What is the difference between glutamine and creatine

This is why athletes use creatine supplementation. Studies have shown that creatine supplements help muscles grow and provide more muscle strength.

If you avoid meat, you should consider taking vegan creatine supplements. Both of them are stored in muscles. The first difference is that creatine is synthesized in the liver and kidneys from amino acids, but glutamine is one of the 20 amino acids that the human body makes. Another main difference between these supplements is that creatine's function is more metabolism-oriented, and it helps build muscle.

On the other hand, glutamine is one of the compounds that go directly into muscle protein synthesis. While a regular person can get all the creatine they need from the body itself, people recovering from an illness, injury, or surgery may need additional creatine supplements. Others like creatine because it supports the process which leads to protein synthesis.

To sum up: glutamine directly builds muscle, while creatine supports the work needed to build muscles. Energy Production - Creatine monohydrate supplements increase the stores of phosphocreatine in muscles.

Phosphocreatine helps create ATP — the molecule you use for all basic life functions. When you exercise, ATP breaks down and produces energy. The issue is that you use ATP faster than you can make it. This is where creatine supplements come in. They help athletes increase phosphocreatine and thus have more ATP.

Muscle Function - Apart from increasing the energy levels, creatine does other great things for muscles :. This also means it allows athletes and bodybuilders to have better high-intensity exercise.

In general, this is an excellent supplementation to nutrition, and your body composition will be better and healthier. Of course, if you notice any side effects from protein intake, visit your doctor straight away.

If your goal is fast recovery after working out, then choose glutamine. Do you have experience using these two supplements? Let me know your results with them in the comments below.

Isaac is a personal fitness trainer and nutritionist living in sunny Indianapolis, IN. No known significant health effects have been shown in athletes taking supplements containing protein, glutamine or creatine. These supplements may increase your body's need for water, especially during intense exercise or in hot environments. Exercise supplements should be used as a small part of a balanced and healthy diet. Consult with your doctor before using sports supplements if you are currently under medical care, especially for heart or kidney problems.

Nutrition Nutrition Basics Vitamins and Supplements. Creatine vs. Protein vs. Glutamine By Chris Daniels. Chris Daniels. Chris Daniels covers advances in nutrition and fitness online. Daniels has numerous certifications and degrees covering human health, nutritional requirements and sports performance.

Or was it something else? Researchers from Tarbiat Modares University discovered that when combined with resistance training, creatine actually helped to inhibit serum levels of mysostatin 10! This research came as somewhat of a surprise, but the reason was quickly accepted by many that myostatin also works by inhibiting satellite cell formation. And back in , researchers from the University of Wisconsin Medical School discovered that creatine does the exact opposite of that Satellite cells are myogenic cells responsible for postnatal growth and regeneration of skeletal muscle Stimulating these cells through training and supplementation is of the upmost importance for lifters looking to build muscle.

Another important capability of creatine is its effect on recovery from high intensity exercise. I've heard of bodybuilders neglecting the use of creatine in the past because they weren't lifting for strength or power lifting.

They felt creatine was only effective for increasing strength which as you've read so far in this article, is only part of what creatine does and it had no place in their rep high intensity bodybuilding program. It has long been tradition in many bodybuilding programs to use short rest periods, and because creatine takes upwards of 2 minutes to regenerate, some ill informed bodybuilders have not seen it as a necessary supplement in their regimen.

Well research begs to differ. High intensity anaerobic exercise is notorious for depleting muscle glycogen because carbohydrates are the main source of fuel for high intensity activities. Bodybuilders consume carbohydrates post exercise along with their protein to refill their depleted muscles stores of carbohydrates so they can return to the gym and lift with the same intensity. Bodybuilders may notice however that when they do heavy multi-joint lifts like the squat , or the deadlift , or they lift at a slower pace, it takes them longer to recover.

This is a result of the eccentric lowering movement phase of the lift which causes more muscle damage and inflammation. Many experienced lifters know this already, but what they may not know is that eccentric exercise also impairs glycogen replenishment 13!

Yet low and behold researchers from the Exercise Physiology and Biomechanics Laboratory of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium discovered that supplementing with creatine helps preserve muscle glycogen by increasing creatine utilization during exercise 14 the researchers used 5g of creatine a day with no loading phase.

In case you were wondering if creatine cycling was a real issue, the researchers found out the hard way as the increase in muscle glycogen they noted vanished after 5 weeks despite continued creatine supplementation.