What Is A Nitric Oxide Supplement?

Nitric oxide is a gas that your body produces naturally and helps regulate blood flow. According to Emax Health, researchers at the University of Exeter found that arginine supplements increase nitric oxide in the body. Nitric oxide supplements are popular with bodybuilders, because they aim to extend nutrient delivery effects of nitric oxide.

Vasodilators

The body produces nitric oxide from the amino acid L-arginine. Nitric oxide causes vasodilatation of your blood vessels. Vasodilatation relaxes blood vessels in smooth muscle tissue and reduces blood pressure in vein and arterial passages. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, L-arginine may help treat conditions that exhibit problems with vasodilation, such as chest pain, clogged, atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, erectile dysfunction and heart failure.

Arginine Alphaketoglutarate

Most nitric oxide supplements contain a derivative of L-arginine called arginine-alpha-ketoglutarate. The effect of nitric oxide only lasts a couple seconds once your body produces the gas. According to the Nutriline website, alpha-ketoglutarat provides an extended-release mechanism for argenine, which may extend the effects of nitric oxide beyond normal cellular nitric oxide production.

Waste Removers

The U.S. National Library of Medicine suggests that arginine may improve exercise tolerance and blood flow in arteries of the heart. Bodybuilders and other athletes experience contraction failure and muscular fatigue due to lactic acid build-up in muscle tissue that occurs during exercise. Lactic acid is a waste byproduct of normal cellular function. During exercise, your muscle tissues produce more lactic acid. Your body clears lactic acid with nitric oxide. According to a Huntington College of Health Sciences Literature Education Series on Dietary Supplements, nitric oxide metabolism enhances lactic acid removal. Nitric oxide may boost your endurance by increasing your body's ability to remove lactic acid.

Recovery Accelerators

Exercise damages tissues in your body. Post-workout fatigue occurs because your body needs time to recover from the damage caused during a workout. Your body can only recover with nutrients that you ingest in diet. Your body continues muscle catabolism until you consume the nutrients required to recover from a workout. Nitric oxide supplements can promote faster muscle recovery because it enhances blood flow and stimulates more nutrient delivery to damaged muscle tissues.

Glucose Metabolizers

According to the Bodybuilding website, a study in the "American Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism" found that the nitric oxide enhanced the rate of cellular glucose uptake during exercise. The body uses glucose for energy. The body stores excess glucose in fatty tissue. Nitric oxide supplements may help your body burn more fat for energy and increase your available energy by enhancing cellular glucose uptake.