Supplementation with L-arginine resuls in multiple beneficial vascular effects in people with multiple risk factors for heart disease.
L-arginine is a precursor to nitric oxide and is actually the only known nutritional substrate in your vessel lining available to endothelial cells (a layer of cells that line the interior surface of blood vessels) for nitric oxide production.
In other words, the lining in your vessels (endothelium) need L-arginine to create nitric oxide.
Nitric oxide is a common air pollutant released by automobile exhaust and other sources (it's also the explosive chemical in dynamite). Ironically, nitric oxide is also the gas released in your body as a cellular signaling molecule to help promote healthy blood vessel flexibility and dilation, a discovery that earned three scientists the 1998 Nobel Prize in Medicine.
The use of a gas, in this case nitric oxide, for signaling between cells in your body, was an entirely new concept until just over a decade ago, but now it's known that nitric oxide:
Enhances your blood flow when produced by blood vessel cells.
Helps support healthy blood pressure levels that are already within the normal range.
Is used as a signal molecule in your brain and immune system.
Vasodilating (vessel widening) compounds also release nitric oxide to help relax muscle cells in your veins, and endothelial cells lining your blood vessels produce this gas to help support healthy blood flow.
If you include all age groups, heart disease is the prime killer. So clearly, anything that can help reduce your risk of heart disease is worth taking note of.
Remember, your endothelial cells produce nitric oxide to help your vessels stay relaxed and open for blood flow, a key component of cardiovascular health that may play a beneficial role in:
Clogged arteries
Chest pain
Coronary artery disease
In fact, studies show that L-arginine may:
Promote healthy blood pressure levels that are already within the normal range in healthy people.
Promote improvement and help support endothelial vascular function.
Improve endothelial function and promote a healthy cardiovascular system.
It is through this same mechanism of enhancing the action of nitric oxide that L-arginine may also help with erectile dysfunction by helping to relax your blood vessels, including those supplying blood to your penis. As blood vessels in your penis dilate, it increases blood flow, which helps maintain an erection.
However, nitric oxide signaling efficiency declines as a normal part of aging. And without enough L-arginine, your endothelial cells may not create enough nitric oxide to promote optimal blood flow and cardiovascular health.
This is why a high-quality L-arginine supplement is a simple way to enhance your body's supply, especially if you know you have risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure, excess weight, or diabetes.
