What Is Glycine and Why Is It in Our Electrolytes?

Most electrolyte brands give you sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Some add a bit of vitamin C. A few throw in B vitamins for marketing purposes. Almost none of them include glycine - and the ones that don't are missing something significant.

Glycine is the most abundant amino acid in the human body. It's a conditionally essential amino acid, meaning your body can produce some of it but frequently can't produce enough, particularly under physical stress. It's also one of the most underappreciated ingredients in performance nutrition, partly because it doesn't have the marketing muscle of protein or creatine, and partly because its benefits are distributed across multiple systems rather than concentrated in one obvious outcome.

Here's why we put it in A+Salt, and why it matters more than most people realise.

Gut integrity -your first line of immune defence

Glycine is a primary building block of collagen, which is a major structural protein of the gut lining. A healthy gut lining acts as a selective barrier -it allows nutrients to pass through while blocking pathogens, toxins, and inflammatory compounds from entering the bloodstream. When the gut lining becomes compromised, often called increased intestinal permeability, immune function is significantly affected, inflammatory responses become dysregulated, and nutrient absorption decreases.

In winter, with the added stress of hard training, reduced food variety, and increased viral exposure, maintaining gut integrity becomes more important, not less. Glycine supports the cellular repair mechanisms that keep that barrier functional.

Sleep quality and nervous system regulation

Glycine acts as an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. In practical terms, it promotes calm, supports the transition into deep sleep, and helps regulate core body temperature at night — which has a direct effect on sleep quality. A 2012 study published in Frontiers in Neurology found that 3g of glycine taken before sleep significantly improved subjective sleep quality and reduced daytime sleepiness without any of the side effects associated with pharmaceutical sleep aids.

For athletes - particularly those training through winter when early morning sessions and later recovery periods compress sleep windows- this is not a trivial benefit. Sleep is where adaptation happens. Glycine supports the quality of that sleep.

Collagen synthesis and joint support

Glycine is, as mentioned, central to collagen production. Collagen is the primary structural protein in tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and bone. High training loads place consistent stress on these structures. In cold weather, joints and connective tissue are less pliable and more vulnerable to strain. Ensuring adequate glycine intake supports the ongoing synthesis of the collagen your body needs to maintain structural integrity under load.

Inflammatory regulation

Glycine has demonstrated anti-inflammatory properties in multiple studies. It inhibits the activation of macrophages - inflammatory immune cells - through a mechanism involving glycine-gated chloride channels. This doesn't mean glycine suppresses immune function; it means it helps regulate the inflammatory response so it serves its purpose without becoming chronic and destructive. For athletes who train frequently and hard, managing the balance between necessary inflammation (for adaptation) and unnecessary chronic inflammation (which impedes recovery) is a constant challenge. Glycine contributes to that balance.

Why most electrolyte brands don't include it

Two reasons. First, glycine adds cost. It's not as cheap as sodium chloride or basic potassium. Second, including it requires a formulation philosophy that prioritises what the ingredients actually do, rather than what looks good on a label. Most supplement brands are not built around that philosophy.

We are. A+Salt is not a flavoured salt water. It's a functional performance formula that addresses hydration, electrolyte balance, gut integrity, sleep quality, and inflammatory regulation in one sachet. Glycine is essential to that.

A+Salt contains glycine alongside sodium (1170mg), magnesium (95mg), potassium (250mg), and essential amino acids — no sugar, no artificial flavouring, no fillers.

The bottom line

Glycine is not a trendy ingredient. It's not new. It's a foundational amino acid that most adults are chronically under-consuming, particularly those under physical stress. We included it in A+Salt because it belongs there — because the evidence supports it, and because a performance electrolyte that doesn't support gut integrity, sleep quality, and connective tissue repair is only doing half the job.

[Shop A+Salt at primalwellness.co.za]