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Update on BCAAs, glutamine and PEM

Mary

Mary

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Gondwanaland said:
View attachment 10733 :lol:
@Mary it occurred to me today because I doubled my whey dose (from one to TWO! teaspoons) and felt crampy calves... Then I imagined that the BCAA would increase the need for it, but then it is the DMG that does it....
Click to expand...

Interesting that the whey protein did that to you. When I first started taking methylfolate almost 5 years ago (I'd already been on methylB12 for a long time with no results), my energy at first picked up and then tanked very badly, but fortunately Freddd had written all about the potential for low potassium. so I knew what to do. But whey has never done that to me.

We have to be detectives! :cool: (Actually I love murder mysteries, my favorite form of relaxation --)

TWO teaspoons of whey - woo hoo! :thumbsup:
 
jepps

jepps

Senior Member
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Austria
High dosages of glutamine can impact the gut bacteria:
http://www.nutritionjrnl.com/article/S0899-9007(15)00035-0/abstract

  • Oral Supplementation of L-glutamine promotes changes in the gut microbiota composition.
  • •The Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio decreased after GLN supplementation.
  • •Firmicutes and Actinobacteria reduced significantly after glutamine supplementation.
  • •Oral supplementation of L-glutamine has similar effects on gut microbiota as weight loss
They took 30 g glutamine.
 
Gondwanaland

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,094
@jepps thanks for posting that study, but
jepps said:
They took 30 g glutamine.
Click to expand...
who takes 30 GRAMS of glutamine daily???? I don't think that study is useful :rolleyes:
Rand56 said:
I tried BCAA powder quite some time ago. Only took me a couple days to ditch it. It made my depression worse, although I'm glad it helps some others.
Click to expand...
Do you think you might have ingested too little tryptophan and run into low serotonin because of that?
 
R

Rand56

Senior Member
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Location
Myrtle Beach, SC
Gondwanaland said:
@jepps thanks for posting that study, but

who takes 30 GRAMS of glutamine daily???? I don't think that study is useful :rolleyes:

Do you think you might have ingested too little tryptophan and run into low serotonin because of that?
Click to expand...

I suppose that is possible, but my best educated guess is that it lowered my catecholamines too much, in particular dopamine which I believe is more of my issue.

"Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) influence brain function by modifying large, neutral amino acid (LNAA) transport at the blood–brain barrier. Transport is shared by several LNAAs, notably the BCAAs and the aromatic amino acids (ArAAs), and is competitive. Consequently, when plasma BCAA concentrations rise, which can occur in response to food ingestion or BCAA administration, or with the onset of certain metabolic diseases (e.g., uncontrolled diabetes), brain BCAA concentrations rise, and ArAA concentrations decline. Such effects occur acutely and chronically. Such reductions in brain ArAA concentrations have functional consequences: biochemically, they reduce the synthesis and the release of neurotransmitters derived from ArAAs, notably serotonin (from tryptophan) and catecholamines (from tyrosine and phenylalanine). ....................."

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/135/6/1539S.full

So one might think that it would be good to add in some tyrosine or phenylalanine, but I have been down that road before. Possitive effects of those wear off after awhile. So I figured why bother, and it was just best for me to ditch the BCAA's.

Edit: I am not the only one who feels worse on BCAA's. I've read some body building site threads, where some others get the same effect. Others feel better. It's like anything else you take. What might be good for one, may not be good for another.
 
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Mary

Mary

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Rand56 said:
Edit: I am not the only one who feels worse on BCAA's. I've read some body building site threads, where some others get the same effect. Others feel better. It's like anything else you take. What might be good for one, may not be good for another.
Click to expand...

You are so right, how we are all so different and can react so differently to the same things - too bad there is not one simple answer for everyone!
 
Mary

Mary

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Southern California
Gondwanaland said:
@Mary if you already posted before please direct me to your post about it:

  • could you please specify the amounts you are taking trom each BCAAs?
  • how much glutamine?
  • at what time of the day?
  • + 250mg DMG?
I am seeing my dr in one week and now that I seem to tolerate 1 tsp whey daily w/o ammonia problems (or any other apparent side effect), I want to try your regime and work on personalized doses to my overly sensitive system with my dr.

I can't get DMG here where I live, but vitamin B15 is legal, so I will try that instead.
Click to expand...

Hi @Gondwanaland - I wanted to let you know that I stopped the DMG because of potassium issues. First I got wiped out from low potassium which gradually occurred after I started taking the DMG, which took me several days to figure out what was going on, which I then tried to remedy but one of the things I was taking - concentrated coconut water from Swanson Vitamins - ended up giving me severe diarrhea so I had to recover from that and it also took a couple of days to figure out what was causing that symptom. It's been a roller coaster.

So I still think the DMG is good for me, but I'm backing off for awhile and when I restart it am going to try just half of what I was taking and be on the lookout for low potassium.

I did restart inosine, which I seem to tolerate very well, and it gives me an energy boost plus is supposed to be a very good immune system modulator, and it doesn't seem to affect my potassium levels. I'm taking the brand Dr. Chia recommended to me - Anabol Naturals.

Good luck with your doctor this week!
 
Gondwanaland

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
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Thanks for the heads-up, Mary! My appt is tomorrow morning.
Mary said:
I did restart inosine, which I seem to tolerate very well, and it gives me an energy boost plus is supposed to be a very good immune system modulator,
Click to expand...
That is a no-go for me since it increases uric acid, and my metabolism has some trouble with it. But I do have high hopes in the BCAAs for gaining lean mass and boosting energy! Perhaps I will add vit B15 just a couple of days a week in my traditional low doses (10-20mg).
 
Mary

Mary

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Messages
17,377
Location
Southern California
Gondwanaland said:
Thanks for the heads-up, Mary! My appt is tomorrow morning.

That is a no-go for me since it increases uric acid, and my metabolism has some trouble with it. But I do have high hopes in the BCAAs for gaining lean mass and boosting energy! Perhaps I will add vit B15 just a couple of days a week in my traditional low doses (10-20mg).
Click to expand...

FWIW, the DMG also boosted my energy, if only I'd been able to stay on top of my potassium levels! So hopefully you'll fare better than me. Low dose does sound like the way to go ---
 
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