ARGININE

L-ARGININE is an amino acid that’s naturally produced by the body and found in some foods, including poultry, seeds, legumes, and dairy. Arginine is specifically classified as a semi-essential amino acid because it’s particularly important to intake under certain circumstances, such as pregnancy, infancy, critical illness, and trauma.

Since arginine is an amino acid, it serves as a building block to various proteins, including glutamate, proline, and creatine. Arginine is essential for optimal immune system health because it’s needed for the development of T-cells, also known as white blood cells.

Since arginine has so many important roles in your body, a deficiency of it can disrupt cellular and organ function, which can lead to serious adverse health issues. The easiest way to obtain more arginine is by taking supplements. The recommended daily intake of L-arginine is between four to six grams.

In regards to exercise performance, arginine is most notably involved in nitric oxide production. Nitric oxide is a molecule that’s needed for a variety of bodily processes and functions such as blood flow regulation, mitochondrial function, and cellular communication.

An increase in nitric oxide production leads to the expansion (vasodilation) of your blood vessels. This allows for blood, nutrients, and oxygen to be delivered throughout the body, especially to your working muscles, more efficiently. So taking arginine pre-workout may significantly improve exercise performance and muscular pumps.

Other health benefits that arginine brings to the table include:

• Regulating blood pressure
• Improving glucose metabolism
• Enhancing insulin sensitivity
• Increasing blood flow

These positive effects are more likely to occur in individuals with pre-existing medical conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension, erectile dysfunction, and pre-eclampsia.

In summary, supplementing with arginine may:

• Support nitric oxide and muscular pumps
• Increase muscle protein synthesis
• Promote cardiovascular health