Amino Acid - L-Glutamic Acid

Sorry that I haven't posted for a while - I've been busy doing work that pays the bills :-). 

Having spent a day in front of my P.C. writing spill for a gym equipment manufacturer, I thought I'd have a break of sorts (from the tedium) and update a few pages of my own venture - gymprofessor.com. My food snack during this break - Marmite on toast - gave me the incentive to write about L-Glutamic Acid. Why? Well, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG).

MSG's a salt of L-Glutamic Acid and is therefore a natural constituent of many fermented or aged foods (like yeast extract) & provides the "tangy" taste - "you either love it or hate it!" Another of course (& the origin of its identification) is from seaweed extract - you'll hear many people tucking into their Chinese meal mention how MSG might affect them, whilst, I might add, also necking half-a-dozen beers (also containing MSG!).

Given my supplement slant on most things, I'd best mention hydrolyzed protein (process of breaking down the protein into its component amino acids for greater absorption by acid hydrolysis) being another instance whereby MSG will be present and hence why manufacturers often worn of a "bitter" taste on the supplement product label.

Synthesized from L-Arginine and L-Ornithine, & created in the brain from the Amino Acid L-Glutamime, L-Glutamic Acid's a major fuel that the brain uses to function and transports Potassium across the blood-brain barrier. L-Glutamic Acid's also used in the breakdown of fats and sugars.

Food Sources: Meat, Fish, Eggs, Dairy etc.

We'll tackle the facts and myths of MSG in another blog post - it's natural occurrence and use as an additive etc. Till the next time,

Gym P.
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