Supposedly, glutamine, an amino acid, can help dieters maintain muscle mass while losing fat. Glutamine No Help for Dieting Athletes reports on a study with wrestlers that does not support that hypothesis:
In the present study, Finn and his colleagues set out to test the effect of glutamine in 18 college wrestlers who were enrolled in a 12-day weight-loss program. All athletes consumed the same high-protein diet, but some wrestlers also took glutamine supplements. The other athletes received an inactive placebo instead.All participants lost a significant amount of weight during the study, researchers report. Although the aim was to lose fat, not muscle, all athletes lost similar amounts of fat-free mass.
In fact, glutamine supplements did not have a significant effect on how much muscle was maintained.
Of course, wrestlers on a 12-day crash diet lose tremendous amounts of water weight — and water weight is “lean” mass. You’d think the scientists would have taken that into account…