Glycine is an amino acid that helps build proteins needed for tissue and hormone maintenance. More glycine may help support heart and liver health, improve sleep, reduce diabetes risk, and reduce muscle loss.

Your body naturally produces glycine from other amino acids, but it’s also found in protein-rich foods and available as a dietary supplement.

Along with being a component of protein, glycine has several other impressive health benefits.

Here are the top 7 health benefits and uses of glycine.

Glycine is one of three amino acids that your body uses to make glutathione, a powerful antioxidant that helps protect your cells against oxidative damage caused by free radicals, which are thought to underlie many diseases.

Without enough glycine, your body produces less glutathione, which could negatively affect how your body handles oxidative stress over time.

In addition, because glutathione levels naturally decline with age, ensuring that you get enough glycine as you get older may benefit your health.

Glycine is also one of three amino acids that your body uses to make a compound called creatine.

Creatine provides your muscles with energy to perform quick, short bursts of activity, such as weightlifting and sprinting.

When combined with resistance training, supplementing with creatine has been shown to increase muscle size, strength and power.

It has also been studied for its beneficial effects on bone health, brain function, and neurological conditions like Parkinson’s disease.

Collagen is a structural protein that contains high amounts of glycine.

Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body. It provides strength for your muscles, skin, cartilage, blood, bones, and ligaments.

Supplementing with collagen has been shown to benefit skin health, relieve joint pain, and prevent bone loss.

Therefore, it’s important that you get enough glycine to support your body’s production of collagen.

Many people struggle to get a good night’s rest, either because they have trouble falling or staying asleep.

While there are several ways you can improve your sleep quality, such as not drinking caffeinated beverages late in the day or avoiding bright screens a few hours before bedtime, glycine may also help.

Research in people with sleep issues has shown that taking 3 grams of glycine before bed decreases how long it takes to fall asleep, enhances sleep quality, lessens daytime sleepiness and improves cognition.

For this reason, glycine may be a good alternative to prescription sleeping pills for improving sleep quality at night and tiredness during the day.

Increasing evidence suggests that glycine offers protection against heart disease.

While encouraging, clinical studies on the effects of glycine on heart disease risk in humans are needed before it can be recommended.

Type 2 diabetes may lead to low levels of glycine.

Higher levels of glycine are associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, even after accounting for other factors that are associated with the condition, such as lifestyle.

Therefore, people with type 2 diabetes may benefit from supplementing with glycine, though research is too preliminary to make any specific recommendations.

If you have type 2 diabetes, the best way to reduce your insulin resistance is through weight loss by means of diet and exercise.

Glycine is found in varying amounts in meat, especially in tough cuts like the chuck, round and brisket.

You can also get glycine from gelatin, a substance made from collagen that’s added to various food products to improve consistency.

Other and more practical ways to increase your intake of glycine include:

Add it to foods and drinks

Glycine is readily available as a dietary supplement in capsule or powder form. If you don’t like taking pills, the powder form dissolves easily in water and has a sweet taste.

In fact, the name glycine is derived from the Greek word for “sweet.”

Due to its sweet taste, you can easily incorporate glycine powder into your diet by adding it to:

Take collagen supplements

Glycine is the main amino acid in collagen, the main structural protein of connective tissue, such as bone, skin, ligaments, tendons, and cartilage.

Accordingly, you can boost your glycine intake by taking collagen protein supplements.

Supplementing with glycine is safe in appropriate amounts. Studies have used up to 90 grams of glycine per day over several weeks without serious side effects. For comparison, the standard dose used in studies is about 3 to 5 grams per day.

However, there is no specific recommendation for its use. You should probably avoid it if you’re pregnant or nursing, or take any medications that could potentially interact with it. You should consult a doctor before taking any supplements.

The bottom line

Glycine is an amino acid with many impressive health benefits.

Your body needs glycine to make important compounds, such as glutathione, creatine, and collagen.

This amino acid may also protect your liver from alcohol-induced damage and improve sleep quality and heart health.

What’s more, glycine may also benefit people with type 2 diabetes and protect against muscle loss that occurs with muscle-wasting conditions.