Your body needs glutamic acid in order to manufacture glutamine. Glutamine is a non-essential fatty acid, which means that the body can make fresh supplies of glutamine when it does not have enough.
However, in order to synthesize glutamine, glutamic acid is needed, which is then combined with ammonia to make glutamine.
Importance
Glutamic acid and glutamine are of particular interest to athletes, and especially bodybuilders, because glutamine is involved in the regeneration of damaged cells and the recovery of the body following periods of intensive exertion, such as following a workout.
There is also evidence that glutamine has a cell volumizing effect, making muscle cells bigger and therefore stronger, since muscle strength is greatly dependent on muscle size.
To give you an idea about how crucial glutamine is to the proper functioning of the muscles, around two-thirds of the amino acids found in skeletal muscle are of a type called L-glutamine.
L-glutamine is involved in supporting protein metabolism, which is a key area for athletes and bodybuilders.
During a workout, the muscles are worked hard and put under stress, damaging them slightly and creating what is known as microtrauma.
The body responds to this microtrauma by repairing the damaged muscle, but this time making it bigger and stronger than before (because obviously if it was damaged this time, it was not big enough!).
However, the body cannot build new lean muscle tissue without protein. And it cannot create new protein without glutamine.
Read More »Glutamic Acid
