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The
subject of a great deal of intense research by conventional medicine,
nutritional therapists and sports scientists for at least fifty years, arginine is now regarded as one of the most important and
potentially beneficial
amino acids. Technically it’s known
as one of the “non-essential” amino acids, but the term in this sense means only
that it can be manufactured within the body and therefore need not necessarily
be obtained from the daily diet.
“Non-essential” does not in any way
imply that these amino acids are unimportant. Put simply, you need the full range of
both essential and non-essential amino acids to form the countless proteins from
which your body is largely made.
Increasingly, however, there’s evidence that individual amino acids may
have more specific functions, with increasing interest in the possibility of
using supplementation with single amino acids to tackle particular conditions.
Arginine, for example, has been credited
with helping the body to generate crucially important hormones, particularly
human growth hormone; with improving sexual health and function; increasing
muscle mass whilst reducing body fat; reducing cholesterol; stimulating the
immune system and enhancing
immune system responses.
But perhaps
the most important potential benefit of arginine is
its effect upon the health of the cardiovascular system. There is some research evidence that
doses of 6g or more daily may help reduce low density lipids (LDL), the
so-called “bad cholesterol”, and that arginine may
also significantly improve circulation.
Arginine is also an important precursor of
nitric oxide, an important transmitter of neural nerve impulses, and a compound
known to help maintain circulation in the tiny blood vessels of the brain,
protecting against debilitating and possibly fatal strokes. For the immune system, arginine acts as a stimulant for the thymus gland, helping
to generate the immune cells vital for tackling infection.
There
is also good research to suggest that arginine may
have a “protein sparing” effect, making available the maximum amount of protein
for muscle growth. This has been
found very useful in the treatment of those, for example the elderly, who have
suffered from muscle wasting and weakness.
But when coupled with arginine’s apparent
potential as a fat burner, and its stimulation of the production of human growth
hormone; its obvious potential as an athletic performance supplement,
particularly for strength and power athletes and body builders, has of course
been the cause of great excitement in these communities. Arginine is
also an important precursor for the body’s manufacture of creatine, known as the “natural steroid” for its muscle and
strength building potentiality.
The US
Food and Nutrition Board has not prescribed a
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for arginine,
probably adhering to the traditional view that a diet adequate in protein will
almost by definition provide sufficient amino acids. It is certainly true that outright
deficiencies of arginine are rarely if ever seen in
individuals whose diet contains enough protein, which means most of us in the
affluent West. And it is also true
that requirements for arginine and other individual
amino acids vary widely between individuals, making the establishment of a
meaningful RDA even more difficult than usual.
However,
good sources of arginine in the diet include dairy
products and meat, particularly beef, pork, chicken and turkey. Wheatgerm,
grains, nuts, seafood and even chocolate may also help boost arginine intake.
An increase in the consumption of any of these, particularly the animal
proteins, will also of course increase the intake of arginine, and a diet including normal quantities of these
foods will usually prevent deficiencies.
It will
not necessarily, however, be enough to provide the major therapeutic benefits of
arginine, for which most practitioners agree free-form
supplementation is required in quantities of at least several grams a day,
preferably taken on an empty stomach.
Although it is nomally held that the maximum
benefits of arginine are obtained when it is taken in
isolation, an exception is in seeking to boost the immune system, when it seems
that taking arginine together with lysine, another
amino acid, may greatly enhance its effects.
As with
other amino acids, supplementation with arginine is
generally very safe and no ill effects, other than perhaps relatively minor
gastric upsets, should be observed even at many times the recommended
therapeutic doses. But important
exceptions to this are pregnant women and new mothers, people suffering from
herpes and similar infections, and sufferers from liver or kidney disease. If arginine is
taken at all by these groups, it should only be with medical advice.
In any event,
supplementation with single amino acids always carries the risk of creating
biochemical imbalances within the body and should not be undertaken indefinitely
without qualified supervision.
Body builders and strength and power athletes may, for example, find it
beneficial to use arginine during the “bulk up” phase
of the training cycle, thereafter reverting to a more balanced program of
supplementation.
Another word of caution is that as well as its
benefits, the nitric oxide produced by arginine is
also a free radical with potentially harmful ageing and degenerative effects on
the body’s cells. This oxidative
action does not
remove the possible benefits of taking arginine, but it does mean that any supplement program
should be combined with a good range of anti-oxidants, including coenzyme Q10
and lipoic acid.
And for best results, these should always be taken with comprehensive
multi-vitamin and multi-mineral supplements.
December 2007
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