Tree nuts, some nut-like seeds and legumes all contain the amino acid L-arginine. The L-arginine in nuts helps your heart when your body converts it to nitric oxide, a blood vessel dilator. Your intake might improve blood pressure and heart conditions such as angina. This amino acid can also boost your libido, according to Health Castle. This added benefit from the L-arginine in nuts might benefit your heart in a different way.
Common Nuts
Domestic tree nuts commonly consumed in the U.S. include pecans, English and black walnuts, chestnuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, pine nuts, pistachios, and filberts or hazelnuts. Peanuts are not tree nuts; they belong to the legume family, but Americans consumers eat them like tree nuts. Commonly available imported nuts include Brazil nuts and cashews.
L-arginine in Nuts
Black walnuts rank highest among America's domestic nuts, with 1.0 g of L-arginine per 1-oz. serving, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Peanuts rank second with 0.9 g per serving. Almonds have 0.7 g, followed by pine nuts with 0.68 g. English walnuts have 0.64 g per serving, pistachio nuts have 0.62 g and filberts have 0.57 g per 1 oz. Macadamia nuts have 0.39 g per serving and pecans follow with 0.33 g. Brazil nuts and cashews provide 0.6 g of L-arginine per 1-oz. serving.
L-arginine in Seeds
The L-arginine content of sunflower seeds and sesame seeds is comparable to tree nuts. A serving of sesame seeds has 0.7 g per 1-oz serving. The content for sunflower seeds is 0.6 g per serving. The products produced from sesame and sunflower seeds such as nut butters and flours have L-arginine in the same proportions as the raw and roasted seeds.
Alternative Sources
Because nuts are high in calories, the standard serving size limits the amount of L-arginine available per serving. For many of the alternate sources, the serving size is larger than it is for nuts and seeds. Dairy foods, grains, poultry and meat are common L-arginine sources, according to MayoClinic.com. Oatmeal, brown rice, corn and buckwheat are plant sources suitable for vegetarians, along with chocolate, cereal and raisins.
L-arginine Intake
There is no established intake or dosing recommendation for L-arginine, according to Mayo Clinic.com. Amounts used by adults range from 0.5 g daily to 16 g. Mayo notes that some consumers have taken three daily doses of 3 g each, but scientific research on the effects of these amounts is not available.
References
- HealthCastle; Foods That Boost Sex Drive; Gloria Tsang; February 2010
- U.S. Department of Agriculture; National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 23 (2010) Food Group 12-Nut and Seed Products
- U.S. Department of Agriculture; National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 23 (2010) NDB No. 12155 Nuts, Walnuts, English
- U.S. Department of Agriculture; National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 23 (2010) NDB No: 16087 Peanuts, All Types, Raw
- Mayo Clinic.com; Arginine (L-arginine)-Dosing; July 2011
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