What Is Glutamine?

Glutamine, which occurs naturally in the human body, is one of the twenty amino acids encoded by the standard genetic code. Making up more than 60 percent of the muscle tissue, glutamine is fuel both for the immune system and the digestive tract. Glutamine, which is essential for the repair and maintenance of intestinal cells, gets depleted rapidly during critical illnesses. Under such conditions, it is prescribed to be consumed either in powder or capsule form. It is also used as a supplement in bodybuilding, weightlifting and other sports to enhance and strengthen the body physically (learn more here). Glutamine can be successfully administered to elderly people suffering from painful muscle cramps. It can also speed up the Krebs cycle and help in losing weight without inflicting damage to muscle tissues (click here to learn more).

Side Effects Of Glutamine

Glutamine side effects should be given proper consideration while administering. Regarding glutamine side effects, extreme caution should be taken in patients with Type I or Type II diabetes while administering such supplement. Glutamine side effects can include mania when administered in patients with manic depression. Since growing tumor cells use glutamine as their fuel, there is a concern that the condition of cancerous cells can become worsened with the use of glutamine supplement. However, proper research is still unavailable to establish this fact. Other Glutamine side effects may include psychological disorders caused by high doses and the increased risk of seizures which can be life threatening. However, an upset stomach is the most common Glutamine side effects.