L-Glutamine in short! The many benefits of this awesome Amino Acid!

L-Glutamine in short!

The many benefits of this awesome Amino Acid!


Glutamine/glutamic acid, along with glucose, is one of the principle fuels for the brain cells. It stimulates mental alertness, improves intelligence, normalizes physical equilibrium, detoxifies ammonia from the brain, improves and soothes erratic behavior in elderly patients, improves the ability to learn, aids in retaining and recall in memory, helps with behavioral problems and autism in children, stops sugar and alcohol cravings, may improve IQ in mentally- deficient children, enhances peptic ulcer healing, and may be used to treat schizophrenia and senility.

Glutamine is the most abundant free amino acid found in the muscles of the body. Because it can readily pass the blood-brain barrier, it is known as brain fuel. In the brain, glutamine is converted into glutamic acid—which is essential for cerebral function—and vice versa. It also increases the amount of Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is needed to sustain proper brain function and mental activity. It assists in maintaining the proper acid/alkaline balance in the body and is the basis of the building blocks for the synthesis of RNA and DNA. It promotes mental ability and the maintenance of a healthy digestive tract. When an amino acid is broken down, nitrogen is released. The body needs nitrogen, but free nitrogen can form ammonia, which is especially toxic to brain tissues. The liver can convert nitrogen into urea, which is excreted in the urine, or nitrogen may attach itself to glutamic acid. This process forms glutamine. Glutamine is unique among the amino acids in that each molecule contains not one nitrogen atom but two. Thus, its creation helps to clear ammonia from the tissues, especially brain tissue, and it can transfer nitrogen from one place to another.

Glutamine is found in large amounts in the muscles and is readily available when needed for the synthesis of skeletal muscle proteins. Because this amino acid helps to build and maintain muscle, supplemental glutamine is useful for dieters and bodybuilders. More important, it helps to prevent the kind of muscle-wasting that can accompany prolonged bed rest or diseases such as cancer and AIDS. This is because stress and injury (including surgical trauma) cause the muscles to release glutamine into the bloodstream. In fact, during times of stress, as much as one third of the glutamine present in the muscles may be released. As a result, stress and/ or illness can lead to the loss of skeletal muscle. If enough glutamine is available, however, this can be prevented.

Supplemental L-glutamine can be helpful in the treatment of arthritis, autoimmune diseases, fibrosis, intestinal disorders, peptic ulcers, connective tissue diseases such as polymyositis and scleroderma, and tissue damage due to radiation treatment for cancer. L- glutamine can enhance mental functioning and has been used to treat a range of problems, including developmental disabilities, epilepsy, fatique, impotence, depression, schizophrenia, and senility. It preserves glutathione in the liver and protects that organ from the effects of acetaminophen overdose. It enhances antioxidant protection. L-glutamine decreases sugar cravings and the desire for alcohol and is useful for recovering alcoholics. Many plant and animal substances contain glutamine, but it is easily destroyed by cooking. If eaten raw, spinach and parsley are good sources. Supplemental glutamine must be kept absolutely dry or the powder will degrade into ammonia and pyroglutamic acid. Glutamine should not be taken by persons with cirrhosis of the liver, kidney problems, Reye’s syndrome, or any type of disorder that can result in an accumulation of ammonia in the blood. For such individuals, taking supplemental glutamine may only cause further damage to the body.

10 Facts for Fitness and Fat Loss

1. The diet phenomena paradox: We oversimplify the complicated science of fat loss whilst over-complicating the practice of it.
2. Release yourself of the fear of judgement when following a healthy path: It’s ok to order a salad, skip desert and ask for substitutions when out on the town.
3. There’s a place for almost everything. Despite the fact that some trends are “passé” or categorically shunned, there is a place for static stretching, traditional cardio and carbohydrates.
4. 3 steps to tackle sugar cravings: 1. Distract 2. Distract more intensely 3. Give in (without fully giving in). Drink a chocolate protein smoothie, have berries with greek yogurt and a bit of maple syrup, a couple of pieces of dark chocolate drizzled on strawberries. DONE.
5. Be calorie aware but not obsessed. Counting calories is not neurotic when the end goal is creating awareness.
6. Change is challenging: Associate as much pain as possible with NOT changing and as much pleasure as possible with your desired picture of health.
7. Goal-setting: Be realistic, multi-layered (include health, body composition but also mindset and lifestyle related goals). Also be specific, flexible and forgiving.
8. Your self-talk can make or break your fat loss efforts. Be kind to yourself.
9. Genetics loads the gun but we pull the trigger with our lifestyle choices.
10. Try these 3 single leg variations: Pistols, Bulgarian Split Squat, Single leg Romanian Deadlift. Thank me (or more likely curse me) tomorrow.

Mark Harris, PhD
Exercise Physiologist/Nutritionist
TexasMetabolics@gmail.com
Texas Metabolics

New Study Shows Sugar in Diet Will Help Cancer Thrive in Your Body

Do you have a sweet tooth? If so, your dietary habits could be significantly adding to your risk of developing cancer. New research published in the journal Nature Medicine has confirmed that processed sugar is one of the primary driving forces behind the growth and spread of cancer tumors, so much so that the future of cancer screening could rely on scanning the body for sugar accumulation.

Scientists from University College London (UCL) in the U.K. made this discovery after experimenting with a new cancer detection method that involves utilizing a unique form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). After sensitizing an MRI scanner to look specifically for glucose in the body, it was revealed that cancer tumors, which feed off sugar, light up brightly as they contain high amounts of sugar.

"The new technique, called 'glucose chemical exchange saturation transfer' (glucoCEST), is based on the fact that tumors consume much more glucose (a type of sugar) than normal, healthy tissues in order to sustain their growth," explains a recent UCL announcement, noting that tumors appear as "bright images" on MRI scans of mice.

Traditionally, cancer screenings have involved the use of low-dose radiation injections to identify the presence of tumors, which makes sense as radiation is another known cause of cancer. The things that trigger and promote cancer development and spread, in other words, can also be used by doctors to detect it inside the body. And now sugar can officially be added to this list.

"The method uses an injection of normal sugar and could offer a cheap, safe alternative to existing methods for detecting tumors, which require the injection of radioactive material," says Dr. Simon Walker-Samuel, lead researcher of the study from the UCL Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging (CABI).

Interestingly, it was also noted by the study's senior author that the amount of sugar in "half a standard sized chocolate bar" is all it takes to effectively identify the presence of tumors using the glucoCEST method. This is astounding, as it suggests that even relatively low amounts of sugar have the potential to promote cancer proliferation.

The UCL study is hardly the only one to have identified a connection between processed sugar consumption and diseases like cancer. Other research, including that being currently being conducted by Dr. Robert H. Lustig, M.D., a Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), confirms that the bulk of chronic illnesses prevalent today are caused by sugar consumption.

As far as cancer is concerned, hormones produced by the body in response to sugar consumption also feed cancer cells. This means that every time you down a soda or eat a piece of cake, your body produces certain chemicals that tell cancer cells to not only start taking up sugar, but also to grow in size and spread.

"What we're beginning to learn is that insulin can cause adverse effects in various tissues, and a particular concern is cancer," says Dr. Lewis Cantley, head of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) at Harvard University, as quoted during an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes.

"If you happen to have a tumor that has insulin receptors on it, then it will get stimulated to take up the glucose that's in the bloodstream," he adds. "So rather than going to the fat or to the muscle, the glucose now goes into the tumor, and the tumor uses it to grow."

This link is a full length movie that will explain what sugar dose to the body and how it is the cause of the obesity epidemic

Mark Harris, PhD

Exercise Physiologist/Nutritionist
TexasMetabolics@gmail.comTexas Metabolics

Training Through Injuries – The Dos And Don'ts

So many times people do their best to ignore those nagging aches and pains our bodies have simply because they do NOT want to stop training. Those pains you feel are often a warning signal for us to back off, yet many of us continue to TRAIN! 

Let's Get Real!

If you tell me your shoulder hurts so bad you cannot lift it and you just hurt it yesterday, You should have enough common sense to just GO HOME. I understand you are game and ready to go, but we need to think beyond today. We are not professional athletes and tomorrow is not the Olympics. When you are injured, your priority is dealing with your injury, or at the very least, not worsening it. If you are questioning whether or not you should be at the gym – go home.

Focus On Recovery 

Use your time at home to work your recovery. Recovery does not mean sitting still. It could mean using a foam roller and a lacrosse ball to work out muscle spasms or adhesions. It could mean icing for ten minutes at the top of every hour. It could mean visiting your chiropractor, massage therapist or personal trainer. It could mean visiting your doctor and having diagnostic tests run. It does mean, without a doubt, listening to your body and being nice to it.

Be Reasonable

If you choose to stay at the gym and work around your injury, then really work around it and make sure your trainer is aware of the situation. Do not do things that only “hurt a little.” If it hurts, stop doing it. If you are hurting it, you are not healing it. Yes, it might feel better once you get going into the workout, but that has more to do with endorphins and adrenalin than it does with whether or not you are causing damage and preventing healing. This does not mean you cannot move around at all, but do not do things that cause pain.

Don’t Create Other Injuries

If you are dealing with an injury requiring a long healing period, a shoulder injury for example, be careful you do not cause other injuries or imbalances in your training. If your left shoulder is hurt and you spend three months only working your right arm and right shoulder, you are setting yourself up for future problems. It is not just your arms, but your back, hips, and legs that will be affected by this constant unbalanced unilateral movement. In this scenario, you are better of focusing on lower body and core exercises. Engage your coach in helping you choose appropriate exercises.

There Is No Quick Fix

As with most things in life, we are in a hurry to get to the next step and injury recovery is no different. Beware of the quick fix. I have had clients come to me saying their doctor wanted to give them a cortisone shot. Unless you are playing the Super Bowl tomorrow, there is no reason for you to get a cortisone shot. In my experience it only allows you to train through the pain and worsen the injury. Likewise, beware of painkillers in general. If you want to take something, double or triple your fish oil and deal with the inflammation aspect of your injury. Pain is not a voice we should carelessly stifle.

If It Hurts, Stop. It’s Just Not Worth It. 

This one is worth repeating. For the vast majority of us, we work out for fun or because we are committed to a certain level of health. We are not professional athletes, nor for the most part even competitive amateur athletes. Our priorities in our lives are different from a pro-athlete and therefore our priorities in the gym should be also.

Your mission in the gym is to get stronger, fitter, and healthier for the long haul. As a coach, I want to see you getting out of bed on your own at the age of 80. Training through pain and skipping recovery will not get you to that place. You can do it in the short-term, but it will come back to haunt you in the form of continued injuries, arthritis, chronic pain and more.

Think about the people in the gym who have the best form and put up the best numbers. They are the people who put in the work day in and day out, not the people who try to muscle through things. Treat your injury recovery the same way. Take the time necessary to heal properly; it will serve you in both your performance and your quality of life for years to come.

Mark Harris, PhD

Exercise Physiologist/Nutritionist

TexasMetabolics@gmail.com

Texas Metabolics