Tell me more ×
Physical Fitness Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for physical fitness professionals, athletes, trainers, and those providing health-related needs. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 1 down vote favorite
1

I am currently using MRM All Naturall Gainer (image of ingredients) at noon and L-Glutamine 500% DV. in the morning as a supplement for my workout and am experiencing insomnia. I am not sure though if it is due to the supplements or not.

I will try cutting back on those supplements and see what happens, but generally speaking, can certain supplements, such as L-Glutamine, cause insomnia?

share|improve this question
When are you taking them and when do you go to sleep? It could be other ingredients in the mass gainer causing this issue. Many supplements include caffeine to help you power through a training session. – Berin Loritsch Jan 13 '12 at 15:28

3 Answers

up vote 0 down vote accepted

Query Google for "glutamine rats sleep" to get a whole bunch of links to medical studies. Try to comprehend them. From reading the teaser texts, I think there seems to be something but maybe cause and effect are the other way around: Sleep deprivation of rats causes enrichment of glutamine in the nervous system.

There is a paper mentioned here (Ref. 29): Rowbottom, et al., “The emerging role of glutamine as an indicator of exercise stress and overtraining,” Sports Med 21.2 1996: 80-97

I haven't read this paper.

Just a Hypothesis: So if you train too much, and still take in an overdose of glutamine, indeed stress symptoms might get worse. Are yiou training too hard?

share|improve this answer
That sounds somehow reasonable and goes well with my observations after stopping the intake of L-Glutamine. I've been working out nearly 2 hours a day for the last few weeks and taking the supplements described in my post. After stopping the intake for 2 days my sleep is steadily getting better. I'll now increase the training volume again to see which effects that has on the sleep. Usually one should think you'd just get tired though... – mmoment Jan 15 '12 at 0:09
up vote 0 down vote

Some people recommend L-Glutamine for insomnia. Others say the opposite. It used to be recommended as a brain enhancer (mid-80's... bear in mind they used to wear leg warmers, too) but I don't think anybody says that any more.

Either way, if you're taking it in the morning, I'd be very surprised to find it was causing sleep issues. Nothing else in the ingredient label jumps out, even a little bit.

Without knowing what else you're taking/eating/drinking/etc. it's impossible to know. It could also be environmental, emotional, dietary, who knows.

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

Have you modified your workout routine at all, specifically in the duration or intensity? Overtraining can lead to insomnia:

knb asked the same question as well. As the verdict on Glutamine seems to still be out, I'd also look in other areas that are potential causes of insomnia, such as overtraining or lack of recovery. I've experienced this many times when I trained too hard or spiked my training quite a bit.

share|improve this answer
I've been training very hard recently, but after stopping the intake of L-Glutamine I get good sleep again. Training spikes usually do not affect my sleep, except if I exercise cardio close to bedtime, which I don't. I'm aware of the affects of overtraining though and try to avoid it. – mmoment Feb 7 '12 at 19:16

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.