Did you know that more than 60 percent of our free amino acids are glutamine? Or that for years, glutamine was considered to be just another nonessential amino acid?

Of course, the term “nonessential amino acid” only means that our bodies don’t manufacture glutamine for us. But recent studies reveal that glutamine is much more important for maintaining health than previously believed. Glutamine, which becomes conditionally essential during times of stress or injury, elevates growth hormone levels and restricts the catabolic actions of cortisol as well. In fact, it is now well documented that glutamine is also essential for cell proliferation and that it acts as a respiratory fuel and boosts immune function.

Nonessential but Important
When our bodies’ glutamine reserves are low, we become much more prone to infections and other immune-system-related problems. Many glutamine researchers focus on the fact that depleted glutamine stores make it much more difficult for our bodies to fend off illness and on the fact that illnesses can further deplete glutamine reserves. But glutamine depletion does not only occur through illness; it also happens through stress caused by exercise.

Gone in 60 Minutes
More than 90 percent of the glutamine we ingest is gone from our bodies in about an hour, and 70 percent is used by our digestive tracts, leaving a mere 30 percent available to feed and support muscle. Though of concern to everyone who exercises, glutamine depletion can be downright dangerous to bodybuilders because it can lead to muscle wasting unless a superior source of glutamine supplementation is used.

Fortunately, there’s a glutamine product on the market that is indeed superior—MHP Glutamine-SR, manufactured by Maximum Human Performance, a company that began because of a friendship between world-class bodybuilder Gerard Dente and Dr. Vincent Giampapa, a world-renowned hormonal-manipulation and anti-aging physician. The close, productive working relationship among Dr. Giampapa’s staff and MHP’s sports nutritionists and biochemists has led to marketplace availability of some of most technologically advanced sports-nutrition supplements ever created.

Use It All
The patented Micro-Feed technology designed for MHP Glutamine-SR makes it possible for your body to use an unprecedented 100 percent of the L-glutamine the product contains, thus maximizing the anabolic/anti-catabolic effects of exercise while optimizing muscle growth and recovery by transporting all of the substance to muscles instead of allowing most of it to remain in the digestive tract.

MHP’s bold new technology means that Glutamine-SR can provide a steady stream of bioavailable, usable glutamine that feeds muscle tissue for up to 12 hours straight. The constant supply of glutamine that goes into your muscles when you take Glutamine-SR keeps muscles in an anabolic state and prevents catabolism. Glutamine-SR’s 12-hour sustained release has definitely raised the bar in glutamine supplementation, making Glutamine-SR the most bioefficient and powerful glutamine supplement available today.

Cutting Carbs? Supplement Glutamine
Reserves of glutamine, the most abundant amino acid in human muscle tissue, can also be depleted by low-carbohydrate diets, making getting enough of this nutrient doubly important for bodybuilders who are cutting back on carbs. Unless they make a concerted effort to keep glutamine levels high, power athletes can easily suffer from low levels of this important nutrient.

—Julie Crawshaw