If you are a regular in weight rooms, you have probably heard of glutamine, a product commonly used to recover from intense workouts where the muscles end up being severely punished (weight lifting, marathon, cycling routes…). What you may not know is what glutamine is.
Glutamine is an amino acid , a common component of proteins , not essential. This does not mean that it is not necessary or important, but that the body itself, under normal conditions, is capable of synthesizing it from other available molecules. But this, under normal conditions, since there are some circumstances that can force a greater need for this nutrient and then the body is not capable of manufacturing the entire amount that is demanded. One of these circumstances, as we said, is the practice of intense and frequent sports, but not the only one.
Malnutrition situations where there is low muscle tone, pathological processes that cause a greater amount of energy to be consumed in the form of protein ( burns , grafts, oncological, infectious, traumatological, surgical processes…). Even periods of great dietary restrictions, whether involuntary due to low availability, or voluntary due to poorly planned low-calorie diets, can mean that, if the body does not have enough carbohydrates to obtain energy, it does so from proteins that, in principle They should not be used for that purpose.
One of the characteristic functions of proteins is the formation of new tissues and regeneration of existing ones, which is why it is so fundamental in stages of growth, development and recovery from wounds or healing. In these situations where the demand for glutamine is greater than its endogenous or internal synthesis, this amino acid is considered semi-essential.
Furthermore, specifically, glutamine is very present in the body’s muscles, so much so that more than half of glutamine is found as part of the muscle composition. But it is not the only organ where we can find glutamine, since there are also significant amounts in the blood, in the brain or in the lungs, among others.
Glutamine can be found in foods rich in proteins of both animal and plant origin, and in supplements based on glutamine concentrates .
