recommended ingredient. He said don't mix and wait to drink. Mix and drink immediately. I didn't buy the book, so I don't know how many grams he recommends. I read online sources saying one scoop is 2 grams, and they recommend this serving either before or after working out - with food. Dr Perricone's diet is all over the internet, lot's of books are out, and his skin creams are now available in better department stores. I just found out about the Perricone diet, so I'm sort of implementing that with what I'm already doing low-carb. My supplements are in route with all the Christmas gifts.....:-~

[tabookitty]

correction (again). Take BETWEEN meals, not WITH meals. I wonder what it tastes like with water. I don't do shakes....

[lizzyLC]

Why do you feel glutamine is "controversial" taboo??? I always read it is benign and good brain food and good for moods+cravings. Just curious.
I have Perricone's book reserved at the library. One more LC book will shortly be under the belt - I didn't feel like springing for it until I was sure it had something to offer me.
He never appears without a suitcoat - hard to tell if he is in shape or not - I don't think he looks young for his age either -although I don't know his age - maybe he's 117 and, therefore, does look young for his age.
Not that I'm down on Perricone. I read his first book - upped my wild salmon intake - can't remember much more - I remember it's low carb and anti-inflammation - which is important. His products are over-the-top expensive.
Maybe I'll start taking more glutamine - I get sundowners.

[Nancy LC]

correction (again). Take BETWEEN meals, not WITH meals. I wonder what it tastes like with water. I don't do shakes....I bought some pure glutamine yesterday. It tastes a bit like baking soda in water. Not a good taste, but certainly not something that sends me wretching either.

Maybe I'll start taking more glutamine - I get sundowners.Is that the Alzheimer's Sundowner's syndrome?

I just ordered a mix of leucine & glutamine for myself and Mom. I sure hope it helps Mom regain some muscle.

[tabookitty]

Lizzy, I used the word "controversial" only because of adding supplements to dieting can be considered controversial to some folks. My husband for example - LOL. Nancy, Is the after-taste of glutamine with water bad?
Lizzy, what are sundowners?

[Nancy LC]

Its not so much the aftertaste as it is the "during" taste. :D It isn't that bad. Just chug it down.

[tabookitty]

Good to know. IF it ever arrives. I must have picked the worst possible website to order from :(

[moses]

Glutamine rocks of you are cutting (going for fat loss).

I take it post workout (both resistance and cardio) with a whey shake.

It is recommended to also be taken before sleeping as it can promote growth hormones.

It should be tasteless so you can mix it with anything.

It will also help with muscle soreness. I take 5g in the morning after workout and 5g before I sleep. Safe dosages are up to 40g I believe.

Glutamine is also discussed in the BFL threads on the exercise plans section of the forums here.

I will post the link when I find it

Cheers

Moses

[moses]

Found it

Here is the link to a ketostyle BFL program with answers to supplement questions.

Glutamine discussed here briefly:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29683
A bit more detail:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=69008
^-- search in the messages and you find many more links to more glutamine questions
From main topic:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=135831

If while researching the program that the thread talks about and you like it, I would recommend checking out a better system here:

http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/showthread.php?t=21113

Cheers

Moses

PS **********DO NOT BUY PILLS **********

[Nancy LC]

How can you possibly get 20 grams of this stuff in? My scoop is 2g... that'd be 10 scoops! There would be about 3 days of stuff that I paid $15 for! Yikes!

[tabookitty]

Thanks for the good info Moses (ironmuscle link did not work). Very good info, very helpful. Finally got ahold of my source for Glutamine. Took them a week to ship it. Now another week for it to get here. All this reading material helps me not go crazy waiting. I thought I was so smart to buy this from a source that said it was PURE. I probably should have just got in the car and drove to Rite Aid :) LOL My muscles are killing me!

[BawdyWench]

The glutamine I bought says 1 teaspoon is 5 grams. So, 4 teaspoons, which isn't all that much, equals 20 grams.

[moses]

How can you possibly get 20 grams of this stuff in? My scoop is 2g... that'd be 10 scoops! There would be about 3 days of stuff that I paid $15 for! Yikes!


That's either one tiiiiny scoop, or you got some filler in yours =/
Pure glutamine should be 5g/tsp

[Nancy LC]

It is a small scoop. Hmmmm... they don't list any fillers on the ingredient list. I'll have to use my measuring spoons and see what is what.

[LOOPS]

this thread is interesting -

I can't take glutamine - it really messes my head up. I get out of balance VERY fast with the other amino acids like taurine if I take it continuously. I once took taurine for several days and started out great, then felt very flat and tired - the antidote was glutamine (these two aminos are opposing I think or share the same pathway in the brain).

But it seems to have a good effect on some.

[fressca]

What kind of whey are you taking Bawdy? And I thought I read somewhere that glutamine shouldn't be taken at the same time as protein; something to do with absorption. I guess that can't be the case if the Eades recommend taking it along with the shake.

[lizzyLC]

Hi all
I think I'll try some glutamine for my moods. There's a small amount in my whey protein but no where near the amount some of you are taking- so is it okay to take with protein or are you supposed to take it on an empty stomach?

Taboo - sorry - haven't been here for a while. I say I get the "sundowners" cause my mood darkens around evening - so I use it regarding mood pattern but the medical community uses it to describe confusion that people in hospitals sometimes experience when they're sick and have been there a while - maybe people with dementia/alzheimers get that confusion too.

[Nancy LC]

Hey Taboo Kitty, I used to have a cat named Taboo. :)

[tabookitty]

Hey Nancy. I bet he was a cutie! Taboo is snoozing on my bed right now. It's snowing, so he doesn't get a walk on his leash outside today. Just finished working out. Finally, been 2 days. I also ate tater tots. Phooey! I've been taking the glutamine for a week now. I've noticed no change except a little lesser headaches. I got a decent haircut yesterday. That improved my mood! HAHA!

[Nancy LC]

My Taboo was a monster of a cat. He was HUGE! Not really fat, although towards the end of his life he got chubby, but just enormous. Like a mini panther. With black fur and yellow eyes. And a HUGE meow. He was a gentle giant though.

[coolwater]

Here's a link to more articles if anyone's interested...http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbinfo.php?page=Glutamine

I've been supplementing with it for about a week now, looking forward to the benefits!