L-Glutamine reduces weight gain by 15% and belly fat by 50% in rats on high-fat diet

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Tuesday, July 03, 2007 3:01 am Email this article
The amino acid L-glutamine reduces weight gain in rats on a high-fat diet by about 15 percent and reduces central fat by 50 percent according to a new study from Brazil. Blood Sugar

L-Glutamine reduced blood sugar levels by 11%

Blood sugar levels were 11 percent lower in rats on a high-fat diet supplemented with L-glutamine compared to rats on a high-fat diet.

 

Insulin

Insulin levels 45% lower with L-glutamine

Insulin levels were 45 percent lower in rats on a high-fat diet supplemented with L-glutamine compared to rats on a high-fat diet, and were nearly the same as the control rats fed normal rat chow (53 versus 97 versus 51 pmol per liter).

Insulin sensitivity was also improved with L-glutamine.

 

Food Intake the Same

L-Glutamine had no effect on food intake

L-Glutamine had no effect on food intake.

 

Metabolism and Fat Burning

L-Glutamine increases metabolism and increases fat burned

The way that L-glutamine seems to help protect against diet-induced obesity is that it increases metabolism—seen as increased oxygen consumption—and an increase in the amount of fat that was burned for energy.

 

Previous Study

This agrees with previous study

This agrees with a previous study which found that rats fed a high-fat diet lost 10 percent of their body weight as well as having blood sugar levels drop by 50 percent and insulin levels drop by 30 percent.

 

L-Glutamine Reduces Weight on High-Fat Diet by 15%

Rats on a high-fat diet given L-glutamine weighed 15% less than those just on a high-fat diet

Rats on a high-fat diet which were also given L-glutamine weighed approximately 15 percent less than rats on a high-fat diet that were not given L-glutamine—460 grams for those given L-glutamine versus 540 grams for rats on a high-fat diet that were not given L-glutamine—and 440 grams for control rats who were fed normal rat chow.

The previous study had used a combination of L-glutamine and L-alanine, another amino acid.

This study found that L-alanine had almost no effect on body weight or body fat, therefore, the effect seemed to be almost entirely due to the L-glutamine.

 

Reasonable Dose

Reasonable dose: 2,000 mg a couple times a day before meals

A previous study found that 2,000 mg of L-glutamine increased growth hormone levels 4-fold in humans (Welbourne, 1995).

A dose of 2,000 mg of L-glutamine taken a couple times a day before meals seems like a reasonable dose.

REFERENCE

Prada PO, Hirabara S, Souza C, Schenka A, Zecchin H, Vassallo J, Velloso L, Carneiro E, Carvalheira J, Curi R, Saad MJ. L: -glutamine supplementation induces insulin resistance in adipose tissue and improves insulin signalling in liver and muscle of rats with diet-induced obesity. Diabetologia. 2007 Jun 29.

AUTHOR’S CORRESPONDENCE

M. J. Saad
Departamento de Clinica Medica
Universidade Estadual de Campinas
Rua Tessalia Viera de Camargo 126
Campinas, San Paulo, 13083-887, Brazil
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OTHER REFERENCES

Welbourne T. Increased plasma bicarbonate and growth hormone after an oral glutamine load. Am J Clin Nutr. 1995 May, 61(5):1058-61.

AUTHOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

Department of Physiology
Louisiana State University College of Medicine
Shreveport, LA 71130, USA

 

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• Glutamine (amino acid)