arginine and nitric oxide - High Cholesterol Message Board

draw · 02-14-2007, 09:57 PM

Reading information regarding The Arginine Solution and the benefits of nitric oxide as opposed to taking statins such as Lipitor. Seems like very good alternative but does anyone have any experiences with switching from statins to a product like ARGENIX ?

Red60 · 02-17-2007, 09:04 PM

Draw, I have no experience with Arginine but it does sound interesting. I have been doing some searching and thinking about ways to increase my own HDL levels since they are well below the desired targets. It seems like all of the agents I have read about that may be usefull for increasing the HDL levels dialate blood vessels. Niacan and Alcohol are two methods that have been well researched and found to have a positive effect on HDL. Both are know to dialate the small blood vessels near the surface of the skin and both can cause a flush. I haven't done a lot of reading on Arginine but I do remember reading that it also can dialate blood vessels. Does it also produce a flush? If you decide to use the Arginine method I would be very interested in hearing about your experience.

janeslk · 02-18-2007, 07:49 AM

Please do your research on L-Arginine thoroughly. I remember seeing an article last year in which a study was halted because too many of the people in the trial were dying from L-Arginine supplementation. The trial was conducted on people with existing arterial plaque. It was theorized that the expansion of the "hardened" arteries with L-Arginine caused more heart attack incidents in the test subjects.

I guess if you know your arteries are healthy there would be no problem with supplementation, but I don't know.

Jane

Lenin · 02-19-2007, 07:17 AM

There is some evidence that arginine in rather large doses provide a boost in blood nitrates. Nitrates, as in nitroglycerine, are an aid to people with ischemic angina so, in the future arginine may be used as replacement ot an adjunct to beta-blockers or calcium channel blockers.
Believe me, supplement manufacturers are digging wide and hard for evidence to make this already big seller, a GARGANTUAN seller.

Quote:

One hundred-fifty-three patients (mean age, 60.3 years) who had had a first acute myocardial infarction three to 21 days previously were randomly assigned to receive, in double-blind fashion, L-arginine or placebo for six months. The dose of L-arginine was 1 g three times a day for the first week, 2 g three times a day for the second week, and 3 g three times a day thereafter. Six participants (8.6%) in the L-arginine group died during the study period vs. none in the placebo group (p = 0.01). Because of safety concerns, the study was terminated prematurely.

My personal experience was a couple decades ago then the Shaw/Pearson nonsense about arginine/ornithine being a stimulant of growth hormone release for musclle growth and "eternal youth." After wasting a goodly amount of cash on 6 grams a day of arginine for a couple months, I realized I was being taken for a ride again. I was more trusting of specious claims back then.

Don't waste your money until they can come up with some hard data that isn't filled with too many "may's," "could's," "might's," and "seem's."

If anyone wants to try arginine supplementation make sure you put it in perspective:

Quote:

The typical dietary intake of L-arginine is 3.5 to 5 grams daily. Most dietary L-arginine comes from plant and animal proteins. Soy protein and other plant proteins are richer in L-arginine than are animal proteins, which are richer in lysine. It is thought that the possible hypocholesterolemic effect of soy protein is due, at least in part, to the higher L-arginine content in this protein.

Thus adding a gram of an expensive supplemtn isn;t going to do much.