Nitric oxide is a gas that is vital to many cellular functions. Nitric oxide mediates some cellluar communication and facilitates nutrient transportation throughout the body. Your body synthesizes nitric oxide from the amino acid arginine. Nitric oxide supplements contain arginine. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine's Medline Plus database, nitric oxide supplements may promote vasodilation and improve atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, erectile disfunction and heart failure problems.
Dilates Blood Vessels
According to a National Heart Lung and Blood Institute study published by the American Heart Association, blocking nitric oxide synthesis reduces vasodilatation of the human forearm during exercise. A separate study by National Heart Lung and Blood Institute found that nitric oxide contributes to both epicardial and coronary microvascular vasodilation. These studies suggest that nitric oxide supplements may promote vasodilation and increase blood flow during exercise. Vasodilation enables more oxygen and nutrient delivery to your muscles, which may promote workout recovery and waste removal.
Increases Glucose Uptake
According to the Weight Training Specialist manual by the National Federation of Personal Trainers, weight training can break down muscle tissue or catabolism. Muscle catabolism continues destroying muscle tissue until you consume recovery nutrients that provide enough glucose to the damaged muscle. Nitric oxide increases blood flow and enhances blood glucose delivery to muscle tissue cells. Nitric oxide supplements may reduce muscle catabolism and reduce workout recovery time by delivery more glucose to damaged muscle tissue cells.
Suppresses Lactic Acid
Nitric oxide suppresses lactic acid build up during exercise. Your body ferments lactic acid when there is not enough oxygen flowing into muscle cells. You feel a burning sensation or soreness during or after a workout because of lactic acid build up inside your muscle cells. Lactic acid build up causes muscle contraction failure, and limits the extent of your workout. According to a Literature Education Series on Dietary Supplements written by the Dean of Students at the Huntington College of Health Sciences, nitric oxide metabolism enhances lactic acid removal. Nitric oxide may boost your endurance by increasing your body's ability to remove lactic acid.
Stimulates Adrenaline
Nitric oxide stimulates adrenaline hormone secretion. The Korean Association of Oraland Maxillofacial Surgeons published the findings of a Catholic University of Korea study which suggest that local anesthetic with adrenaline is better at decreasing pain and preventing elevation of systolic blood pressure than local anesthetic without adrenaline. The twenty-fifth Congress of the Scandinavian Society of Anaesthesiologists presented a study by the University of Oslo which found that epidural adrenaline improves pain relief. Epidural adrenaline reduced nausea and facilitated patient mobilization. These studies suggest that adrenaline has pain numbing effects that may help bodybuilders and athletes train longer and harder to get more out of a workout.
References
- American Heart Association: Contribution of endothelium-derived nitric oxide to exercise-induced vasodilation - Abstract
- American Heart Association: Contribution of Nitric Oxide to Metabolic Coronary Vasodilation
- Nitric Oxide Supplement Site: Are There Any Nitric Oxide Side Effects That You Should Be Concerned About?
- NFPT Weight Training Specialist Manual; -----; 2008
- American Diabetes Association: Nitric Oxide Synthase Inhibition Reduces Glucose Uptake During Exercise
Member Comments