Supplement Ingredient Guide: Arginine

What is it?

Arginine is a none-essential amino acid. Arginine supplements are usually marketed as: L-Arginine, Arginine pyroglutamate or Arginine-alpha-ketoglutatrate. 

Indications

Arginine is indicated for those looking to build muscle mass, improve their recovery from training or improve their endurance levels. It’s used within a lot of pre-workouts.

How much should I take?

Anything between 3-6g per serving on empty stomach with 5-6g being reported as the optimal dose. Do not exceed 10g per serving. One can take up to 3 serving per day reaching a maximum of 15-18g.

Research

Arginine supplementation has been shown to dramatically increase HGH levels within the body leading to a significant increase in muscle mass and a reduction in body fat levels. One of the reasons of the positive effect of Arginine is the fact that it can stimulate the production of HGH which is also done through regular exercising.

Arginine has also been shown to enhance the production of Nitric Oxide, NO which acts as a vasodilator on the blood vessels supplying the muscles. This is crucial since it increases the amount of blood flowing to the muscles meaning an increased rate of delivery of nutrients and removal of metabolism by-products. This would lead to an increase in muscular endurance, an improvement to the repair of the muscle and a reduction in lactic acide and ammonia levels. Another effect of NO is acting as a muscle growth stimulant by increasing protein synthesis within muscle cells.

It must be noted that there are three distinct types of Arginine.

1- L-arginine: This is the most basic free form of Arginine. It has the full range of effects on the body as you would expect, but a higher dose would be needed to feel the full impact of it. It’s recommended that you take 5 grams of L-arginine 30 mins before a training session.

2- Arginine pyroglutamate: This is made by adding L-arginine to pyroglutamic acid. Like L-arginine it has the full effects you would expect from Arginine but has a greater on increasing the levels of HGH within the body since it can cross the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) with more ease. Ig you decide to take arginine pyroglutamate you should take 3 grams of it combined with L-lysine 30 minutes before training to obtain optimal results.

3- Arginine alpha ketoglutarate: This is made by adding L-arginine to alpha ketoglutaric acid. Like L-arginine it has the full effects you would expect from Arginine but has a greater effect on the production of NO. If you decide to take Arginine alpha ketoglutarate you should take 3 grams of it 30 minutes before training to obtain optimal results.

Side effects

It’s a safe supplement to use. However, with doses greater than 10g diarrhoea has been reported. May also cause a tingling sensation in a select few.

References

1- Di Luigi, L., Guidetti, L., Pigozzi, F. et al., (1999). Acute amino acid supplementation enhances pituitary responsiveness in athletes. Medicine of Science in Sport and Exercise. 31, 1748-1751.

2- Elam, R. P. (1988) Morphological changes in adult males from resistance exericise amino acid supplementation. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. 28, 35-39.

3- Isiadori, A., Lo Monaco, A. and Cappa, M. (1981) A study of growth hormone release in man after oral administration of amino acids. Current Medical Research and Opinion. 7, 475-481.

4- Kraemer, W. J. (1992) Influence of the endocrine system on resistance training adaptations. National Strength and Conditioning Journal. 14, 47-54.

5- Merimee, T. J., Lillicrap, D. A. Rabinowitz, D. (1965) Effect of arginine on serum-levels of growth hormones. Lancet. 2, 668.