A recent clinical study conducted at University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada has shown that taking the popular sports amino acid supplement L-Arginine does NOT improve blood markers related to athletic performance.*
Fourteen healthy male athletes were given either a low dose of 15 mg/kg or a higher dose of 75 mg/kg (equivalent to between 1-5g for a 70 kg adult) of L-Arginine. Various blood markers were measured like nitric oxide (NO), Insulin, growth hormone or Insulin-like growth factor 1.
While L-Arginine was detected in the blood, unfortunately, none of the above biomarkers were altered. This isn't surprising since some previous studies have shown that L-Arginine does not result in an improved athletic performance.
Athletes use L-Arginine for supposedly enhancing sports performance in the belief that L-Arginine raises nitric oxide (NO). NO is a powerful vasodilator and thus improves oxygen supply to various organs like the heart and muscle tissue.
In the last 10 years NO research has exploded since three scientists received the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1998 for their work on NO and its physiological effect.
Besides improving the oxygen status of various tissues, NO has been shown to lower blood pressure, prevent clumping of platelets, a key contributor to heart attacks, reduce effects of altitude sickness, act as a powerful anti-inflammatory, prevent and reduce stomach ulcers, improve the immune system, increase the bone mineral density and thus the bone strength and acts as a powerful antioxidant.
There are two ways to increase NO; the traditional method of using amino acids like L-Arginine or its precursor L-Citrulline (which is no better since it has to be converted into L-Arginine in the first place!) or using a more recently discovered nitrate to nitrite to NO pathway.
Axioma Health has developed a unique platform technology called NOx 3,2,1 that delivers NO in much higher amounts quickly, efficiently and to the target site than any amino acid or combination of amino acids.
The advantage NOx 3,2,1 technology offers is the following:
L-Arginine or L-Citrulline have to be converted by enzymes called NOS and this conversion is often compromised
NOS enzymes require presence of high oxygen or high pH not acidic conditions.
In many disease states e.g. asthma, angina, failing heart, upper respiratory infections, during strenuous exercise oxygen status of the body is poor and in addition the pH becomes more acidic (technically called metabolic acidosis) and thus affecting the action of NOS and conversion of L-Arginine/L-Citrulline into NO.
unk: Yep! Only organic.. I am doing my own liposomal supplements since couple months ago.. works pretty good but not with all the supplements out there..Will try with this..